Venezuela and Vietnam plan refinery expansion
Petroleos de Venezuela SA and state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) have agreed to join a project to upgrade the country's sole refinery. They will work together, selling refined oil products to the Asian market. The PetroVietnam-PDVSA refinery agreement coincides a string of similar multi-billion-dollar pacts seen elsewhere in Asia Columbia refinery receives prelim okay for loan
The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States has voted to grant preliminary approval for a USD 2.84 billion direct loan/loan guarantee to Colombia's Refineria de Cartagena S.A. (Reficar). When approved, the financing will support the purchases of equipment and services from more than 150 large and small U.S. engineering, design, equipment supply, contracting and process license firms, including Chicago Bridge & Iron, Foster Wheeler, Exxon/Mobil and UOP. Puma acquires ExxonMobil’s downstream units
Puma Energy will acquire ExxonMobil's fuels marketing and supply businesses in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Formed in 1997 and headquartered in Switzerland, Puma Energy has quickly grown to become one of the world's largest independent downstream companies. The company is a subsidiary of Trafigura Beheer BV and now operates in 23 countries worldwide. Nexans receives power cable contract
Nexans will interconnect the two main high voltage substations at the new PETROBRAS COMPERJ complex currently under construction in Rio de Janeiro. As part of a multi-million Euros turnkey contract from Toshiba Sistemas de Trasmissão e Distribuição do Brazil Ltda, Nexans will supply and install high voltage (HV) XLPE cables and accessories that will be used to interconnect the two main electrical substations. GTL demo plant comes to Brazil
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC's Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) demonstration plant has recently arrived in Fortaleza, Brazil following the completion of its construction in Asia. The integrated GTL demonstration plant incorporates the Group's proprietary microchannel reactor and catalyst technologies for the key Steam Methane Reforming ("SMR") and Fischer-Tropsch ("FT") steps of the GTL process. The demonstration is fully funded and managed by the Group's partners 
Petrobras Chile has received the 2010 Outstanding Company of the Year Award for its contribution to the economic development of Brazil and Chile. CEO of Petrobras Chile, Vilson Reichemback, accepted the award given by the president of the Chilean-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Juan Irarrázabal, and the Ambassador of Brazil in Chile, Frederico Cezar de Araújo, in Santiago. 
Shell has agreed to sell most of its downstream business in Chile to Quiñenco for a total value of approximately USD 614 million. Under a separate contract, Quiñenco has also been appointed as a Macro Distributor to market, sell and distribute Shell branded lubricants in Chile; they will become the delivery service provider for Shell Marine Products' international customers in the country. 
Lincoln Electric has released the first VRTEX™ 360 software upgrade offered since the launch of the training system in late 2009.The upgrade package for this virtual reality weld training system, available now, is ideal for schools, unions and other training facilities to instruct and educate welding operators in several virtual environments, using stick, MIG or flux-cored arc welding processes. 
Nordex has added the N117/2400 wind turbine to its Gamma Generation of turbines. The new turbine was designed specifically for light wind sites, creating new power generating potential for locations across the USA. The company will debut the N117/2400 for the US market at Windpower in Anaheim, California from May 2011. The new turbine will increase America’s wind potential by turning many light wind sites into feasible power producing areas. 
The AIST Foundation board of trustees has raised over USD 1 million during the 2010–2011 academic year in support of its mission. The AIST Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation created for charitable, education and scientific purposes. The foundation seeks to draw in technology-oriented professionals to the steel industry by educating the public about the high-tech, diverse and rewarding nature of careers in modern steelmaking.