MONT BELVIEU — A fire set off by a midday explosion at a natural gas plant burned on into the night Tuesday, with company officials uncertain how long it might keep going. They could not rule out the possibility that the blaze was being fed by gas pr…  More »

The former VP of pricing and commercial analysis alleges the company engaged in financial irregularities.  More »

France’s largest oil producer is weighing the sale of its remaining specialty chemicals businesses. It’s not clear whether the business would be sold as a whole or in parts, sources with knowledge of the situation said.  More »

The San Antonio-based refiner Tesoro posted a quarterly loss of $19 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $136 million, or 99 cents a share, for the final quarter of 2009. Revenue rose 17 percent in the quarter to $5.5 billion from $4.7 billion.  More »

But a new company’s name on the troubled facility “will mean a whole lot” to the community, the refinery’s union rep says.  More »

BP’s new strategy includes selling its Texas City refinery and focusing on exploration and production, the company said. The oil giant also reported a $3.7 billion fourth quarter profit and a return of its quarterly dividend.  More »

The Mississippi refinery project will make Chevron the largest producer of base oil, a key ingredient in synthetic lubricants. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)  More »

Russian refiners are investing domestically to produce better quality fuels as the country changes its tax regime on exports. Expanding the capacity of its facilities and the amount of light products produced will help the joint venture improve competitiveness and efficiency, TNK-BP said. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)  More »

San Antonio-based Valero Energy reported a fourth-quarter loss of $438 million, or 77 cents a share. The showing was an improvement compared with the same period a year ago, when Valero lost $1.4 billion, or $2.51 a share. (AP file photo/Paul Iverson)  More »

The conditional $241 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy would go to build a plant that will produce biodiesel fuel from animal fat and restaurant grease. (AP file photo/Nick Ut)  More »

The newly created Marathon Petroleum Corp. will launch as the nation’s fifth-largest oil refiner, trade under a separate stock symbol and be based in Findlay, Ohio. (AP file photo/Cheryl Gerber)  More »

The Houston-based company will split in two, spinning off its refining and marketing business and leaving it with operations that search for and produce oil and gas. (AP file photo/Cheryl Gerber)  More »