Valero Energy's Three Rivers oil refinery in Texas- While environmental laws have forced oil companies to increase investment in refineries in recent years, the Financial Times says that most of the new refineries are to be built in Asia, particularly China, but no new ones are planned for the US and Western Europe, which have built none for three decades. The FT says that Goldman Sachs estimates that a total of 2.575m b/d of refinery capacity will be added by the end of 2010, but global oil demand growth is expected to average about 1.5m b/d for the rest of the decade.

Oil prices have risen on supply fears as Crown Prince Abdullah, de facto ruler of the world's largest oil producer Saudi Arabia, is due to meet President Bush at his Texas ranch, later Monday.

Last week, Saudi Arabia confirmed plans to increase oil production investment and the news today of consolidation in the oil refining market, is also evidence that downsream capacity constraints may also be getting attention.

Valero Energy Corp. and Premcor Inc. announced today that the companies have executed a merger agreement for Valero to acquire Premcor in an $8 billion transaction. As a result, Valero will add four refineries and 790,000 barrels per day (BPD) of throughput capacity to its system, making it the largest refiner in North America.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light crude is trading at $55.66 per barrel and in London, Brent has risen 81 cents to $53.69. 

Saudi Aramco CEO named Petroleum Executive of the Year for 2005

Abdallah S. Jum'ah, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), will be honored as the recipient of the Petroleum Executive of the Year Award for 2005, it was announced today by Thomas Wallin, President of Energy Intelligence. Jum'ah was chosen by his peers in a confidential selection process administered by Energy Intelligence. His selection reflects his strong leadership of Saudi Aramco over the last 10 years and the company's current expansion program.

Saudi Aramco president and CEO Abdallah S. Jum'ah - The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) is the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It ranks first among oil companies worldwide in terms of crude oil production and natrural gas production. Saudi Arabia is the holder of the world’s largest oil reserves - one-quarter of the global total- at more than 259.3 billion barrels.

Jum'ah was born in al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, very close to Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and the site of the country's first commercial oil discovery a few years before his birth. He studied political science at the American University of Cairo and at the American University of Beirut, and he also completed a management development program at Harvard University. He began his career at Saudi Aramco in 1968, holding a series of leadership assignments with responsibility for electric power, employee relations, government affairs, and international operations before being named to the board in 1994.

Since taking the helm at Saudi Aramco in 1995, Jum'ah has led the far-reaching expansion of its downstream and gas businesses, renewing business processes and transforming the company into a fully integrated international oil and gas enterprise. Under his leadership, the company has also refocused its strategic direction to maintain its position as the world's premier energy supplier, while supporting the expansion and diversification of Saudi Arabia's national economy with a continued strong commercial orientation.

"The process by which the winner of this award is selected is particularly noteworthy and assures that the selection is fully representative of the views of the industry," says Raja W. Sidawi, Chairman of Energy Intelligence. Nominations for the award were solicited from the Chief Executives and other senior managers of over 100 of the world's largest oil and gas firms, as they appear in the annual rankings published by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, Energy Intelligence's flagship publication. The nominations were then reviewed by a representative group of senior oil executives from around the world, who made the final selection.

Previous winners of the Energy Intelligence/International Herald Tribune Petroleum Executive of the Year Award include: David O'Reilly (2004), Lee Raymond (2003), James J. Mulva (2002) Sir Mark Moody-Stuart (2001), Thierry Desmarest (2000), Lucio Noto (1999), Luis E. Giusti (1998), and Lord Browne of Madingley (1997).