News

Pipeline Safety: Colonial Gasoline Line May Be Shut At Least A Week After Explosion
11.01.2016
Colonial Pipeline Co’s main gasoline line could be shut for at least a week, shippers said on Tuesday, after an explosion and fire in Alabama killed one worker and injured five others.
Pipeline Construction: NEB approves 40-year license for Pacific Northwest LNG
10.12.2016
The National Energy Board has granted Pacific Northwest LNG a 40-year export license. The license will allow the company to export a maximum 34.62 billion cubic meters of natural gas annual from its proposed terminal on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert.
Refinery Operations: Marathon sues BP for breach of contract in Texas oil refinery sale
10.12.2016
Marathon Petroleum Corp. alleged BP failed to deliver a Texas oil refinery and three products terminals in the condition promised under a $2.4-B sales agreement signed in 2012, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Refinery Construction: One Pacific Northwest crude rail terminal shelved as another refiles
10.11.2016
Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s US division cited depressed prices and lower Bakken crude-oil production as it suspended its request for state permits on Oct. 6 to construct a terminal to receive crude by rail at its Puget Sound refinery at Anacortes, Wash.
Oilfield Discoveries: Alaska’s North Slope yields large light oil discovery
10.05.2016
Two exploration wells and 126 sq miles of 3D seismic have confirmed 6 billion bbl of light crude in place on Caelus Energy Alaska LLC’s Smith Bay state leases on Alaska’s North Slope, according to the company.
Pipeline Operations: PHMSA orders Colonial to shut Line No. 1 down
09.19.2016
The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ordered Colonial Pipeline Co., Alpharetta, Ga., to shut down a segment of its Line No. 1 near Helena, Ala., a week after a gasoline leak was detected there.
Refinery Operations: Lyondell Houston refinery VDU shut by pump failure
09.15.2016
A 91 Mbpd vacuum distillation unit (VDU) was shut due to a pump failure Tuesday at LyondellBasell Industries’ 263 Mbpd Houston refinery.
Refinery Operations: Tesoro to acquire renewable technology company
09.08.2016
Tesoro Corp. has agreed to acquire Virent, Inc. (Virent), a renewable fuels and chemicals company, to support Virent’s success in bringing biofuels technology to commercial scale.
Refinery Operations: ExxonMobil to put Montana refinery on block
09.01.2016
ExxonMobil Corp. is in the first stages of seeking a potential buyer for its Billings, Montana, refinery, one of the company’s only US plants that is not integrated with its chemical operations, according to people familiar with the plans.
Refinery Safety: Sulfur tank explosion and fire at Tesoro Carson refinery
08.30.2016
A fire erupted at Tesoro’s Carson refinery after a 1-ton sulfur tank exploded around 1 p.m. August 26th. The insulation in the tank caught fire after the sulfur dissipated.
Refinery Safety: Total’s Port Arthur refinery reformer, SRU shut by fire; no injuries reported
08.18.2016
Total SA shut a reformer, sulfur recovery unit and a pressure swing adsorption unit at the company’s 225 Mbpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery after a small fire Tuesday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Refinery Safety: Fire at Phillips 66 Louisiana refinery out, no injuries
08.17.2016
A fire that started in a processing unit Monday at Phillips 66’s 260 Mbpd Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana, has been put out with no injuries reported.
Refinery Safety: Seven injured in fire at Texas crude oil terminal
08.16.2016
A flash fire injured seven workers at a construction project at Sunoco Logistics crude oil terminal in Nederland, Texas, Friday, a company spokesman said on Saturday.
Refinery Safety: Motiva Convent refinery catches fire, HCU heavily damaged, no injuries reported
08.15.2016
A blaze broke out Thursday at Motiva Enterprises 235 Mbpd Convent, Louisiana refinery, heavily damaging the structure of the heavy oil hydrocracker.
Refinery Construction: Meridian Energy lets contract for North Dakota refinery project
08.10.2016
Meridian Energy Group Inc., Irvine, Calif., has finalized a contract with engineering firm Vepica USA Inc., Houston, a subsidiary of Caracas-based Vepica CA, to perform engineering definition for its proposed 55,000-b/sd grassroots Davis refinery to be built in the heart of southwestern North Dakota’s Bakken shale region, near Belfield, in Billings County, ND (OGJ Online, Dec. 23, 2015).
Refinery Safety: Worker injured by electric shock at Marathon’s Galveston Bay refinery
08.09.2016
A contract worker was injured by an electric shock on Sunday while working on a coking unit at Marathon Petroleum Corp’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas, a Marathon spokesman said.
Refinery Safety: US investigation faults Tesoro in worker injuries
08.04.2016
The US Chemical Safety Board said Tuesday workers were injured in incidents between 2010 and 2014 at Tesoro Corp’s San Francisco Bay-area refinery in Martinez, California because of a weak safety culture the company permitted to exist.
Refinery Operations: LyondellBasell to build high density polyethylene plant on US Gulf Coast
08.02.2016
LyondellBasell, a major plastics, chemical and refining company, has made the final investment decision to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the US Gulf Coast.
Pipeline Safety: Saskatchewan oil spill overshadows Husky’s production advances
07.26.2016
About 1,570 bbl of heavy oil and diluent leaked from Husky Energy Inc.’s Saskatchewan gathering system pipeline into the North Saskatchewan River on July 21, southeast of Lloydminster.
Refinery Operations: Par Pacific acquires Wyoming refinery
07.20.2016
Par Pacific Holdings Inc, Houston, has completed its previously announced deal with Black Elk Refining LLC for the purchase of Wyoming Refining Co., which operates an 18,000-b/d refinery in Newcastle, Wyo., and through its wholly owned subsidiary Wyoming Pipeline Co. LLC, related logistics assets in the region.
Refinery Safety: Regulators propose stricter safety rules for California refiners
07.18.2016
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) have proposed a series of heightened regulations aimed at strengthening workplace and environmental safety at the state’s oil refineries.
Refinery Documentation: Chemical Reform Law Expands Information Collection and Reporting for Regulated Businesses
07.13.2016
Legislation enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on June 22 gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) new authority to apply reporting and recordkeeping requirements on manufacturers and processors of chemicals in an effort to produce a more complete picture of chemical substances in active commerce in the United States.
New Refinery Construction: Regulators approve zoning permit for proposed ND refinery
07.11.2016
Local regulators have issued Meridian Energy Group Inc., Irvine, Calif., the first of two critical permits required for the company to move forward with development of its planned 55,000-b/sd Davis refinery in Billings County, ND, in the heart of southwestern North Dakota’s Bakken shale region (OGJ Online, Dec. 23, 2015).
Refinery Operations: Kansas refinery remains at reduced rates
07.05.2016
Production rates remain below normal levels at CVR Refining LP subsidiary Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing LLC’s (CRRM) 115,000-b/d refinery at Coffeyville, Kan., amid an ongoing outage on Magellan Midstream Partners LP’s 8-in. refined products pipeline.
Refinery Operations: Newest U.S. refinery sold at a loss, hurt by oil price slump
06.30.2016
A North Dakota refinery, the first to be built in the United States since the 1970s, has been sold at a loss due to elusive profits and low oil prices.
Refinery Safety: Explosion at Pascagoula, Mississippi gas plant
06.29.2016
An explosion occurred last night at approximately 11:30pm local time inside the Pascagoula, Mississippi natural gas processing plant operated by Enterprise Products Partners.
Refinery Operations: Tesoro acquires North Dakota refinery
06.28.2016
Tesoro Corp. affiliate Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co. LLC has completed a deal with WBI Energy Inc., a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group Inc., Bismarck, ND, to become 100% owner of Dakota Prairie Refining LLC (DPR), the former MDU Resources-Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP joint venture that operates a 20,000-b/d diesel refinery near Dickinson, ND.
Refinery Operations: Blackout risk raises concerns for Southern California refiners
06.23.2016
As a heat wave sweeps the region, concerns increase for power grids that rely heavily on natural gas for fuel.
Refinery Safety: Three workers injured during accident at ExxonMobil refinery
06.21.2016
Three workers suffered minor injuries when a crane collapsed at ExxonMobil’s Torrance refinery in California.
Rail Safety: Oregon DOT seeks federal suspension of oil-bearing trains in state
06.20.2016
Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) asked its federal counterpart to temporarily halt movement of trains carrying crude oil in the state until ways are found to prevent a track bolt failure that led to a June 3 derailment and 1,100-bbl oil spill on a Union Pacific track near the town of Mosier (OGJ Online, June 5, 2016).
Refinery Safety: California “Fire Tornado” Threatens ExxonMobil Facility
06.17.2016

ExxonMobil has evacuated non-essential personnel from its Las Flores Canyon facility in Santa Barbara County because of a raging wildfire that began Wednesday afternoon in the Los Padres National Forest.
Refinery Safety: Total found responsible over 2009 petrochemicals blast
06.15.2016
A French court handed down a ruling that stated that while human error was a direct cause of the explosion, it was not the sole cause.
The Environment: Marathon Petroleum, US reach agreement on refinery pollution
06.13.2016
Marathon Petroleum Corp. will spend $334.6 MM to cut pollution at refineries in five states, and pay a $326,500 civil penalty, according to the US Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).