ExxonMobil sells Nigerian retail business

ExxonMobil Corp. has agreed to sell its retail business in Nigeria to Nipco Investments Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nipco PLC, Abuja. Source: News

EPA guidelines aim to help curb oil, gas VOC releases in US Northeast

The US Environmental Protection Agency issued final control techniques guidelines (CTGs) for reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from existing oil and gas operations in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic US states on Oct. 20. The CTGs are not regulations, but recommendations to state and local air agencies as they determine what limits apply to covered […]

LG Chem plans ethylene expansion at Daesan complex

LG Chem Ltd., Seoul, is undertaking a 3-year program to expand ethylene capacity at its Daesan petrochemical complex in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Source: News

US independent refiners enter merger talks

Delek US Holdings Inc., Brentwood, Tenn., has made a formal offer to buy Alon Israel Oil Co. Ltd.’s US-based refining and marketing subsidiary Alon USA Energy Inc., Dallas, which owns and operates a 74,000-b/sd refinery in Krotz Springs, La., a 73,000 b/sd refinery at Big Spring, Tex., as well as an idled 70,000-b/sd, three-refinery complex […]

Study plots 1984-2008 greater sage grouse population declines in Wyoming

Greater sage grouse populations in Wyoming declined 2.5%/year between 1984 and 2008 as oil and gas production grew there, a new study by the US Geological Survey and Colorado State University found. It used annual counts of male sage grouse at communal breeding sites known as leks in relation to wells’ density and areas of […]

MARKET WATCH: NYMEX crude oil holds above $50/bbl

Light, sweet crude oil prices dropped more than $1/bbl to settle above $50/bbl for the November contract on the New York market Oct. 20 while US natural gas future prices also fell after a government report showed a weekly injection into gas storage levels. Source: News

Blocks off Bangladesh draw interest

Three international oil companies have expressed interest in two deepwater and one shallow-water blocks in the Bay of Bengal offered in a bidding round in Bangladesh. Source: News

EPA, states urged to defer more methane rules until EPA’s ICR ends

The US Environmental Protection Agency and states should not impose more methane control regulations and guidelines on the domestic oil and gas industry until EPA completes its Oil and Gas Information Collection Request (ICR) and subsequent analyses, an American Petroleum Institute official suggested. Source: News

Petrobras inks deal to shed Japanese downstream assets

Brazil’s state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has found a buyer for its Japanese refining business, which includes subsidiary Nansei Sekiyu KK’s 100,000-b/d Nishihara refinery on Japan’s southwestern island of Okinawa. Source: News