Light, sweet crude prices for June delivery gained 70¢ on the New York market, closing Apr. 28 at $46.03/bbl and marking a second consecutive record settlement for 2016. Brent crude oil for June delivery closed above $48/bbl, and the Brent June contract was set to expire with Apr. 29 closing. Source: News

Suncor Energy Inc. is to buy an additional 5% of Syncrude Canada Ltd. for $937 million (Can.) from the Canadian subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corp. The purchase will bring Suncor’s interest in Syncrude to 53.74% and close out Murphy’s participation (OGJ Online, Dec. 9, 2015). Source: News

Nova Chemicals Corp. has halted construction on the Polyethylene 1 (PE1) plant expansion project at its ethylene and PE complex in Joffre, near Read Deer, Alta., following an industrial accident at the site. Source: News

The author of a US House bill that aims to facilitate US exports of LNG applauded its adoption as an amendment to the fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill by the Armed Services Committee on Apr. 27. “That greatly improved its chances of being enacted because the president isn’t about to veto the Department of Defense […]

Henry Kusch, formerly general manager of Chevron Corp.’s Escravos gas-to-liquids venture in Nigeria, has assumed the role of general manager of firm’s El Segundo, Calif., refinery. Source: News

Eni SPA is moving forward with plans to build the first of two natural gas plants in Egypt as part of its program to increase processing capacity for gas from its deepwater Zohr development in the Mediterranean offshore Shorouk concession. Source: News

Shareholders of Malaysian company Sona Petroleum Bhd. have voted against the company’s proposed acquisition of Stag oil field in the Carnarvon basin offshore Western Australia. Source: News

ConocoPhillips has reduced its 2016 capital expenditures guidance to $5.7 billion from $6.4 billion, primarily driven by reduced deepwater exploration activity, deferrals, and lower costs across its portfolio. Source: News

The Natural Gas Council, an organization of groups from all phases of the US gas industry, released an independent guide to 75 different studies of methane emissions from gas systems. The ICF International report, “Finding the Facts on Methane Emissions: A Guide to the Literature,” found several recurring findings. Source: News

Light, sweet crude prices for June delivery gained by more than $1 to close Apr. 27 at $45.33/bbl—the highest front-month settlement since Nov. 4, 2015. Analysts attributed that in part to a weekly government report showing US oil production has declined for 7 consecutive weeks. Source: News