-Authorities are investigating a fire that occurred at a chemical facility in Waller County, Texas, late Saturday. Via the Houston Chronicle, 12 fire departments responded to the incident at a Flowchem facility in Brookshire, Texas, and contained the fire. No injuries were reported, and no workers were on the site when the fire started. Flowchem produces chemicals that aid the flow of oil and other liquids through pipelines.
-Refineries and chemical plants are hoping to fill the “talent gap” created by retiring employees by hiring recently laid off upstream workers, according to a new study by Proco Global. Via FuelFix, downstream companies are particularly interested in chemical engineers with supply chain experience, which can transfer across sectors. Proco Global said that while many of the workers affected by mass layoffs have been lower-level employees, upstream senior managers could seek jobs in downstream if the oil and gas downturn persists.
-Meanwhile, oil prices fell to their lowest point since April today. Via CNBC, U.S. crude settled at $52.53 per barrel amid economic turmoil in Greece and actions by China to stimulate its weak stock market.
-Husky Energy will suspend operations at its Lloydminster Upgrader for six to eight weeks to repair the facility’s coke drums. The company said the unplanned maintenance would not affect upstream heavy oil production. Husky also said it is continuing to ramp up production at its Sunrise Energy Project in Northeast Alberta, with increasing production volumes averaging 5,000-5,500 barrels per day at the end of June.
-Meanwhile, Murphy Oil shut in 33 heavy oil wells in Alberta after regulators found the company was not capturing gases from the wells properly. Via the Financial Post, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) found 16 of the wells were non-compliant and the company shut in 17 others that were venting gas. The wells will remain shut in until the AER approves a plan by Murphy Oil to fix the problem.