-U.S. refiners added 101,000 barrels per day of capacity in 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration’s newly released Refinery Capacity Report. Marathon Petroleum became the third largest refiner in the U.S. by capacity with its purchase of BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery, behind Valero and Exxon Mobil and ahead of Phillips 66 and Motiva. The five companies represent 45% of all U.S. refining capacity.
-Cheniere Energy signed a 20-year agreement to sell LNG to Woodside Energy Trading Singapore from its Corpus Christi, Texas, Liquefaction Project. Woodside will buy 850,000 tons per year of LNG from the facility’s second train, which is expected to begin deliveries in 2019.
-Linn Energy agreed to acquire $2.3 billion in assets from Devon Energy. The deal includes 900,000 net acres across the Rocky Mountains, the Mid-Atlantic region, east and south Texas and north Louisiana. The area includes approximately 4,500 wells currently producing 275 million cubic feet equivalent per day — 80% of which is natural gas. Linn is also planning to sell its assets in the Granite Wash and Cleveland plays in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.
-PPG Industries furthered its expansion in Mexico by agreeing to acquire Mexico City-based architectural and industrial coatings company Consorcio Comex for $2.3 billion. Comex manufactures coatings and related products in Mexico and sells them in Mexico and Central America through approximately 3,600 stores. PPG in March announced it would expand its coatings facility in San Juan Del Rio, Mexico.
-Murphy Oil has reportedly agreed in principle to sell its Milford Haven refinery in the UK to an oil entrepreneur. Murphy in April said it was considering shutting the beleaguered plant down after a breakdown in negotiations to sell it to a private equity firm. Murphy later stopped buying crude to be processed at the site.
