-LyondellBasell restarted the propylene oxide-styrene monomer unit at its Channelview, Texas, plant after a six-week turnaround in mid-June, Platts reports. U.S. demand for benzene improved in late June after the unit went back on line.
-The American Petroleum Institute is set to issue a new recommended practice (RP) that will focus on creating a companywide focus on pipeline safety. Via the Oil & Gas Journal, API worked with the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to develop the RP. U.S. lawmakers have questioned federal regulators about pipeline integrity in the wake of the recent oil spill in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
-The U.S. oil-rig count grew by 12 in the past week — the first increase since December. Via the Wall Street Journal, the increase suggests some oil producers have succeeded in cutting costs and are now comfortable expanding their operations. The number of oil and gas rigs increased by two last week.
-Denver-based FourPoint Energy agreed to acquire $840 million in Western Anadarko Basin assets in Oklahoma from Chesapeake Energy. Via the Denver Business Journal, FourPoint will get about 1,500 producing wells in the Cleveland, Tonkawa and Marmaton rock formations that produce 21,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The deal will boost FourPoint’s Western Anadarko Basin footprint to 4,600 wells with the equivalent of 260 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production.
-Union Pacific will charge shippers $1,200 per car to transport oil with older DOT-111 model tank cars. Via Reuters, the surcharge is a response to stronger crude-by-rail safety standards issued by the federal government. Current standards require DOT-111s to be retrofitted with thicker hulls or phased out by the end of the decade. BNSF Railway instituted a similar DOT-111 surcharge in January.
