-Columbia Pipeline Group will invest $1.75 billion to transport up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica regions to high-demand markets. The project includes the construction of a new 160-mile pipeline in Ohio and West Virginia and the addition of compression to the Gulf Coast-to-Appalachia Columbia Gulf system. The firm expects to begin construction on both projects in the fall of 2016 and bring them into service the following year.
-U.S refiners LyondellBasell and Axeon Specialty Products will refrain from buying Kurdish crude oil until the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government agree on who has the right to sell it, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, two tankers carrying Kurdish oil remain anchored off the Gulf Coast.
-Chevron has placed two solar energy projects at its Kapolei, Hawaii, refinery on indefinite hold, citing their high costs. Via the Pacific Business News, both projects — a 4.5-acre solar photovoltaic system and a 15.5-acre solar thermal demonstration project — had reached the preliminary design phase before Chevron pulled the plug. A company spokesman said the projects had not been permanently scrapped.
-A government report released Monday found the EPA used faulty methods in assessing the costs and benefits of certain major rulings. Via The Hill, the Government Accountability Office alleges that the agency did not monetize the costs and benefits of the rules and relied on outdated figures to estimate potential effects on employment, among other findings. The seven rules cited in the study included those related to the Renewable Fuel Standard, industrial solid waste incineration units and emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks.
-Phillips 66 and Chevron Phillips Chemical will donate a combined $1.6 million to support the creation of a petrochemical academy in Sweeny, Texas. The program will allow high school students to take dual credit college courses in process technology, instrumentation, millwright, pipefitting and welding. The petrochemical academy will start classes this month.
