-Chevron Phillips Chemical today broke ground on a polyethylene pilot plant at its R&D facility in Bartlesville, Okla. The facility will incorporate Chevron Phillips’ proprietary MarTECH loop slurry process production and MarTECH Advanced Dual Loop technology. The plant is expected to open in 2017.
-Boardwalk Pipeline Partners today said its Evangeline Ethylene Pipeline could start back up in the middle of June. Via Platts, the pipeline was down from October to December after a small leak was discovered. Boardwalk received approval to restart it at 80% capacity in January, but an incident near Orange, Texas, involving an inspection tool caused more issues. The Texas-to-Louisiana pipeline has a capacity of over 1 million mt/year.
-OPEC is denying a Wall Street Journal report claiming the cartel expects crude oil prices to remain below $100 for the next decade. The story cites an OPEC strategy report forecasting an oil price of $76 per barrel in 2025 under its most optimistic scenario. The story goes on to suggest OPEC could return to a production quota system it abandoned four years ago. A statement from the group said the statements made in the Wall Street Journal story “have no basis whatsoever.”
-The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a petition in a federal court that would block the federal government’s new crude-by-rail safety rules. Via the Associated Press, the API supports upgrading the nation’s fleet of oil carrying tank cars, but believes the timeline mandated by the Department of Transportation is too aggressive. The new rules require all existing tank cars that haul crude to be retrofitted with new safety features or phased out by 2020.
-PPG Industries announced Corporate Treasurer Eric Thiele will become vice president and business controller, global architectural coatings and protective and marine coatings. Vice President of Investor Relations Vince Morales will assume the role of treasurer while continuing in his current position.
