-Private equity-backed logistics and trading company TrailStone has acquired U.S. Oil and Refining Co. — the assets of which include a 42,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Tacoma, Wash. The purchase, which also includes several midstream assets, marks TrailStone’s first foray into the crude oil and refined products market.
-The former executives of Copano Energy, which was purchased by Kinder Morgan for $3.2 billion last year, are starting a new oil and gas pipeline company. Former Copano CEO Bruce Northcutt told FuelFix the new firm — known as Navitas Midstream Partners — would use a $500 million investment from Warburg Pincus to fund organic and acquisitive growth. Three other former Copano executives have joined Northcutt at Navitas, which is based in The Woodlands, Texas.
-A federally appointed chemical safety committee recommended modernizing OSHA’s Process Safety Management standard and the EPA’s Risk Management Program in a report to President Obama released on Friday. The group also advocated for stiffer monetary and criminal penalties handed down by OSHA. The group was formed in the wake of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion of April 2013.
-The EPA on Friday extended the deadline for complying with its 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by three months to Sept. 30. The agency said its lateness in promulgating the 2014 RFS necessitated an extended deadline for last year’s mandate. The 2013 RFS required 16.55 billion gallons of biofuel to be blended into transportation fuels.
-Royal Dutch Shell has enlisted the help of a headhunting firm to find its next board chairman. Incumbent Jorma Ollila has decided to step down due to corporate governance rules, sources told the Financial Times.
