-The EPA is not quite ready to take action on greenhouse gas limits for refineries, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Thursday. Via FuelFix, McCarthy told an audience at the IHS CERAWeek energy summit the agency is focused on setting GHG emission limits on power plants.
-The oil industry has thus far failed to make a strong case for removing the ban on crude exports, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said yesterday at the IHS CERAWeek energy summit. Via the Dallas Morning News, Moniz said there are still a lot of unanswered questions related to eliminating the ban that “have not been addressed in a clear way.”
-The Baton Rouge, La., Advocate reported yesterday Toronto firm Avalon Rare Metals is getting closer to building a planned hydrometallurgical refinery in Geismar, La. The company announced on Monday it secured a deal with Solvay in which the latter would provide design, engineering and commissioning technical support for the Geismar plant. The plant would cost an estimated $300 million and employ 175 people if built.
-SEMGroup Corp. and Rose Rock Midstream named Carlin Conner as their new president and CEO, effective April 1. Conner most recently served as managing director at Oiltanking, a post he left in November.
