-Williams Northwest Pipeline is spending $69 million to repair a natural gas processing plant in Washington that was damaged in an explosion last March, the Associated Press reports. The blast occurred when a pressure vessel ruptured and threw a piece of shrapnel into a liquid natural gas storage tank. Five people were injured in the incident. The company said the plant resumed full operations in November and that repairs should be finished in April.
-A scientific journal published today linked a series of small earthquakes in Ohio to oil and gas wells operated by Houston-based Hilcorp Energy. Via FuelFix, the researchers examined seismic data and concluded hydraulic fracturing performed at the wells activated a previously unknown fault. Five earthquakes between 2.1 and 3.0 in magnitude occurred near Hilcorp’s wells in Poland Township last March. State authorities ordered the company to shut down its operations in the town.
-A looming supply battle between Canadian and Saudi Arabian heavy oil producers over the Gulf Coast refinery market could put further pressure on oil prices this year, Reuters reports. New oil pipelines will pump more Canadian heavy oil to the Gulf Coast just as Saudi Arabia cuts its export prices to retain market share amid the global oil price slump. Meanwhile, crude demand is expected to take a one-million-barrel-per-day hit during the spring refinery maintenance season.
-Ethanol producers could face production cuts this year as oil continues to slide and the price of corn rises. Via the Wall Street Journal, strong export demand and low corn prices made 2014 one of the most profitable years in the history of the ethanol industry. The price of corn, however, has jumped 23% since Sept. 30 and the oil plunge has made ethanol blending pricier for fuel producers. Some experts think ethanol demand could rise this year if U.S. motorists take advantage of lower gasoline prices.
-Meanwhile, Pacific Ethanol of California agreed to buy Illinois-based Aventine Renewable Energy in a stock-for-stock deal valued at about $200 million. Via the Chicago Sun Times, the merger will double Pacific Ethanol’s annual production and create the fifth-largest ethanol producer in the U.S. Aventine sold a mothballed corn ethanol plant in Indiana to Valero last March.
