-Platts reports that some refiners are delaying planned maintenance due to the United Steelworkers’ strike and healthy refining margins. Motiva has pushed back planned work at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery due to a lack of preparation time, a source says. Meanwhile, refining margins are strong, potentially discouraging some companies from taking units offline. It remains to be seen how today’s news that Shell and the United Steelworkers reached a tentative deal to end the strike will affect other planned maintenance activity.
-Canada proposed new rules for rail cars carrying crude that mandate stronger builds and the phase-out of newer cars that were involved in a recent string of derailments. Via Bloomberg, the proposal would create a new class of tank car specifically designed to carry flammable liquids. Oil-carrying tank cars would have head shields, an extra layer of extreme heat protection and hulls at least 9/16ths of an inch thick. The new tank cars would replace DOT-111s by May 2017. CPC-1232 cars, which have recently replaced DOT-111s, would be phased out by 2025.
-The company working a West Texas oil well involved in a fatal explosion Tuesday was cited by OSHA for a serious violation last year. Via the Midland Reporter-Telegram, OSHA inspected Mason Well Service in February 2014 and found a serious violation related to flammable and combustible liquids. The company was fined for the violation. OSHA’s database shows no violations by well owner Parsley Energy within the past five years. The explosion killed three Mason Well Service employees.
-Wind power could supply 20% of America’s energy by 2030 pending favorable cost dynamics and government actions, according to a new report by the Department of Energy. Via FuelFix, such a large increase would depend on decreases in the cost of wind power equipment, increases in fossil fuel costs and the implementation of policies that support wind energy development. Wind power currently supplies 4.5% of the country’s electricity.
-American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers President Charles Drevna said a recent Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) overhaul proposal by the advanced biofuel lobby “adds to further uncertainty, unnecessary costs and market distortion.” Drevna said while refiners were “heartened” by the Advanced Biofuels’ Association’s (ABFA) stance on the RFS, consumers would bear higher fuel costs under the group’s proposal. Drevna also disputed the ABFA’s claim that the RFS ends in 2022. Advanced biofuel makers fear an end to the RFS would discourage outside investment in critical technology.
