-A contractor lost both of his legs while working at ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge, La., refinery on Thanksgiving Day. Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the man was treated at the scene and taken to a local hospital. The incident occurred one week after a worker was killed at a construction site at ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, olefins plant.
-Suncor Energy recently completed 11 weeks of planned maintenance on two oil sands upgraders near Fort McMurray, Alberta, the Oil & Gas Journal reports.
-Occidental Petroleum today announced it had completed the spin-off of subsidiary California Resources Corp. The separation was announced in February and approved by Oxy’s board of directors in October.
-Marathon Oil today announced a new oil and gas discovery in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The Jisik-1 well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 15,000 feet. A testing program yielded a flow rate of 6,100 barrels per day of oil and multiple gas zones flowed at a combined rate of 10-15 million cubic feet per day. The discovery was made in the Harir Block, in which Marathon Oil has a 45% working interest.
-OPEC’s decision last week to retain its current production levels caused the price of West Texas Intermediate crude to fall to $65 per barrel. Forbes columnist Christopher Helman said that while the stocks of a number of U.S. independent E&P firms plunged, there are plenty who are strong enough to survive amid the decline. Drillers working in shale “sweet spots” may even continue to increase their production.
