-ExxonMobil planned to restore normal processing rates at its Baytown, Texas, refinery in the wake of a vessel collision that closed part of the Houston Ship Channel for three days. A four-mile stretch from Light 86 to the Fred Hartman Bridge was shut down Monday after a Danish tanker collided with a Liberian bulk carrier. The channel was reopened Thursday. An ExxonMobil spokeswoman told Bloomberg the refinery would be receiving crude shipments soon.
-PDVSA resumed operations at its Amuay refinery Thursday after a vapor issue arose earlier this week. Via Reuters, the refinery’s 64,000-barrel-per-day flexicoker is still down.
-Petrobras this week began to start up the second of two diesel hydrotreaters at its Rnest refinery near Recife, Brazil, the Oil & Gas Journal reports.
-U.S. LNG export terminal developers are delaying final investment decisions on their projects due to the fall in energy prices, Reuters reports. Excelerate Energy has suspended plans for its LNG project in Texas and BG Group’s decision on a terminal in Lake Charles, La., has been pushed back to 2016. Analysts previously expected three or four projects to reach final investment decisions this year. The U.S. is still expected to become a top supplier of LNG in the next five years due to the ongoing construction of the Sabine Pass, Freeport LNG, Cove Point and Cameron LNG facilities.
-Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm on Thursday said the U.S. anti-fracking movement was funded by Russia. Hamm noted that organized opposition to hydraulic fracturing has recently sprung up in countries such as Bulgaria and Ukraine that had previously shown little environmental concern. Both countries are heavily dependent on Russia for their energy supplies. Hamm’s comments echoed similar assertions made last year by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
