-ExxonMobil may not have its explosion-damaged Torrance, Calif., refinery back at full capacity until the end of the year, the L.A. Times reports. The refinery is operating at less than 20% of its capacity in the wake of the February blast, which was triggered by over-pressurization in an electrostatic precipitator. ExxonMobil has asked regulators for permission to use an older pollution control unit to temporarily bring the refinery back to full capacity. The older unit, however, would put the refinery out of compliance with state emissions rules.
-Tesoro is set to contest a fine levied on the company in the wake of a 2010 explosion at its Anacortes, Washington, refinery. Via the Associated Press, an industrial appeals judge will hear the case starting Tuesday. Tesoro was fined $2.3 million by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries after the blast, which killed seven workers.
-Maintenance work on the catalytic cracker at PDVSA’s Amuay refinery will be wrapped up in a week and a half, Reuters reports. The unit was shut down in June. PDVSA said all other units at the Amuay refinery and the nearby Cardon refinery are operating normally.
-Leak detection equipment on a Nexen Energy pipeline that spilled 31,000 barrels of bitumen, sand and water in Alberta last week failed, according to a report by CBC News. The pipeline was less than one year old. The spill covered two football fields’ worth of land near Fort McMurray that is used by indigenous people in the area.
-Calpine has agreed to buy Houston-based Champion Energy Services, which has 2.5 million residential electricity customers, for $240 million. Via FuelFix, Calpine is one of the few top power generation companies without a residential retail arm. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.
