-North Dakota set an oil production record for the sixth year in a row in 2013, state officials said Friday. Total crude production reached 313.5 million barrels last year — almost 29% higher than production in 2012. North Dakota is second only to Texas in oil production among U.S. states.
-Whiting Petroleum was battling a drilling fluid leak at its oil well in McKenzie County, N.D., late Friday. Company and state officials told Reuters the leak was sprung late Thursday after a blowout preventer failed. The well is spewing between 50 and 70 barrels per day of fracking fluid, but the leak has been contained and no oil has entered the water in nearby Cherry Creek.
-CONSOL Energy announced last week it signed a deal to sell ethane to Ineos Europe. Ineos last year entered an ethane purchase deal with Range Resources and secured infrastructure agreements with Sunoco Logistics, Evergas and TGE Engineering. The ethane will be transported via Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline and shipped to Europe from the Marcus Hook port on the Delaware River.
-Platts reports that the harsh winter weather experienced by much of the U.S. this year has snarled petrochemical deliveries. Disruptions in the Northeast and Midwest are no surprise, but unusually chilly conditions in the Gulf Coast region in January and February have made this year particularly painful. Platts report notes that Equistar, which has a significant Gulf Coast presence, had to declare a force majeure event for all of its North American polyethylene grades.
-Occidental Petroleum elected former SEC Chairman Elisse B. Walter to its board of directors. Walter was appointed SEC chairman by President George W. Bush in 2008 and served until last year. Oxy last week announced it was spinning off its California business into a new independent, publicly traded company.
