-Anadarko entered an agreement to sell its China unit to Hong-Kong-listed oil trader Brightoil Petroleum Holdings for $1.08 billion. Via Reuters, Brightoil owns oil tankers and storage facilities in China and has been in the hunt for upstream assets there for several years.
-Duke Energy, which yesterday announced it would exit its Midwest commercial generation business, believes it can get $1.5-$2.5 billion from selling its related assets. Duke decided to sell 13 plants in the Midwest — 11 of which are in Ohio — after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio denied a cost recovery request Feb. 13. Company CFO Steve Young said during a Tuesday conference call the total book value of the assets is $3.5 billion and that the company would incur a pre-tax impairment charge of between $1 billion and $2 billion in the first quarter to reflect the difference in book value and expected sale price.
-President Obama said the federal government would develop new fuel efficiency standards for trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles by March of next year. The new rules would be an extension of standards implemented three years ago and will apply to future model years.
-Northern Tier Energy hired David Lamp as its new president and CEO. Lamp previously served as COO of HollyFrontier Corp. and is the current board chairman of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers.
-Electric and gas utility Ameren announced yesterday Warner L. Baxter would become its new president, CEO and chairman upon the retirement of Thomas R. Voss. Baxter has served as head of Ameren Missouri since 2009. Voss will officially retire July 1.
