-Williams Partners agreed to acquire the Canadian operations of Williams for $1.2 billion. The assets include an oil sands offgas processing plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, about 260 miles of pipelines and NGL/olefins fractionation and butylene/butane splitter facilities in Redwater, Alberta.
-Apache Corp. announced during its investor day it would spend $8.5 billion on exploration and production in 2014. Chairman and CEO G. Steven Farris said nearly two-thirds of that amount would be invested in North America.
-Opponents of TransCanada’s Keystone XL project are taking a new tack in the wake of the State Department’s recent finding that the pipeline will have little impact on global emissions. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) criticized the report Wednesday, saying in a press conference it didn’t address potential health impacts such as cancer and heart disease.
-Meanwhile, the southern leg of Keystone XL is now carrying Canadian crude to the Texas coast via the company’s original Keystone line. TransCanada CEO Russ Girling told FuelFix during a Wednesday startup ceremony that his company will still be able to deliver oil from Canada and the Bakken shale without the northern leg, albeit less efficiently.
-Chevron Phillips appointed Stephen Goff plant manager of its facility in Borger, Texas, effective March 1. Goff has served as operations manager for the plant since 2012. He replaces John Kmetz, who was recently appointed general manager of asset integrity and manufacturing for Chevron Phillips.
