-Shell is reportedly seeking a partner to buy a $1 billion stake in its Houston-to-Houma pipeline, which is thought to be valued at approximately $3 billion. Bloomberg reports that the company is attempting to recover costs associated with reversing the pipeline and fund high-return drilling projects. Shell announced in December it had completed a reversal of the previously named Houma-to-Houston pipeline to deliver Eagle Ford and Bakken crude to the Gulf Coast.
-The Baton Rouge, La., Advocate reports that Taminco Corp. and Balchem Corp. are planning to build and operate a choline chloride facility in St. Gabriel, La. The New York-based Balchem already has choline chloride production assets in St. Gabriel, and it will contribute those to the joint venture with Taminco. The facility is expected to start up next year.
-Via Platts, Axiall is planning to restart its fire-damaged Lake Charles, La., PHH VCM plant in late March, the company told its customers Tuesday. Axiall shut the unit down after a Dec. 20 blaze, the cause of which remains under investigation.
-Birmingham, Ala., E&P firm Energen is putting its natural gas utility Alagasco on the block, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Alagasco serves 425,000 customers throughout north and central Alabama and could be worth more than $1 billion.
-Mexico’s newfound openness to international energy companies could bring $1.2 trillion in economic development for border towns on both sides, according to a BBVA Compass analyst (via FuelFix).
