-Marathon Petroleum today announced its Speedway subsidiary agreed to acquire Hess Corp.’s retail business for $2.9 billion. The transaction will include all of Hess’ retail locations, of which there are more than 1,200 located in 16 states. The deal between Speedway and Hess will combine the nation’s fourth- and fifth-largest convenience store operators, respectively. Marathon CEO Gary Heminger said the purchase would provide an outlet for 200,000 barrels per day of assured sales from the company’s refining system.
-Sanchez Energy agreed to acquire some 106,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford shale from Royal Dutch Shell for $639 million, doubling the former’s proved reserves and production. The acreage to be purchased is located in Dimmit, LaSalle and Webb counties in south Texas.
-A new poll released by the American Petroleum Institute shows large, bipartisan majorities of registered voters believe natural gas exports will be a boon to the U.S. economy. Seventy percent of voters agree that exporting natural gas helps create jobs and 60% say it helps reduce the trade deficit. Sixty-four percent agree that exporting natural gas helps strengthen U.S. energy security.
-Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday called for the U.S. to swap light crude and condensates in exchange for heavier foreign crude — an idea that would serve as a temporary substitute for a removal of the U.S. ban on crude oil exports. Via Platts, analysts say such a swap, which would involve Light Louisiana Sweet crude and Mexican Maya, would require a sustained, narrow price spread in order for it to make economic sense for producers. The spread between the two crudes is typically higher than the $6-8 range needed to make a swap scenario viable.
-California-based Pattern Energy received federal approval to build a 400-mile transmission line connecting Texas to the power grid in the southeastern U.S. Pattern says its Southern Cross project could expand Texas’ wind energy industry by giving it access to new markets.
