-BP will invest more than $200 million to upgrade its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants in South Carolina and Geel, Belgium. BP expects the PTA1 unit at the Cooper River facility near Charleston, S.C., to be upgraded by mid-2016. The project is expected to create about 200 construction jobs at its peak. The Cooper River site is the largest PTA producer in the Americas.
-Meanwhile, BP has asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to cap its potential Deepwater-Horizon-spill-related penalties at $12.3 billion. Via FuelFix, the firm said higher fines from the EPA and the Coast Guard should be disregarded because the agencies do not have the authority to raise maximum Clean Water Act penalties above Congress’s $3,000-per-barrel cap. Barbier’s recent ruling of “gross negligence” on the part of BP in the 2010 disaster could leave the company liable for $18 billion in fines.
-A fire broke out in the chemical manufacturing portion of the Shell Motiva refinery in Norco, La., late last week, causing the shutdown of a furnace. Via Argus, the fire was contained and extinguished with no injuries reported. Normal operations continued, except in the damage assessment area. The cause is under investigation.
-Energy Transfer Partners and Regency Energy Partners will move forward with the construction of a 533-mile joint venture NGLs pipeline from the Permian Basin to Mont Belvieu, Texas. The firms will also convert an existing NGL pipeline in West Texas to crude oil and condensate service. The project is estimated to cost between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion. The new pipeline is expected to be in service by the third quarter of 2016, with completion of the conversion project to follow in the first quarter of 2017.
-Regency is reportedly in talks to buy Talisman Energy’s pipeline operations in the Marcellus Shale region for more than $1 billion. Via the Globe and Mail, a deal has not been finalized and Talisman could still select another buyer. The assets include about 249 miles of gathering and transmission pipelines served by seven compression and gas dehydration facilities.
