-Ineos Oxide has suspended plans to build an ethylene oxide, glycol and derivatives plant on the Gulf Coast, Platts reports. La Porte, Texas, was believed to be the planned location for the facility, but Ineos said in 2011 it was evaluating sites in Plaquemine, La., and Chocolate Bayou, Texas. Ineos did not say why it shelved the plan.
-U.S. entrepreneur Gary Klesch agreed to buy the 135,000-barrel-per-day Pembrokeshire refinery in Milford Haven, UK, from Murphy Oil. Murphy considered shutting the plant down earlier this year after negotiations to sell it to a private equity firm broke down. Klesch owns the Heide Refinery near Hamburg, Germany, in addition to chemical and steel assets in Europe.
-Voters in some states with tight Senate races heavily favor drilling in U.S. Arctic waters, FuelFix reports. Seventy-three percent of likely voters in Alaska — where Republican Dan Sullivan is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich — support Arctic drilling. In Louisiana, where Democrat Mary Landrieu is running against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy and retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness, 66% of likely voters support Arctic drilling.
-Chevron will temporarily delay a $12 billion deepwater gas project in Indonesia. Via Reuters, the company has reportedly discovered new gas reserves and plans to revise its calculations for the project.
-Net energy imports as a share of U.S. energy consumption fell to a 29-year low in the first six months of 2014, according to the Energy Information Administration. Energy production growth outpaced a 3% increase in energy consumption primarily caused by cold temperatures in January and February 2014. The growth in energy production was almost entirely attributable to petroleum (52%) and natural gas (27%).
