-Tesoro Logistics agreed to acquire QEP Field Services for $2.5 billion. The deal adds natural gas gathering and processing assets in the Rockies, Uinta and North Dakota to Tesoro’s portfolio. Tesoro also picked up a 58% ownership interest in QEP Midstream Partners.
-Meanwhile, Shell Midstream Partners today launched an initial public offering. Shell Midstream owns stakes in four onshore and offshore pipelines in Texas and Louisiana. Shell is the first major oil company to spin off its midstream assets into a master limited partnership.
-Enterprise Products Partners extended the open season for its proposed oil pipeline from the Williston Basin in North Dakota to Cushing, Okla., to Nov. 14.
-A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that allowing U.S. crude oil to be exported would lower consumer fuel prices, echoing similar findings by other organizations. The GAO acknowledged that removing the ban on oil exports could raise domestic crude prices and reduce refiners’ margins. One stakeholder interviewed by the GAO said refinery closures would be unlikely due to refiners’ access to cheap natural gas as an energy source.
-The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal from 11 Louisiana parishes to revive their wildlife damage claims in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Via Fox Business, the claims were dismissed via lower court rulings. BP estimates it has spent more than $27 billion on coastal restoration and damage claims.
