-Irving Oil is said to be planning one of the biggest turnarounds in its history at its Saint John, New Brunswick, refinery this fall. Via CTV Atlantic, a local union spokesman said Irving Oil could bring in 3,000 construction workers above its regular workforce for the 60-day turnaround, with employment numbers peaking in October.
-Lithuanian firm Investimus Foris plans to invest $265 million to convert a mothballed biofuels refinery in Grant Parish, Louisiana, to an ammonia facility. Via IndustryWeek, the former Vanguard Synfuels refinery operated as an ammonia plant before Vanguard owned it. Construction is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2016 and wrap up in the third quarter of 2018.
-Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) has struck a deal to gain more control over midstream assets in the Bakken region that feed its Philadelphia refining complex. Via Reuters, PES in June entered a preliminary agreement with the parent company of BOE Midstream to acquire a controlling interest in a crude rail loading facility, nearly 1 million barrels of oil storage and a 39-mile pipeline in North Dakota. The 350,000-barrel-per-day PES refinery is the largest consumer of Bakken crude in the U.S.
-A stretch of the Houston Ship Channel was closed for two hours this morning after a small diesel spill, Reuters reports. The spill, which occurred in Greens Bayou, blocked vessel traffic to and from the nearby LyondellBasell, Valero and Petrobras refineries and Kinder Morgan’s Galena Park terminal complex.
-New oil sands pipeline projects in Canada could be in jeopardy in the wake of a 31,500-gallon spill in Alberta earlier this month. A pipeline owned by Nexen ruptured, covering an area the size of two football fields with an emulsion of bitumen, water and sand. Environmental opposition to pipeline projects has grown in Canada in recent years, resulting in the delays of high-profile projects proposed by TransCanada and Enbridge. Observers expect the Nexen spill to intensify the scrutiny.
