-Regional air quality authorities delayed a decision to allow ExxonMobil to ramp up production at its Torrance, California, refinery in the wake of a Sept. 6 acid leak. Via FuelFix, state Democrats asked the U.S. Chemical Safety Board to include the leak in its broader investigation of a February explosion that damaged the refinery. ExxonMobil in August asked the South Coast Air Quality Management District for permission to use an old electrostatic precipitator to temporarily replace the one damaged in the blast. The refinery is running at 20% capacity.
-Enterprise Products Partners has begun shipping crude oil on its new Rancho II pipeline from Sealy, Texas, to Houston, Reuters reports. Enterprise said construction wrapped up in August.
-Meanwhile, Kinder Morgan extended the open season for its proposed $4 billion Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline project. The pipeline would deliver NGLs and condensates from the aforementioned shale plays to delivery points on the Texas Gulf Coast, including a Kinder Morgan dock on the Houston Ship Channel. The project would entail the abandonment and conversion of 964 miles of natural gas service on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, 200 miles of new pipeline from Louisiana to Texas, new storage in Ohio and 120 miles of new laterals.
-The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved a bill to lift the U.S. ban on crude oil exports. Via Platts, the bill could be voted on by the full House later this month, but President Obama is likely to veto any such legislation if it clears the Senate — which is not a given. A White House spokesman said the Obama Administration would not support the bill because any change to the export policy should be made by the Department of Commerce.
-Calumet Specialty Products Partners earlier this week appointed Flint Hills Resources Vice President of Operations Timothy Go its new CEO, effective Jan. 1. During his time at Flint Hills, Go led the integration of a $2 billion propane dehydrogenation plant and managed multiple specialty chemical plants. Go also managed an ExxonMobil refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, early on in his career.