-BASF and Petronas will build a new 30,000-metric-tons-per-day 2-Ethylhexanoic Acid (2-EHAcid) plant at their existing joint venture site Kuantan, Malaysia, the companies announced today. Construction will begin in the second quarter of this year and the plant is expected to start up in the fourth quarter of 2016. BASF said the project is a response to growing demand in the Asia Pacific region for 2-EHAcid, which is used in the production of synthetic lubricants and oil additives.
-LyondellBasell Houston Refinery Manager Gregory Nevermann has written an open letter to the site’s striking employees asking them to return to work, FuelFix reports. Nevermann offered to let the employees return to work under the “same terms and conditions” they enjoyed prior to the strike. The letter also said LyondellBasell would continue to use trained and qualified employees throughout the strike. The United Steelworkers union and lead industry negotiator Shell resumed talks today after a weeklong layoff.
-Workers at Tesoro Logistics’ oil terminal at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., are threatening to join the refinery workers’ strike, Bloomberg reports. The strike has affected Tesoro Corp.’s refineries in Martinez and Carson, Calif., and Anacortes, Wash. A strike at the terminal would exacerbate slowdowns that have left cargo ships stranded off the West Coast.
-Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) has reopened its cross-country mainline four days after train carrying crude oil derailed 50 miles south of Timmins, Ontario. Via Reuters, CN warned shippers they should expect delays as traffic returns to normal. The derailment site was cleared Tuesday night, and CN is working with regulators to complete remediation work.
-Meanwhile, tank cars from a CSX oil train that derailed in West Virginia Monday were still burning today. A CSX spokeswoman said some burning cars were left to burn out and some were still leaking oil. No oil was detected in the nearby Kanawha River. More than 100 nearby residents remain evacuated from their homes. The tank cars involved in the incidents in Ontario and West Virginia were CPC 1232s, not the older DOT-111 cars that authorities are attempting to phase out due to the cars’ safety shortcomings.
