-Chevron Phillips is restarting ethylene unit No. 22 at its Sweeny complex in Old Ocean, Texas. Via Platts, the unit was shut down on Sunday after an equipment malfunction in a propylene compressor caused it to trip, resulting in gas flaring. Chevron Phillips said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality restart-related emissions would be complete by Thursday.
-Magellan Midstream Partners extended an open season for its proposed Saddlehorn Pipeline, which would carry Niobrara crude oil to Cushing, Okla. The 600-mile, 400,000-barrels-per-day pipeline would extend from Platteville, Colo., to Magellan’s storage facilities in Cushing. The pipeline would begin operations in the second quarter of 2016.
-Linn Energy closed on the sale of its Granite Wash and Cleveland shale play assets in Texas and Oklahoma to affiliates of EnerVest and FourPoint Energy. The $1.95 billion in proceeds from the sale will be used to help pay off $1.3 billion in debt financing for Linn’s recent $2.3 billion acquisition of assets from Devon Energy.
-The U.S. Maritime Administration is seeking comment on a proposal to allow crude oil and natural gas exports from offshore deepwater ports. Via Reuters, the agency issued a notice in the Federal Register in October that has gone largely unnoticed. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who has been an outspoken proponent of lifting the U.S. ban on crude oil exports — wrote a letter to the agency in support of its proposal.
-Canadian heavy crude dropped below $40 per barrel for the first time in five years. The price drop is unlikely to deter oil companies from bringing new production online, however. Via Bloomberg, 14 new oil sands projects are slated to start up next year with a combined capacity of 266,240 barrels per day. An analyst at IHS Energy told Bloomberg new oil sands projects under construction would likely move forward due to the investments involved and the potential harm to future output.
