-Enterprise Products Partners on Saturday began maintenance on propylene splitter No. 1 at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, complex, Platts reports. Enterprise said the unit would flare 1,000 pounds of propylene, 1,500 pounds of propane, 1,500 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 2,000 pounds of carbon monoxide. Maintenance-related emissions were set to end today.
-A fire at Chile state oil company ENAP’s Aconcagua refinery injured two workers Tuesday morning. The company said today the fire was under control and that the workers were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
-Freeport LNG secured $11 billion in financing for the first two trains of its natural gas liquefaction and LNG loading facility on Quintana Island near Freeport, Texas. The company issued notices to CB&I and Zachry Industrial to begin building the two trains. Freeport LNG broke ground on the facility Nov. 10.
-The oil price slump will force exploration and production companies to cut their capital spending by at least 20% next year, according to a new report by Moody’s. Via FuelFix, companies operating in the prolific Eagle Ford shale, the Permian Basin and the Williston Basin will be best positioned to weather the storm. Moody’s said oil production will increase by 10% in 2015 — a slower growth rate than the double-digit percentages seen in recent years.
-Shale gas wells became the largest source of natural gas production in the U.S. last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gross withdrawals from shale gas wells increased from 5 billion cubic feet per day in 2007 to 33 billion cubic feet per day in 2013. That represents 40% of total natural gas production. Nonshale natural gas well production decreased 25% between 2007 and 2013.
