-As expected, President Obama today vetoed a bill that would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline. Via the Associated Press, the president gave no indication of whether or not he will eventually approve the pipeline himself. The American Petroleum Institute urged Obama to back approval of the pipeline and called his veto “politics as usual.”
-A vast majority of the crude that would be shipped via Keystone XL would be refined in the U.S., according to a new report by IHS. IHS Senior Director Aaron Brady said the idea that Keystone XL crude would be exported is a misconception, as the U.S. is the world’s largest market for heavy crudes.
-Enterprise Products Partners will assign a 45% working interest in its Panola Pipeline to be divided evenly between DCP Midstream Partners, MarkWest Energy Partners and a subsidiary of Anadarko. The 181-mile Panola Pipeline delivers NGLs from Carthage, Texas, to Mont Belvieu, Texas. Enterprise is planning to install 60 miles of new pipeline in the system — a project that will boost Panola’s capacity by 50,000 barrels per day. Enterprise will remain as operator and own the remaining 55% interest.
-BP on Monday appealed U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier’s January ruling on the amount of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Barbier ruled that 3.19 million barrels of oil were spilled, which could put BP on the hook for $13.7 billion in environmental fines. BP earlier this month unsuccessfully challenged the maximum fine it could face under the Clean Water Act.
-LyondellBasell today announced CFO Karyn Ovelmen is stepping down. She will continue in her role for up to three months while the company searches for a replacement. It is the latest in a series of management changes that have taken place at LyondellBasell since the December appointment of CEO Bob Patel. Patel credited Ovelmen with steering LyondellBasell through a “financial transformation” during which the firm improved its balance sheet, obtained investment grade ratings and created shareholder value.
