-PBF Energy today said it shut down the FCCU at its Delaware City, Delaware, refinery after a compressor malfunction led to flaring and a small fire. The fire was extinguished, and no injuries were reported. PBF said it would continue to operate unaffected units at reduced rates.
-The price of U.S. crude oil dipped below $40 per barrel today for the first time in six years. Via FuelFix, the oil price has been in steady decline for the past seven weeks amid oversupply and anxiety over China’s economy. Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that the recent outage at BP’s Whiting, Indiana, refinery and heavy refinery maintenance activity expected in the fall are contributing to downward pressure on prices.
-Irving Oil has stopped processing Bakken Shale crude at its Saint John refinery and replaced it with cheaper crudes from overseas. Via the Wall Street Journal, it is now less expensive for East Coast refiners to import crude by sea than to ship North American oil in via rail. Irving Oil was shipping nearly 100,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude just two years ago. The Saint John refinery will begin a $200 million turnaround in September.
-NextEra Energy and Southern Star Central Corp. entered a joint venture and announced an open season for the proposed Sooner Trails natural gas pipeline. The 250-mile pipeline would connect new receipt points in seven Oklahoma counties to interstate and instrastate markets in Bryan County, Oklahoma, and Lamar County, Texas. Southern Star CEO Jerry Morris said the pipeline would help ease constraints on developing natural gas resources in the SCOOP and STACK production plays.
-Marathon Petroleum appointed Tom Kaczynski vice president of finance and treasurer, effective Aug. 31. Kaczynski previously served as vice president and treasurer at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. He has also held senior finance positions at Ford Motor Co., Visteon Corp. and Affinia Group.
