-The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Friday U.S. refined petroleum product exports increased by more than 173% between 2005 and 2013. Total production of petroleum and other liquids is expected to increase by 31% between 2011 and 2014, the EIA said. China became the world’s largest importer of crude oil and other liquids in September.
-The California Independent System Operators board on Thursday approved 30 transmission projects at a total cost of $1.83 billion through its yearly transmission plan. Via Platts, 14 reliability projects costing approximately $486.4 million are in Pacific Gas and Electric’s service territory, and 11 projects costing $584 million are in San Diego Gas & Electric’s territory. Two projects costing $626 million are in Southern California Edison’s territory.
-BP and Louisiana elected officials on Friday celebrated the grand opening of the BP Integrated Production Technologies Building at Fletcher Technical Community College in Houma, La. Louisiana dignitaries such as Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Congressman Bill Cassidy and others attended a ceremony at the new 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art lab. BP and the state of Louisiana each invested $4 million to construct the facility, which will include space for offshore specialty training and other advanced coursework.
-Weatherford agreed to sell its pipeline and specialty services business to Baker Hughes for $250 million. Weatherford is currently in the process of pruning non-core assets from its portfolio.
-Via FuelFix, Marathon Oil has bolstered its presence in some of the most productive shale plays in the U.S. The company now has 28 rigs in the Eagle Ford, Bakken and Oklahoma Woodford shales. Booming production in the Eagle Ford helped Marathon grow its profits by 16% in the fourth quarter of last year.
