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Americas

Sempra expects US gas-export approval in 2013

The company applied in December with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval of the project, and it expects to obtain the agency's approval by the end of this year, said Sempra CEO Debra Reed. The gas-export terminal is designed to export up to 12 million tpy of natural gas.

Shell to acquire Repsol gas liquefaction facilities in Peru, Trinidad and Tobago

Long rumored, the acquisition includes LNG assets outside of North America, including supply positions in Peru and Trinidad & Tobago, for a cash consideration of $4.4 billion. Shell will also assume balance sheet liabilities predominantly reflecting leases for LNG ship charters of currently $1.8 billion.

TPC approves engineering design phase for Texas butadiene expansion

This approval follows the successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources. TPC Group said it anticipates that its engineering design optimization will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.

Transocean accused of improper training, subpar maintenance in Gulf spill

Information about close calls on other rigs wasn't passed along, a lawyer said, adding that just a month before the April 2010 accident, the Transocean crew on the Deepwater Horizon failed to catch a sudden surge of natural gas from the well they were drilling, indicating the company had "a chronic problem."

Magellan to buy refined product pipelines of Plains in Rocky Mountain region

The assets to be sold from Plains include a pipeline system that delivers refined products throughout Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado and associated tankage, as well as a pipeline system that delivers refined products from El Paso, Texas, to Albuquerque, N.M., and Juarez, Mexico.

C3 Petrochemicals plans new Texas PDH plant

HP Editorial Staff: HP News

If the application is approved, C3 Petrochemicals will build a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant near Alvin, Texas, to produce polymer- and chemical-grade propylene.

BP may receive $16 billion offer from US to settle Gulf oil spill civil claims

The settlement offer would cover potential fines owed by BP under the Clean Water Act and payments under another process known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. The fines stem from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that ensued from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout in April 2010.

Cheniere to start US LNG export facility in late 2015

The announcement underscores how Cheniere, the only company to possess the necessary government permits to export natural gas to countries not in free-trade agreements with the US, is on schedule with its first two processing units while government regulators pore over other permit applications.

API appeals E15 gasoline rule to US Supreme Court

The group alleges that had EPA stayed within its statutory authority and followed proper procedures, it would have waited until ongoing E15 testing on engines and fuel systems was completed before allowing the use of E15. Then it would have found that E15 is not safe for numerous vehicles.

US crude rail deliveries hit record high, still rising

Refiners increasingly depend on rail cars to bring in the oil being produced in increasing quantities throughout the US and Canada. Innovations in drilling techniques have allowed oil companies to cull oil from shale formations faster than pipeline companies can connect the wells to market.