-Axiall and Lotte Chemical Corp. finalized the terms of their joint venture to build a $2 billion ethane cracker in Lake Charles, La. The firms said a final investment decision is expected in the second half of this year. If approved, the plant would start up at the end of 2018. Axiall and Lotte earlier this year said they would defer a decision on the plant, citing uncertainty in the U.S. energy, feedstock and labor markets.
-Megaprojects in Canada’s oil sands may soon be a thing of the past. Via Bloomberg Business, producers such as Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil are shifting toward smaller projects with quicker returns amid low oil prices, high costs and looming corporate tax increases in Alberta, among other factors. Companies have delayed or cancelled approximately $200 billion in big projects in recent months, according to Ernst & Young. Oil sands spending is expected to fall 30% this year.
-Meanwhile, oilfield costs in the U.S. have fallen amid the recent oil price slump, according to the Energy Information Administration. Rates for drilling activities — primarily service fees for contractors to drill wells — fell 19.6% between June 2014 and May 2015. During that same period, the price of fracking sands fell 12.5%, while rates for support activities such as surveying, cementing and casing declined by 1.4%.
-A new study shows injection wells that are filled faster and with more wastewater are far more likely to cause earthquakes. Via the Associated Press, researchers at the University of Colorado said wells that injected more than 12 million gallons of saltwater per month were more likely to trigger earthquakes than those filled at lower volumes per month. Oklahoma averaged more than 100 quakes in 2013 and 2014 after averaging only one per year from 1974 to 2008.
-Pilots resumed boarding vessels in the Houston Ship Channel Wednesday afternoon after the channel was shut due to Tropical Storm Bill earlier this week, Platts reports.
