-Kinder Morgan may expand further a pipeline that connects its natural gas system to Mexico, the company said Thursday. Via FuelFix, the project would add 200 million cubic feet of capacity to the 95-mile Mier-Monterrey pipeline, which originates near Starr County, Texas, and runs to Monterrey, Mexico. It would boost the pipeline’s total capacity to 840 million cubic feet per day. The $38 million expansion would be complete in mid-2017.
-TransCanada has asked the U.S. government for permission to build an oil pipeline from North Dakota to a connection in Saskatchewan. Via Dow Jones Business News, the pipeline would transport 70,000 barrels per day of crude to refineries and ports on Canada’s East Coast via TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline. The project would cost approximately $600 million.
-EIA Chief Eric Sieminski on Thursday said it is not critical that policymakers move quickly to lift the U.S. ban on oil exports. Via Bloomberg, Sieminski said during IHS Energy’s CERAWeek conference the slowed pace of tight oil production means refiners are not yet approaching the limit at which they can process it. Crude oil production has fallen three times in four weeks and drilling is at its lowest level since November 2010. A recent AFPM survey showed U.S. refiners can process all the light, sweet crude expected from U.S. shale plays through 2016.
-Nova Scotia LNG unveiled plans to build two small LNG facilities in Nova Scotia with a combined capacity of 180,000-260,000 mt/year. Via Platts, one of the facilities would target bunkering demand along the East Coast in Canada and the U.S. and the other would target diesel displacement markets in the Caribbean.
-Canada issued an emergency order requiring oil-carrying trains to slow down to 40 mph while passing through urban areas. It mirrors a similar order issued by the U.S. government one week ago.
