-Workers at Shell’s refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, ended their strikes Thursday. Earlier this week Motiva agreed to terms with union workers at its Port Arthur, Texas, and Convent and Norco, La., sites and Tesoro said its West Coast refineries were making progress on new agreements. Meanwhile, BP, LyondellBasell and Motiva are reportedly still working through local issues with union representatives at their strike-affected sites.
-Petrobras commissioned the first of two new delayed coking units at its Abreu e Lima refinery, the Oil & Gas Journal reports. Last week the company began starting up a diesel hydrotreater at the refinery.
-The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute filed a lawsuit against the EPA for its failure to release Renewable Fuel Standards for 2014 and 2015. Via Platts, the groups accused the EPA of shirking its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act to issue the 2014 standards by Nov. 30, 2013 and the 2015 standards by Nov. 30, 2014. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency is committed to getting the RFS “back on track” for 2014, 2015 and 2016 by the end of this year.
-North Dakota is poised for a production surge this summer despite a moribund energy market. Via Platts, there is a backlog of 800-1,000 uncompleted wells in the state, 125 of which must be completed to comply with state well completion rules. Additionally, if the price of WTI averages below $55.09 per barrel for five months in a row — expected to happen in June — the majority of wells in North Dakota will be exempt from a 6.5% state oil extraction tax.
-Halliburton and Baker Hughes are seeking buyers for $10 billion in assets they must sell to clear their merger with federal authorities, Bloomberg reports. The firms must sell at least four batches of overlapping businesses — including Halliburton’s drill bits and directional drilling operations and Baker Hughes’ cementing division. Their completion tools lines will go on the block as well.
