-The Supreme Court rejected BP’s appeal of a multibillion-dollar settlement with businesses and residents affected by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Via the Associated Press, the court’s decision makes final the economic and property damage settlement, which BP once estimated could cost it $7.8 billion. The company argued that it had been put on the hook for claims by businesses that had suffered little or no injury as a result of the spill.
-Meanwhile, BP is intensifying its divestment-driven job cuts amid the recent decline in oil prices. Via Platts, a BP spokesman said the company would target middle-management-level jobs in the U.S. and the UK. BP has divested $40 billion in assets since the 2010 Gulf spill.
-Four parishes near Baton Rouge, La., could see more costly and complex permitting for industrial projects under the EPA’s newly proposed ozone limits. Via the Advocate, the census bureau added Point Coupee, West Feliciana, East Feliciana and St. Helena to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) last year. It is not yet clear, however, if those parishes will be included in Baton Rouge’s ozone declaration. The five parishes that were in the Baton Rouge MSA prior to last year have long been in compliance with current standards.
-The recent surge in U.S. refinery output has increased tanker rates to their highest levels in at least three years, according to data from Clarkson Plc. Via Bloomberg, tankers shipping approximately 38,000 metric tons of refined fuels to Rio de Janeiro earned $31,050 per day last week — the highest since Clarkson began publishing the data in December 2010. Refiners hit a seasonal record for crude processing in late November as fall maintenance activity largely winded down.
-The developer of the Constitution natural gas pipeline has threatened to use eminent domain against landowners who refuse to sell rights of way. Via the Albany Times Union, Constitution Pipeline Co. notified landowners they have until Wednesday to accept offered prices or be taken to court to force the sales. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week granted Continental conditional approval for the pipeline, which would carry shale gas to markets in New York and New England.
