-Westlake Chemical dedicated its new chlor-alkali plant in Geismar, La., Wednesday. Gov. Bobby Jindal was among the state and local dignitaries on hand to commemorate the new plant. The 350,000-electrochemical-unit-per-day facility began operating in December.
-FirstEnergy will double spending on infrastructure upgrades in its Ohio Edison territory in 2014, the company announced today. More than $475 million will be spent building new substations, a new 100-mile transmission line, enhanced remote-control technology and other improvements.
-Shell continued to prune assets by selling its Australian downstream business to Vitol and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council for $2.4 billion. The sale includes a refinery, import terminals and 900 service stations.
-Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz publicly came out in favor of reducing rail transport of oil, acknowledging the lack of sufficient infrastructure to move Bakken crude. Moniz called for more pipeline infrastructure, which he said compares favorably in terms of safety, cost and emissions.
-A new study by Rice University asserts that the LNG export infrastructure build-up in the U.S. may prove to be a case of too much, too soon - at least in terms of profitability. The report says the currently wide spread between domestic natural gas prices and those in the coveted Asian market will eventually contract as the latter builds infrastructure and taps new sources. The price difference is projected to sink below the cost of trade between 2016 and 2025.
