-Western Refining is considering expanding its 128,000-barrel-per-day El Paso, Texas, refinery by 10,000-15,000 barrels per day, Reuters reports. The project would be complete in 2017 or 2018. The company also plans to replace the entire sweet crude slate at the refinery with local Four Corners crude. Company CEO Jeff Stevens said the refinery is processing between 80,000 and 85,000 barrels per day of local crude.
-A fire broke out Wednesday at Pemex’s 315,000-barrel-per-day Miguel Hidalgo refinery. The company said it extinguished the fire and that there were no injuries. The incident did not affect production.
-Oil prices will remain largely flat through next year, according to a new report by Société Générale. Via FuelFiex, global demand is not likely to grow fast enough to absorb consistently high production from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Iraq and an expected wave of Iranian crude, the report said. Société Générale expects the price of domestic crude to hover around $45-per-barrel for the next three quarters.
-California Gov. Jerry Brown has scrapped a plan to reduce gasoline use in the state by 50% by 2030. Via Bloomberg, oil companies and business groups mounted a multimillion-dollar campaign to derail the fuel mandate, which was part of a larger climate bill. One industry association representative said Brown’s decision “means survival for the oil industry in California.”
-A House energy subcommittee on Wednesday approved a bill that would lift the U.S. ban on crude oil exports. A recent study said removing the ban would reduce refiners’ profits by $22 billion per year by 2025
