Sources: At least 18 injured by fire at Venezuelan La Salina oil terminal
Sources familiar with the operations of Venezuela's La Salina Oil Terminal said that at least 18 people, including workers, neighbours and firefighters, were reported injured by a fire in a crude oil storage tank. The fire started early on in the morning during a thunderstorm and raged through the afternoon. The facility is near Cabimas, a western city on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, and is operated by the state oil company PDVSA. PDVSA has not responded to a comment request.
Libya Oil Output Slashed by Port Attacks
Libya has lost some 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production in recent days because of militant attacks at the Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports, the head of the National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, said on Tuesday.Sanalla said there were still militants present in the area of the terminals, which were closed on Thursday following an early morning attack by opponents of eastern-based Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar."We look to fight the fire first of all…
Company to Pay $9.5 Mln for Actions Leading to US Gulf Explosion
Wood Group PSN Inc., a Nevada corporation headquartered in Houston, was ordered to pay $9.5 million in two separate cases involving its conduct in the Gulf of Mexico. Specifically, Wood Group PSN was ordered to pay $7 million for falsely reporting over several years that personnel had performed safety inspections on offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico in the Western District of Louisiana, and $1.8 million for negligently discharging…
Nigerian Protesters Widen Demonstration against Chevron
Protesters blocked the gate to offices of U.S. oil company Chevron in Nigeria's Niger Delta on Monday, widening a week-long demonstration to demand jobs and housing, a protest organizer and a community leader said. Youths, most of them unemployed, have also blocked the entrance to Chevron's Escravos oil storage tank farm since last week, claiming the facility had destroyed their housing settlement. "What we shut down on Monday is Chevron's administrative and logistics office in Warri that serves Escravos…
Islamic State Targets Es Sider Port Again
Islamic State militants resumed shelling near the Libyan oil port of Es Sider on Tuesday and an oil storage tank in the port was hit causing a fire, a petroleum guards spokesman and the National Oil Corporation said. The guards spokesman said the militants were 30-40 km (19-25 miles) from the port, which they also targeted on Monday in an attack that left seven guards dead and 25 wounded. In the nearby oil port of Ras Lanuf, a fire at an oil tank that was hit on Monday had been mostly contained but was still burning, the spokesman said.
Oil Falls on China Data, Stronger Dollar
China's rail freight volumes log steepest ever decline in 2015; Middle East tensions rise as Kuwait recalls Iran ambassador. Oil prices fell on Tuesday on concerns about the pace of economic growth in China and a stronger U.S. dollar, handing back some of the gains triggered by an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Global benchmark Brent crude prices were down 22 cents at $37 a barrel at 1057 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 4 cents to $36.72 a barrel.
Islamic State Attacks Libya's Es Sider Port
Islamic State fighters clashed with security forces near Libya's Es Sider oil export terminal on Monday killing two guards and setting an oil storage tank on fire, witnesses and a Petrol Facilities Guard source said. The source told Reuters that the tank had been hit by a rocket during the fighting, causing a huge fire, and that two Islamic State suicide car bombers had attacked the area around the port after which its fighters had retreated.
Supply Glut Drags Oil to New 5-Year Low
Brent crude reversed early gains Friday to fall to a fresh post-2009 low below $56 a barrel, as a glut of oil that has halved prices since June overshadowed investor positioning at the start of the year for a possible eventual recovery. Brent has slumped to its lowest in more than five years as top exporter Saudi Arabia and other large Gulf producers continue to pump oil amid fast-growing U.S. shale oil output, despite pleas from other Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members to rein in production and shore up prices.
Brent Retreats Again as Supply Glut Prevails
Brent crude pared early gains to trade near $57 a barrel on Friday, as a glut of oil that has halved prices since June overshadowed investors repositioning at the start of the year for an eventual recovery. Brent has fallen to its lowest since 2009 as top exporter Saudi Arabia and other large Gulf producers have declined to cut production in the face of fast-growing U.S. shale oil output, despite pleas from other members in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). "Nothing has changed on the supply side.
Libya Containing Port Fire, Export Resumption in Question
Libya has made progress containing a fire at its largest oil port that has destroyed four days of the country's oil production but the damage to storage tanks will hamper efforts to resume exports, officials and industry insiders said. The fire at Es Sider, the country's main oil export terminal, has been blazing for a week and is a visible indication of the destructive violence that threatens to tear the country apart almost four years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Italy's Help Sought to Extinguish Fire at Oil Port
Libya has called on Italy to send firefighters to prevent a fire spreading out of control at Es Sider, the country's biggest oil port, officials said on Saturday. A rocket hit an oil storage tank last week at the port in the east of the country during clashes between forces allied to Libya's competing governments. Ali al-Hassi, spokesman for a security force allied to the internationally-recognised government, said the fire had spread to a total of five oil tanks. "We are trying to extinguish it but our capacities are limited," he said.
Es Sider Port Oil Tanks On Fire
A fire at an oil storage tank at Libya's Es Sider oil port has spread to two more tanks, officials said on Friday. The first oil tank was hit during clashes between armed factions allied to Libya's competing governments over control of the country's biggest oil port, located in the east. Es Sider and the nearby Ras Lanuf port have been closed since the fighting broke out two weeks ago. Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli
Dakota Plains to Build Third Oil Storage Tank at Rail Terminal
Dakota Plains Holdings Inc said on Tuesday it would build a third, 90,000-barrel storage tank for Bakken crude oil at its Pioneer Rail Terminal in North Dakota. The expansion, which will cost $5.5 million, will boost the terminal's storage capacity to 270,000 barrels. The Pioneer terminal in New Town, North Dakota, on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, collects crude oil from delivery trucks, stores the oil, and then loads it onto rail cars for export.
