Two downstream logistics firms on January 4 announced and completed more than US$2 billion in debt deals, which were marketed under filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The two operators – Buckeye Pipeline Partners and Enterprise Pipeline Partners – are growth-oriented, publicly-traded master limited partnerships that provide refined product storage, pipeline and terminal assets, among other services, across North America. Terms were set by the end of the day when the debt was placed.

Tesoro Logistics L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesoro Corp., announced January 4 that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common units representing limited partner interests.

According to a January 4 Bloomberg report, MasterCard, Inc.’s SpendingPulse data showed the bottom fell out of U.S. gasoline credit-card sales as snowbound and vacationing consumers paid for 13% fewer gallons of motor fuel in the week ended December 31, versus the previous week.

BF Energy Company LLC announced on December 17 that its subsidiary, PBF Holding Co. LLC, has completed its purchase of the Paulsboro Refining Co. in Paulsboro, N.J., from Valero Energy Corp. The acquired assets include an 180,000-barrel-per-day refinery, and an associated natural gas pipeline.

The East Boston Refined Products Terminal owned by ConocoPhillips is up for sale, according to a December 29 report by Tank Storage Daily.

Essar Oil Ltd. has submitted a “credible” bid for purchase of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Stanlow refinery, according to an unnamed union official cited in a December 21 Reuters report. The sale of the refinery, which has a crude run capacity of 233,000 barrels per day (b/d), shows that Shell is making good on its plan to rationalize its global downstream oil portfolio.

The Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) said its 2011 budget has been approved by state authorities to include nearly 13 gigaWatts (GW) of new power plant capacity that will start up between 2012 and 2016, according to a December 27 Reuters report. The new capacity will burn rising amounts of locally produced natural gas, refined oil products and even crude oil, according to a Hart Energy analysis.

Houston-based KBR announced January 3 that it completed the acquisition of JGC’s 44.94% share interest in M.W. Kellogg Ltd. (MKWL).

On December 31, Bolivian President Evo Morales blinked in the standoff with fuel-price protestors and “reversed his recent decision to slash gasoline and diesel subsidies,” according to a January 1 report by the Aberdeen American News.

Those awaiting an Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) follow-on public offering will have to wait until the company’s fiscal-year 2012. Recent losses at state-owned IOC’s refineries are cited for the delay.

In a display of impressive execution of its downstream refined product retail strategy, Sunoco, Inc. announced December 22 progress toward its retail fuels network expansion in Ohio and New York. The expansion in Ohio illustrates the company’s ability to leverage its existing retailing strength leading to organic growth opportunities, while the development in New York illustrates Sunoco’s power to use its balance sheet to execute acquisitive growth.

European refiner OMV announced December 22 that it completed the acquisition of a 54.14% stake in Petrol Ofisi A.S., a leading company in the Turkish oil products retail and commercial markets.

Tank Storage magazine reported December 17 that Kinder Morgan has purchased Chevron Corp.’s oil terminal in Phoenix, Ariz., along with its 10-acre site for US$10.7 million.

On December 16, Bloomberg reported that strong demand for the refined product, naphtha and low supply due to the Chinese fuel switch drove naphtha’s valuations to levels not seen for years. Noted trading expert Carl Larry told Refinery Tracker that tight product markets the world over could set up 2011 as “the year of the refiner.”

On December 28, news broke that Rompetrol will accelerate the expansion of its build out of retail gas stations in Romania. Over the next four years, as a report by Ziarul Financiar (Bucharest) stated, Romania’s drivers will see 170 new sites opened, with annual openings averaging more than 40 each year.

World Fuel Services Corp. (WFS), a downstream marketer and distributor of transportation fuels, announced two deals in December in the downstream logistics space, including Hiller Group, Inc. and Nordic Camp Supply.

Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry announced December 16 that the government will raise taxes on fossil fuels starting October 1 as part of an initiative to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

On Friday, December 17, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which includes within it a number of key energy tax incentives, including the ethanol and biodiesel tax credits.

As a result of a lawsuit settlement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced December 22 a new deadline schedule for rules imposing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits on oil refineries and power plants.

Several major U.S. refiners say they won’t sell gasoline containing 15% ethanol, although the government recently allowed fuel producers to begin distributing the blend as part of its aim to reduce oil consumption.

Texas air regulators succeeded after filing a new motion on December 30 in U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block attempts by the President Barack Obama administration to regulate the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2011 and forward. The court granted a stay until at least Friday, January 7 to stave off the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)’s move to take over the Texas greenhouse gas permitting program from state authorities.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced December 16 that U.S. Oil & Refining agreed to pay US$976,000 to settle charges over benzene emissions at its Tacoma, Washington, refinery.

Texas air regulators recently commented for Refinery Tracker readers on the expiration of a deadline set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) related to the ongoing flexible-permit fracas. Dozens of Texas energy, power and chemical operators, among others, were warned in an EPA letter about penalties if they missed a December 22 deadline to meet certain conditions set by the federal agency.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 22 issued a release announcing an agreement with INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA (INEOS) to transition three of the company’s flexible permits to permits approved under the State Implementation Plan pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced December 20 that it is proposing actions under the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program to address issues about the public availability of certain data that some businesses may consider to be confidential. EPA is soliciting comments from stakeholders seeking more specific information about claims of business sensitivity regarding inputs to emissions equations and proposing to defer the deadline for reporting that data until March 2014.

PRSI announced December 30 that it is actively working to address and correct some issues brought to light through a recent OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) audit, the results of which were released on December 29, 2010.

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) and 23 other organizations on December 16 asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow an additional 60 days for public comment on proposed regulations designed to prevent misfueling with gasoline containing 15% ethanol (E15).

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced December 16 that it has endorsed cap-and-trade regulation under its AB 32 law that is designed to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. CARB said that the new regulation will “drive the development of green jobs and set the state on track to a clean energy future.”

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the request by the State of Texas to delay the imposition of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) rules – scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2011, according to a December 30 Reuters report.

Saudi Arabia said to be providing funds for a forthcoming Ghana Refinery project, and it appears that dueling refinery projects in neighboring Kenya and Uganda are in a race to process anticipated Uganda Crude production.

Asian refining news is hot in the middle of winter. Petrovietnam announces the Long Son Refinery project contract team, a politician demands doubling of India’s Bongaigaon Refinery, Hin Leong proposes 500,000 b/d refinery in Singapore, Sinopec and BASF consider a Nanjing JV expansion, JGC is tapped to build a diesel hydrotreator for ExxonMobil Singapore Refinery, Sinopec’s Yangzi Refinery expansion was approved, HPCL and Mittal see a 4Q 2011 start-up for their new Bathinda Refinery, Bangladesh receives new debt for their Chittagong Refinery revamp, Myanmar is building a Mandalay Refinery.

Two secondary unit-expansion plans in Europe were announced, in addition to a heat-exchanger project in Russia and a downstream logistics product terminal. Foster Wheeler was awarded a contract for a lube oil blending plant in Belgium, and the Whitegate refinery is said to be getting a newer, larger sulfuric acid plant in 2011, Alfa Laval will supply heat exchangers for an undisclosed Russian refinery, and Rompetrol and Total may partner on a French refined products terminal.

The Latin American oil industry saw a heavy-oil upgrader come back online after utility repairs, and Valero Energy Corp. officials confirmed – in an interview with Refinery Tracker – that refinery production is ongoing after close to a two-year shutdown at the company’s refinery in Aruba. Petrobras progressed with its Comperj refinery project with process unit awards and a kick-off ceremony at the site of its Suape refinery.

Five project updates in the Middle East as General Electric Co. (GE) wins Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oilfield oil-gas processing job, Saudi Aramco sets Yanbu Refinery start-up for 2014, and UAE’s Fuhairah indicates it may host PetChem Terminal for Mitsubishi Oil, the Abadan Refinery Gasoline Expansion Project in Iran coming online in February, and Saudi Aramco closes the FEED bidding season for Jizan Refinery