R Holt News

As U.S. shale oil boomed last decade, an oil pipeline company pitched an ambitious multi-billion-dollar export port off the Texas coast to ship domestic crude to buyers in Europe and Asia.In April, Enterprise Products Partners' SPOT became the first project to receive a license from the U.S. maritime regulator for a deepwater port that could load two supertankers, each of which can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil at a time.But multi-year regulatory delays, a loss of commercial backers and slowing U.S.

Paducah, Ky. headquartered Crounse Corporation announced it has taken delivery of a new 6,034-horsepower towboat built by Conrad Shipyard, based in Morgan City, La.The 166- by 48- by 12-foot Alice is named after the company’s first vessel that began operating in 1949. Delivered with a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection for Subchapter M compliance and two EPA Tier 4 compliant main engines, the newbuild is one of the most efficient and environmentally-friendly vesselsoperating on the United States' inland waterway system.Alice and powered by two General Electric (GE) diesel engines…

Cheniere Energy Inc's Sabine Pass LNG export facility returned to full production this week after undergoing maintenance, data from Refinitiv showed.The increased production is expected to help third quarter exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) which fell in May to 7.66 million tonnes from a record 8.01 million tonnes in April, as plant maintenance curbed some output.The Louisiana-based export facility started reducing its natural gas consumption on June 1 when it fell to 3.77 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from 4.56 bcfd on May 31…

At least three proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants have likely found enough customers to receive financial approvals this year, according to Reuters calculations, developments that would make the country the world's largest LNG exporter for years to come.After a dearth of plant approvals last decade, developers have secured dozens of long-term contracts to finance new multibillion-dollar LNG plants. The pace of approvals has accelerated as Europe has shifted…

A Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off Australia's west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defense facility, Australia said on Friday, raising concern amid an election campaign about China's behavior in the region.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Chinese navy vessel was not in Australian territorial waters but its presence was "concerning"."It is clearly an intelligence ship and they are looking at us and we're keeping a close eye on them," he told reporters.Australia…

Soaring demand for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) as buyers steer clear of Russian fuel is putting some long-stalled U.S. export projects back on track. But rising costs for materials and labor threaten to snarl these plants once again.Two developers with projects sidelined due to the U.S.-China trade war – Energy Transfer with its Lake Charles LNG and Tellurian Inc with its Driftwood LNG – have begun talks with construction provider Bechtel Group over costs, according to a…

Hornblower Group announced Monday that Adam C. Peakes has joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Peakes will report to Kevin Rabbitt, chief executive officer, Hornblower Group.As Hornblower Group’s CFO, Peakes will oversee the company’s global shared services functions of finance and accounting, human resources, information technology and marine operations.“I am excited to welcome Adam to the Hornblower family and work with him as a trusted partner,” said Kevin Rabbitt, chief executive officer, Hornblower Group.

Supplies to U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants reached near record levels over the weekend as vessels docked for loading at all seven export terminals for the first time, according to Refinitiv.Venture Global received permission on Friday from federal energy regulators to load LNG on the first commissioning vessel at its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana. The Yiannis tanker will likely be the first vessel to pick up a cargo from the facility, according to data from Refinitiv.On Saturday…

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy Inc said Wednesday its marketing arm agreed to sell LNG to a unit of Chinese natural gas distribution company Foran Energy Group Co Ltd for 20 years starting in January 2023.Analysts said the deal should move Cheniere closer to making a final investment decision (FID) to build the proposed Stage 3 expansion at its Corpus Christi plant in Texas, which is expected in 2022.The deal is one of several announced in recent weeks…

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics and deep-sea data acquisition company, has tapped DNV for its ShipManager fleet management software for 17 new robotic ships and additional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Ocean Infinity, which last year launched a program to build a fleet of unmanned surface robots - the Armada - will implement ShipManager’s modules for planned maintenance, procurement, and business intelligence for its advanced fleet of uncrewed, low-emission vessels for capturing ocean data.

U.S. refiners are scooping up cheap high-sulfur fuel oil for processing from Russia and the Baltic states as they take advantage of new shipping rules that have cut demand for the dirtier marine fuel, according to oil traders and shipping data.U.S. refiners Valero Corp, Chevron Corp and Phillips 66 have been buying HSFO, traders said, taking advantage of their complex operations to turn HSFO blended with crude oils into products like diesel, gasoil and gasoline.This month, 2.2 million tonnes of fuel oil…

New marine fuel rules to boost diesel prices for at least a year -analystsGlobal prices for diesel and marine fuels should rise by October ahead of a January switchover to new, very low-sulfur marine fuels, and remain higher for at least a year as refiners shift production to make more of the new fuels, analysts said.Marine fuels containing no more than 0.5% sulfur by weight, down from the 3.5% currently used, to power ocean-going vessels will be required for ships without exhaust scrubbers on Jan.

The  global energy services company has announced the acquisition of SGC Metering from Petrofac.SGC Metering is a specialist in the design and manufacture of flow computer metering systems for the oil and gas industry. It provides expertise right across the full life cycle of a metering project, including conceptual design through to installation, operations and maintenance.The firm was established in 1988 and its wide array of systems allows the measurement of all the important metrics associated with hydrocarbon production, namely volume, temperature, pressure and composition to enable a variety of key calculations.Proserv had been assessing SGC Metering for several years and it has used the springboard of its recent refinancing exercise…

Offshore oil driller Transocean Ltd said on Tuesday it would buy peer Ocean Rig UDW Inc in a $2.7 billion cash-and-stock deal, its second major acquisition this year as the company bets on a recovery in the offshore sector.The acquisition signals new optimism for offshore drillers, which were hit hard by the steep plunge in oil prices from 2014. Offshore projects, which are more costly than onshore work and take years to develop, became less attractive after oil prices fell to below $30 a barrel in 2016.Global crude prices have since recovered to above $70, renewing producer interest in offshore basins around the world, including Brazil and the U.S.

McDermott International shareholders on Tuesday approved a merger with Chicago Bridge & Iron Co that creates a vertically integrated onshore and offshore engineering and construction company, thwarting an attempt by offshore drilling contractor Subsea 7 to block the deal.More than 50 percent of McDermott shareholders supported the deal and approved a 3-to-1 reverse stock split, according to a spokesman. CB&I shareholders also voted in favor the merger, the companies said, and the combination is expected to close on May 10.Shares of CB&I were up about 6 percent…

Imagine a settlement over falsifying emission levels in another transportation sector dropping money onto your deck. Who knew? But it’s true. The $2.9 billion settlement fund Volkswagen agreed to capitalize for distribution across all 50 states, tribal lands and Puerto Rico, as a result of “dieselgate,” its criminal dodging of required auto emission levels, presents an unparalleled opportunity to maritime companies that want to move their noxious diesel engines up a couple of EPA notches, and stick someone else with close to half the bill or more.

Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time – or at least pay the staggering fine. And pay it forward, Volkwagen will. The auto manufacturer got caught using software to trick emissions control software during testing on some cars – nearly 500,000 2.0 liter and 83,000 3.0 liter diesel vehicles – in order to get a passing grade, after which the cars operated in violation of the Clean Air Act. The years of cheating on vehicles from model years 2009 to 2016 sold and leased in the U.S., resulted in emissions of up to 40 times the permitted level of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four people Tuesday after a 14-foot skiff capsized in Deep Cove near Eastport, Maine, sending five people into the 39 degree water. A good Samaritan called 911 at about 2 p.m. to report the capsize, and said four people were in the water in need of rescue and a fifth had swam to shore. The information was relayed to the watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Eastport who immediately launched a 29-foot response boat crew to help. A 45-foot response boat crew from Station Eastport was already underway and diverted to the area to assist.

Emergency responders are working to keep a disabled tug and barge from running aground off of Texas. U.S. Coast Guard response and incident management teams are coordinating with G & H Towing and T & T Marine Salvage to prevent a disabled tug and barge from running aground on Galveston Island, Texas. At 2:19 p.m. Saturday, an agent for the integrated tug OSG Independence and its barge OSG 243 contacted Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders to report that the tug separated from the barge in heavy seas off the Galveston Island Pleasure Pier, while dragging both anchors.

Hurricane Harvey intensified early on Friday into potentially the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade, as authorities warned locals to shelter from what could be life-threatening winds and floods. Harvey is set to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday on the central Texas coast where Corpus Christi and Houston are home to some of the biggest U.S. refineries. Oil and gas operations have already been disrupted and gasoline prices have spiked. "Now is the time to urgently hide from the wind.

Residents fleeing most powerful storm on U.S. mainland since 2005. Businesses closed and lines of cars streamed out of coastal Texas as officials called for residents to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Harvey, expected to arrive about midnight as the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade. The hurricane is forecast to slam first near Corpus Christi, Texas, drop flooding rains along the central Texas coast and potentially loop back over the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Houston, some models showed. "My urgent message to my fellow Texans is that if you live in a region where evacuation has been ordered, you need to heed that advice and get out of harm's way while you can," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a televised address.

The first of a new class of “Neo-Panamax” shipping vessels called the Port of Philadelphia to begin a new phase of transport along the Delaware River. The MSC Sofia Celeste, an 8,800 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) vessel operated by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, docked at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia for the first time, making it the largest ship to ever call the Port of Philadelphia. “This new service comes as a direct result of the opening of the Panama Canal Expansion,” said David Whene, President of Greenwich Terminals LLC, operator of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. The MSC Sofia Celeste was completed in 2014 and has an on-board capacity of 8…

Emsys Maritime Ltd (UK) has appointed Tim Holt in the capacity of Marine Service Manager. Holt joins the company with a background in the design, installation and maintenance and support of maritime emissions monitoring technology, having held senior positions with various organizations specializing in maritime- and land-based emissions measurement applications. Originally trained as an aircraft electrical and avionics technician in the Royal Air Force, Holt’s expertise has taken him on a global journey working on aircraft such as Harrier Jump Jets…