In this week’s news update, Baker Hughes and Halliburton extend their merger deadline, and final negotiating of the end-of-year spending bill involves the export ban.
Republican demands to end the ban on exporting crude oil emerged as a final negotiating point Dec. 14 as lawmakers scrambled to complete a year-end spending bill needed to keep the government running.
In return for lifting the 40-year-old ban, Democrats were seeking various environmental concessions, including extending tax credits for solar and wind energy production for five years, and reviving an environmental conservation fund.
The ban on exporting crude oil was instituted during energy shortages of the 1970s but Republicans, and some Democrats, say it’s long outlived any usefulness. They note a boom in domestic energy production. Environmental groups and most Democrats counter that the main beneficiaries would be big oil companies.
Baker Hughes, Halliburton Extend Deadline for Proposed Merger
Oilfield service companies Baker Hughes and Halliburton announced Dec. 15 that they have extended the time period for closing a proposed merger.
The companies said in a statement that they expect their timing agreement with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division would expire without reaching a settlement or the DOJ initiating litigation to block the transaction. The two companies extended the deadline for closing the proposed merger to April 30, 2016.
“The DOJ has informed the companies that it does not believe that the remedies offered to date are sufficient to address the DOJ’s concerns, but acknowledged that they would assess further proposals and look forward to continued cooperation from the parties in their continuing investigation,” the statement said.
Halliburton’s proposal to acquire Baker Hughes was first announced last year and was originally expected to close in late November.
Tesoro Plans Acquisition of Bakken Pipeline, Storage Facilities
Tesoro Petroleum Corporation agreed Dec. 10 to acquire Great Northern Midstream and its crude oil pipeline, gathering system, storage and rail loading facilities in North Dakota.
Assets include the 97-mile BakkenLink crude oil pipeline, which connects to several third-party gathering systems, a 28-mile gathering system in the core of the Bakken, a 154,000 b/d rail loading facility and a 657,000-barrel storage facility.
The Texas-based company already has the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline, which pumps crude oil directly into the company’s 68,000 b/d refinery in Mandan, North Dakota.
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