Freezing weather on the US Gulf coast halted vessel movements on Texas' Houston Ship Channel and Neches River over 24-25 January, temporarily slowing LPG exports and output. The Houston Ship Channel is home to LPG export terminals operated by midstream firms Enterprise Products and Targa, while the Neches River is home to Enterprise's ethane terminal and peer Energy Transfer's Nederland LPG and ethane facility — together accounting for around 1.8mn b/d (57mn t/yr) of LPG export capacity. Shipping on the two routes reopened on 26 January. The cold weather also disrupted 17 natural gas processing plants in west Texas, but most outages lasted less than a day. Mont Belvieu propane prices had fallen to 66.6¢/USG by 26 January.
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Crude Summit: Water a challenge, opportunity for Texas
Crude Summit: Water a challenge, opportunity for Texas
Houston, 3 February (Argus) — Water produced by oil and gas operators in Texas continues to challenge the industry but may present opportunities for drought-stricken areas, according to the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC). Produced water is "one of the greatest challenges facing our domestic production", RRC chairman Jim Wright told the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, with roughly five barrels of waste water produced for every barrel of oil. This translates into about 30mn b/d of water for the country's largest oil producing state, which pumped out 5.8mn b/d of crude across 2025. Another 10mn b/d of so of water is brought in from Oklahoma, where reinjection in the neighbouring state is also limited because of overpressurization underground. Disposing that water back into the ground has become more challenging in the era of prolific horizontal drilling, however, Wright said. Wastewater injection wells have been linked to earthquakes throughout the Permian basin, as well as the water finding its way back to the surface through the tens of thousands of abandoned wells. Both the RRC and drillers reinjecting water are cognizant of overpressurization underground as a consequence of shallower injection, which can add to both complexity and to drilling costs. "It's getting very difficult to stuff 12 ounces into a six-ounce glass," said Wright. "So, the future for us is to make sure that we can now use this water for beneficial reuse." There are some efforts afoot to recycle the produced water for other applications, such as agriculture, particularly in west Texas. "The problem is produced water for other uses other than injection is a brand new area," said Wright. "Texas needs access to new water sources." By Brett Holmes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Kuwait seeks foreign partners for offshore oil finds
Kuwait seeks foreign partners for offshore oil finds
Kuwait City, 3 February (Argus) — Kuwait wants to attract foreign oil companies to help develop its emerging offshore sector, prime minister Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah al-Sabah said on Tuesday. "I am pleased to announced that [state-owned] KPC is pursuing a plan to invite international oil companies to assist [its upstream subsidiary] KOC in the development of recently announced offshore oil and gas discoveries in Kuwait," Sheikh Ahmed said at the Kuwait Oil and Gas Show in Kuwait City. Kuwait has produced oil for more than 80 years but only began exploring offshore recently. KOC drilled its first offshore exploration well in 2023 and has enjoyed a notable run of success since then, making three discoveries from the first three wells drilled. The Jazah discovery , announced late last year, is estimated to hold 1 trillion ft³ of gas and more than 120mn bl of condensate. Before that, KOC announced the al-Jlaiaa discovery , holding around 800mn bl of medium sweet crude. The Nokhatha find was assessed at 2.1bn bl of light oil and 5.1 trillion ft³ of gas. International oil companies are "invited to invest in developing the Nokhatha, Jazah and Jlaiaa discovered fields to reach optimum sustainable production levels and maximise reservoir recovery," Sheikh Ahmed said. Kuwait is several years into an ambitious plan to lift crude production capacity to 4mn b/d by 2035 from around 3mn b/d today, and to raise non-associated gas output to 2bn ft³/d by 2040 from about 750mn ft³/d at present. KPC chief executive Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah, also speaking at the oil and gas event, said developing these discoveries — and Kuwait's broader offshore potential — will form "one of the multiple steps" needed to deliver the additional 1mn b/d of crude capacity. Kuwait's offshore is "just as prolific as the onshore", Sheikh Nawaf said. But "there is no current infrastructure ready to exploit the offshore discoveries that we have made." "If we were able to develop the offshore completely by ourselves, we may have done it," he said. "But we are fully stretched in terms of our resources right now on the onshore. That's why we are partnering." By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US biofuel tax rule to benefit resellers, farmers
US biofuel tax rule to benefit resellers, farmers
New York, 3 February (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration expects to update the rules around a low-carbon fuel tax credit to allow more types of fuel sales to qualify and to encourage farmers to grow crops more sustainably. The US Department of Treasury on Tuesday will release a long-awaited proposal spelling out how to qualify for the "45Z" tax credit, which kicked off in 2025 and was extended by Republicans' tax and energy bill last summer. The general structure of the credit — which offers a sliding scale of subsidies to alternative fuel producers based on greenhouse gas emissions — is known, but industry has been pushing for more clarity on thorny eligibility questions. The proposed regulations Tuesday will clarify, for instance, that producers can claim 45Z tax breaks for fuel that is sold to intermediaries, according to Treasury officials. Sales to wholesalers or traders are common in fuel markets, but lawyers interpreted partial guidance issued in the waning days of former-president Joe Biden's term as potentially requiring that fuel must be sold to end users to qualify. The fuel sale question had left many refiners unclear how exactly to qualify for an incentive crucial to their margins and snarled logistics in key biofuel markets. Major biofuel producers idled facilities last year too, in part because of the lack of final rules around what was then a new and unfamiliar tax break. 45Z tax guidance has been closely awaited by producers of biofuels like ethanol, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel, especially as the Trump administration is late setting new biofuel blend mandates and Congress has punted on a proposal to allow a higher-ethanol gasoline blend year-round. The proposed regulations, which will go through a 60-day public comment period after publication in the Federal Register , will still need to be finalized. But they signal how the Trump administration is thinking about the complicated incentive, and will allow producers to rely on existing guidance when preparing their tax returns until final regulations are available. Some details will depend on final rules, however. The proposal will signal that the Trump administration expects to eventually credit more on-farm emissions reductions, which would effectively reward biofuel producers that source sustainably grown crops with larger subsidies, Treasury officials said. The Biden administration had released an initial calculator so that corn, soybean and sorghum farmers could track the climate benefits of practices like cover crops and no-till agriculture. But it was unclear whether Trump, a skeptic of climate science, would continue the effort at all. Treasury expects to publish additional guidance on recordkeeping and verification requirements and will also need to coordinate with other agencies to fully incorporate new data on agricultural practices into a government model for tracking emissions. Legislation signed by Trump last year already restricts the 45Z credit starting this year to US producers of fuels sourced from North American feedstocks. The law also changed how regulators track land use emissions, effectively hiking subsidies this year for crop-based fuels. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil petchem industry flags Reiq 2026 gap
Brazil petchem industry flags Reiq 2026 gap
Sao Paulo, 2 February (Argus) — Brazilian chemical and petrochemical industry associations are urging the federal government to deliver a rapidfix for the 2026 gap in the Special Chemical Industry Regime (Reiq), warning that regulatory uncertainty is accelerating plant shutdowns and job losses across key production hubs. In a joint letter sent on 26 January to vice-president and industry minister Geraldo Alckmin, labor unions and industry groups — including Abiquim — said presidential vetoes affecting Reiq in December by removing key tax-relief provisions and carried into the newly enacted Special Sustainability Program for the Chemical Industry (Presiq), which focuses on the national petrochemical chain modernization,have created an "immediate and severe" impact on domestic producers, mainly due to the sudden loss of a long-standing cost-reduction tool with no transitional safeguards. Companies in Sao Paulo state have already closed units and cut shifts in Cubatao and Guaruja, according to the groups. Industry groups argue that without the Reiq tax relief, historically centered on PIS/Cofins reductions for feedstocks such as naphtha and natural gas and effectively revoked by the presidential vetoes — Brazil's chemical chain faces intensified competitive pressure from global oversupply, foreign subsidy schemes and aggressive pricing from Asian and Middle Eastern exporters. The regulatory gap is prompting irreversible divestment decisions, threatening the core of Brazil's petrochemical complex, they say. The entities called on the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (Mdic) to restore predictability for 2026, saying the issue is no longer a tax debate but a strategic decision for Brazil's industrial competitiveness and employment base. The government has recently highlighted industrial policy priorities through its New Brazil Industry program and strengthened trade-defense tools, but the signatories said action on the Reiq must come "urgently, preferably in January," to avoid further disruption. History President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed provisions in December 2025 that would have extended Reiq benefits into 2026 or ensured an automatic transition to the Presiq framework. The administration cited fiscal responsibility and the absence of compensatory budget measures. With Presiq scheduled to begin only in 2027, the vetoes leave a regulatory gap in 2026. By Isabela Mendes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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