Power Solutions International (PSI; Wood Dale, Ill.), a designer and manufacturer of emissions-certified alternative fuel power systems, said Oct. 19 that Navistar (Lisle, Ill.), parent company of IC Bus LLC, has extended its engine supply agreement with PSI to run through 2021. The agreement, originally set to run through 2018, covers PSI’s supply of 8.8-liter propane and gasoline engines for IC Bus.
Tecogen Inc. (Waltham, Mass.) has been awarded a research grant from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) to aid in its development of Ultera ultra-clean emissions control technology for the propane-powered fork truck market.
CMP Energy, a privately owned company based in Philipsburg, Pa., has been acquired by Chicago-based Energy Distribution Partners (EDP). CMP Energy provides propane, fueloil, and HVAC services to about 8000 residential customers across central Pennsylvania. CMP Energy was founded by Robert Mitchell in 1954 as the Mitchell Oil Co. Mitchell’s son, Jeff Mitchell, took over the business in 1984 and his son, Robert Mitchell, continues to be involved in day-to-day operations.
Global oil supply rose by 0.6 MMbbld in September, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) October Oil Market Report. Non-OPEC supply was up nearly 0.5 MMbbld on higher Russian and Kazakh flows and OPEC supply was at an all-time high. World oil output of 97.2 MMbbld was up 0.2 MMbbld from last year due to strong OPEC growth. Non-OPEC supply is forecast to drop by 0.9 MMbbld in 2016 before rebounding by 0.4 MMbbld in 2017.
Michigan’s Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) has added five propane-fueled vehicles to its fleet. BATA’s new propane-powered buses have multiple benefits that will help make its vehicle fleet more environmentally friendly and save on fuel and maintenance costs in the long run.

 

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has reopened online applications for its Propane Mower Incentive Program. Since it began in 2012, the program has helped commercial propane mower operators save up to $1000 on the purchase of a new unit, which doesn’t factor in the long-term benefits of using propane.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is projecting average U.S. household expenditures for natural gas, fueloil, electricity, and propane will increase this winter—Oct. 1 through March 31—compared with last winter.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) October Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) indicates that oil market conditions are somewhat looser by the end of 2017 than previously projected. Although the annual average spot prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent are similar across the current and previous outlooks, quarterly WTI and Brent spot prices were revised more significantly.
Chinese propane imports are likely to climb faster in the fourth quarter owing to the expected startup of two new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants, Platts reports. Commissioning of the facilities is seen as giving a much-needed boost to the recovering LPG market in Asia.
In another step forward to reduce regional air pollution, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has rolled out the first of 77 buses powered by clean propane at its Copley Park facility. The buses are the first propane-fueled buses in San Diego’s transit fleet and are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two million pounds per year.
MFA Oil Co. (Columbia, Mo.) has acquired Ozark County LP Gas Co. Inc., a propane retailer with offices in Gainesville, Mo. and Mountain Home, Ark. Details of the transaction were not released. Ozark County LP Gas has primarily served the propane needs of residential customers in south-central Missouri and north-central Arkansas for more than 50 years.
Allison Platz has been hired as an assistant for Arro Autogas, the propane autogas division of Delta Liquid Energy (Paso Robles, Calif.). Platz is the great-granddaughter of the late Harry and Iva Platz, Delta Liquid Energy co-founders, and is the first fourth-generation family member to join the company.
People Platz
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a final rule to amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to allow the voluntary mounting of certain devices on the interior of windshields of commercial motor vehicles, including placement within the area that is swept by windshield wipers on the exterior.
The U.S. simultaneously imports and exports gasoline because of regional differences in gasoline supply and demand balances, reports the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The two regions with the largest supply and demand imbalances are the East Coast, which imported 581,000 bbld of gasoline in 2015, and the Gulf Coast, which exported 551,000 bbld in 2015.
Production of oil and natural gas in the Appalachian Basin’s Utica play, which includes both the Utica and Point Pleasant formations, has increased significantly since 2012, reports the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Monthly natural gas from Utica wells increased from 0.1 Bcfd in December 2013 to more than 3.5 Bcfd in June 2016. Oil production increased from 4400 bbld to nearly 76,000 bbld over the same period.
Mexico’s secretary of energy says the nation could open its vast shale fields to U.S. drillers as early as next year. Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, speaking Sept. 23 at Rice University in Houston, said long-delayed auctions for shale
fields in northern Mexico could begin in the first quarter of 2017, adding that final preparations should be completed by March.
Starting in September, the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) began including estimates of the number of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) in the seven DPR regions. Estimates will go through the prior month. The September DPR includes estimates through August.
As outlined by Wells Fargo Securities, and with the arrival of the first ethane shipment from Enterprise Products Partners’ terminal in Morgan’s Point, Texas, Oil & Gas 360 reports that total U.S. NGL supply averaged 4,509,000 bbld in May 2016, representing a 10.6% increase from the prior year. NGL production from natural gas processing accounted for 82% of supply while imports and refinery outputs accounted for 3% and 15%, respectively.
American Petroleum Institute (API) president and CEO Jack Gerard highlighted the importance of American energy ahead of the first presidential debate Sept. 26. Gerard noted that the debate was scheduled to focus on securing America, achieving prosperity, and America’s direction. He asserted that a conversation about any of those topics cannot occur without including the U.S. energy sector and, in particular, U.S. oil and natural gas.