Oil Refineries

October 31, 2024

America’s first 'gas to liquids' plant could produce fuel in North Dakota

The the North Dakota Public Service Commission recently approved a siting permit for a Canadian company called Cerilon to build a gas-to-liquids plant in Trenton, about 10 minutes from the Montana border in a shale formation with some of the most productive oil and gas fields in the country. Gas-to-liquids technology chemically separates the components of natural gas into liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel that are usually made from petroleum. The idea has been around for nearly a century – but large-scale applications in the U.S. have faced significant delays or cancellations, in part because of economics.

Ari Phillips

August 8, 2024

Oil refinery waste is a major source of air and water pollution

Two hours north of Oklahoma City outside a small town named Kremlin, billionaire William “Bill” Koch owns a plant that processes oil refinery waste. The 60-year-old Oxbow petroleum coke plant occupies enough land to cover 250 football fields. But it has an even larger environmental footprint. The plant’s sulfur dioxide emissions create haze and reduce visibility in several downwind states. A national report reveals that the “petcoke” industry releases large amounts of pollution at sites like this across the country, but that EPA has neglected to require it to install modern air and water pollution control systems, as are required for many other industries.

Brendan Gibbons

August 1, 2024

Environmental Integrity Project launches updated Oil & Gas Watch database and news site

The Oil & Gas Watch database and news site are being re-launched today (Aug. 1) with new features to make it easier for users to track oil and gas developments in local areas and gather national data on the growing industry. The database features a new “alerts” function to highlight new projects, updates, and public hearings. It also has new search tools; the projected greenhouse gas and related health impacts of projects; new maps; and sharable summary pages for industries. We also redesigned the Oil & Gas Watch News site and email newsletter. We are hosting a free virtual webinar at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 21 to explain how to use the new database.

Keene Kelderman

May 22, 2024

New air pollution monitoring rules for refineries are driving down benzene levels at plant fencelines

Recent EPA data show a marked improvement in levels of benzene, a potent carcinogen, measured at the fencelines of U.S. oil refineries, suggesting that less of the dangerous pollutant is escaping into neighboring communities. By the end of 2023, only six out of 109 U.S. refineries exceeded the EPA's action level for benzene, compared to 12 at the end of 2020. New rules imposed by EPA in 2015 that require refineries to monitor these emissions and take action against high levels of the pollutant appear to be working.

Brendan Gibbons

April 4, 2024

A new EPA rule is meant to prevent chemical disasters, but safety advocates say loopholes remain

The U.S. experiences a chemical disaster on average once every two days, including at least 45 so far in 2024, according to the nonprofit Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters. However, a new safety rule the Biden administration recently released is meant to avoid such catastrophes. Advocates also say EPA should have done more, such as required air monitoring at the fence lines of major facilities and adding ammonium nitrate, an explosive material used in fertilizer, to the hazardous chemical list.

Brendan Gibbons

December 1, 2023

Houston smog worst in 12 years, hitting Latino, Black and lower-income neighborhoods hardest

Air monitoring data show that Houston’s air quality violated health-based standards on 55 days in 2023, more than any other year since 2011. Scorching temperatures combined with emissions, in part from vehicles, oil refineries, chemical plants, and other sources, triggered a rise in ozone across the region. Although smoggy air affects almost everyone, Houston air monitoring data show that Latino and Black neighborhoods and low-income communities were hit the hardest.

Brendan Gibbons

October 12, 2023

Oil & gas companies and investors placing big bets on federally-subsidized carbon capture projects

The world’s largest energy financiers – including oil and gas majors like ExxonMobil and Chevron – are investing billions of dollars in technology intended to capture carbon dioxide. Many supporters of carbon capture and storage see the technology as a path to lessen the climate impact of major industries and to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from major companies whose shareholders are pushing them towards carbon neutrality. But it remains unclear how many of these projects will become a reality or work.

Brendan Gibbons

August 10, 2023

Small western PA refinery topped list for most injuries among workers, with 119 over five years, federal data show

After a series of fires and explosions at U.S. oil refineries in the first half of 2023, Oil & Gas Watch News examined records of injuries and deaths at refineries nationwide. From August 2, 2017, to March 3, 2023, 153 refineries nationwide reported a total of 1,539 injuries and seven deaths. A small refinery in western Pennsylvania, the United Refining Company in Warren, had by far the worst safety record, with 119 injuries and no deaths over this period, according to federal records. That was 10 times the average for a refinery.

Brendan Gibbons

May 24, 2023

Three Texas oil & gas industry sites that caught fire had long violation records

The three large refinery and petrochemical facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast that caught fire this month had long track records of environmental compliance problems, including a combined 5,469 violations over a decade but few penalties, according to state records. On May 5, a Shell chemical plant near Houston caught fire and burned for days. Ten days later, flames erupted at a Marathon oil refinery south of Houston, burning to death a plant worker. And on May 17, a blaze broke out at a Valero refinery in Corpus Christi. Repeat violations often indicate a pattern of companies not investing in modern equipment and safety measures.

Brendan Gibbons

April 19, 2023

Texas lawmakers aim to exempt oil & gas projects from school property taxes, but not clean energy

Texas legislators are considering a bill that would give fossil fuel companies – but not clean energy – huge breaks on the property taxes they pay to local school districts, narrowing a previous tax incentive program for energy projects that expired last year. Under the old program, called Chapter 313, almost three quarters of the $12.3 billion in tax benefits went to manufacturing projects, including for the oil and gas and petrochemical industry, while 26 percent went to clean energy projects.

Ari Phillips

March 8, 2023

Wave of new oil export terminals looms over Gulf Coast

The approval off the Sea Port Oil Terminal 35 miles off the coast of Texas marks the beginning of what could be a wave of five massive new deepwater oil export terminals along the Gulf Coast that service oil tankers over 1,000 feet in length. In the eight years since Congress lifted a long-time ban on crude oil exports, the U.S. has gone from barely exporting any fossil fuels to offloading millions of barrels of oil per day.

Sara Brodzinsky

February 7, 2023

New study: Refineries under-reported benzene emissions by as much as 28-fold

Data collected by fenceline benzene monitors suggest that some refineries may have been significantly under-estimating and underreporting their emissions for years. That means neighborhoods downwind could have been facing higher risks of cancer than long thought. New research looks specifically at three refineries – Chevron and LyondellBasell's refineries in the Houston area and a HollyFrontier refinery in Artesia, New Mexico.

Tom Pelton

February 1, 2023

Report exposes vast amounts of unregulated water pollution from oil refineries

A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project reveals that, across the U.S., 81 refineries discharge a half billion gallons of wastewater a day directly into waterways. That's as much as 712 Olympic swimming pools every 24 hours. The federal Clean Water Act requires EPA to set limits for pollutants from industrial sources and update them at least every five years as treatment technologies improve. But EPA has never set any limits for refinery discharges of many pollutants.

Brendan Gibbons

January 4, 2023

Houston Ship Channel dredging for oil, chemical industry includes plan to dump toxic sediment in minority neighborhoods

Massive disposal areas for material dredged from the ship channel are common sights in the industrial neighborhoods in east Houston. Another million cubic yards of sediment – enough to fill one and a half football stadiums – is headed to the area because of Project 11, the latest plan to deepen and widen the channel to make room for more cargo ships, including oil and chemical tankers. Recent sampling shows the dredge material is loaded with contaminants, raising concerns about residents' exposure to toxic sediment.

Brendan Gibbons

October 11, 2022

Houston’s Parras family has made the pursuit of environmental justice their lives’ work

For more than 30 years, Juan and Ana Parras have been working to draw attention to the disproportionate share of pollution sites located in minority communities. First getting their start as union organizers, they founded their organization, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, or t.e.j.a.s., after a campaign in Louisiana that altered the course of their work forever.

Brendan Gibbons

September 13, 2022

EPA will restore an Obama-era chemical disaster safety rule halted by Trump Administration

The EPA is planning to reinstate a rule meant to prevent fires, leaks, spills, explosions, and other disasters at more than 12,000 facilities nationwide, including many oil and gas and petrochemical plants. The rule was first proposed by the Obama Administration in 2017 and later rolled back in 2019 under the Trump Administration. It would require more facilities to plan for natural disasters and strengthen public notice requirements. But many safety advocates say it does not go far enough.

Paul MacGillis-Falcon

September 7, 2022

Proposed 'green gasoline' plants raise questions about pollution from natural gas fuels

A company called Nacero Inc. plans to build multi-billion-dollar plants in Pennsylvania and Texas to produce vehicle fuels marketed as “blue” and “green” gasoline. What is "green" gasoline? Is it an oxymoron, like "clean" coal? The company argues their liquid fuel, made from natural gas, emits less air pollution than conventional gasoline. But critics say it is far from carbon neutral or Earth friendly.

Brendan Gibbons

July 20, 2022

At least 20 major oil and gas plants proposed in flood zones

Despite the growing risk of flooding due to climate change and rising sea levels, a review of new energy projects shows that energy companies are proposing to build major facilities in flood-prone areas. At least 20 upcoming oil- and gas-related projects are planned in floodplains, many along the Gulf Coast.

Tom Pelton

July 14, 2022

Welcome to Oil & Gas Watch News

Greenhouse gases are driving profound changes to the Earth’s climate, contributing to record-breaking heat waves and millions of acres of wildfires, among many other problems. Some industry advocates have tried to position natural gas as a “bridge fuel” to a green future. Oil & Gas Watch News examines the data and public records and sets the record straight.