2024-10-15 21:44

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Small Business Administration said on Tuesday it has exhausted funds for its disaster loan program following increased demand from Hurricane Helene, with the U.S. Congress being in recess. "Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors," the SBA said , opens new tab in a statement. "However, SBA is encouraging individuals and small businesses to continue to apply for loans given assurances from congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided upon Congress' return in November." The devastating Hurricane Helene killed more than 200 people in six U.S. states, nearly half of the victims in North Carolina alone. President Joe Biden has said he believes the U.S. Congress, whose members are currently in recess, should come back into session to address disaster relief funding needs. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are not scheduled to return to Washington until after the Nov. 5 election. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-disaster-loan-program-exhausts-funds-after-hurricane-helene-2024-10-15/

2024-10-15 20:55

Oct 15 (Reuters) - At least one person was killed in a fire at the small Pars Petro Shushtar refinery in Iran's Khuzestan province, state media reported on Tuesday. Iranian state media, citing the governor of Shushtar town, said "the fire is under control, but firefighters and rescue workers remain on alert at the scene." A local authority attributed the cause of the incident "to a tanker collision with gasoline tanks" and said the incident is under investigation. A local official in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan told state news agency IRNA that several people were also injured. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/least-one-killed-fire-refinery-irans-khuzestan-province-state-media-says-2024-10-15/

2024-10-15 20:38

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil's (IMO.TO) , opens new tab application to extend the life of its remote Norman Wells oil and gas facility in Canada's Northwest Territories has been put on hold pending an environmental assessment report, the Canada Energy Regulator said on Tuesday. The Norman Wells site produces around 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and is spread across nine natural and artificial islands in the Mackenzie River - Canada's longest river - and the town of Norman Wells on the riverbank. Imperial, majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) , opens new tab, applied last year to extend its Norman Wells operating permit, which is due to expire on Dec. 31 2024, by another 10 years. However, the regional Indigenous government, the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated (SSI), decided in September that the application required an environmental assessment, because Imperial also proposed replacing pipelines between its wells and processing facility. The environmental assessment will be conducted by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, and the regulator said it will extend Imperial's permit in the interim. "This will allow the Norman Wells facility to continue operating while the Review Board's environmental assessment process unfolds," the CER said in a statement on social media. An Imperial spokeswoman said the Calgary-based company was reviewing the latest update and assessing its next steps. The SSI outlined concerns about the impact of climate change on the Norman Wells operations and the Enbridge (ENB.TO) , opens new tab pipeline that transports the oil to Alberta in a September letter to the CER. SSI Chair Charles McNeely said melting permafrost in the far northern region raised questions about the stability of the oil and gas infrastructure, while the Mackenzie River is experiencing unprecedented riverbed scouring, threatening the numerous pipelines within the Norman Wells operation. "Today, in an area of increasing environmental sensitivity, does it make sense to accept any degree of risk from an aging oilfield that in 2021 provided less than 1% of Canada's daily Conventional Light Crude production?" McNeely wrote. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/imperial-application-extend-norman-wells-oil-permit-suspended-by-canada-2024-10-15/

2024-10-15 20:14

Court hears medical marijuana company's appeal Driver sued company under anti-organized crime law WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court tackled a case on Tuesday involving a New York state man who was fired from his job as a commercial truck driver for failing a drug test after taking cannabidiol, or CBD, that he said was falsely sold as lacking the psychoactive ingredient present in marijuana. The justices heard an appeal led by Medical Marijuana Inc (MJNA.PK) , opens new tab of a lower court's decision allowing plaintiff Douglas Horn to bring a civil lawsuit against the San Diego, California-based company under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. This 1970 federal law was designed to crack down on organized crime and its economic impact. The civil provisions of the law permit triple damages for successful lawsuits by "any person injured in his business or property" as a result of certain actions by a defendant. Horn, who was ailing from injuries sustained in a trucking accident, in 2012 purchased a CBD tincture called Dixie X. It was advertised as a natural pain reliever containing no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that causes a high. After a random drug test ordered by his employer detected THC in his system, Horn was fired from his trucking job that he had held for more than a decade. Horn has said he is not a marijuana user. Some of the justices seemed receptive to the company's argument that Horn's loss of employment was not the kind of business injury that Congress meant to guard against when it enacted the RICO Act. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed concern about making it too easy for plaintiffs to bring civil RICO suits simply by characterizing certain personal injuries as injuries to business or property. "That would be a dramatic, really radical shift in how tort suits are brought throughout the United States," Kavanaugh told Horn's lawyer Easha Anand, referring to personal injury law, known as torts. "And we would expect a clearer indication from Congress," Kavanaugh added. Lisa Blatt, the lawyer who represented Medical Marijuana, argued that allowing Horn's suit to proceed would open the door to plaintiffs making a federal case out of personal injury complaints better addressed under state law. "It is utterly implausible that Congress federalized every slip and fall involving RICO predicates," Blatt said, referring to RICO crimes such as embezzlement, extortion or mail fraud. But questions posed by some of the justices suggested they might be inclined to let Horn's civil RICO suit proceed. "If you're harmed when you lose a job, then you've been injured in your business, haven't you?" liberal Justice Elena Kagan asked Blatt. "I guess what I'm saying is the simplest, clearest reading of this statutory language is it doesn't distinguish by what causes the harm," Kagan added. "It just says, if you're harmed in a way that's in your business or property, which has been understood to include being harmed by loss of a job, and that's by reason of a (racketeering activity), then you're entitled to threefold the damages you would otherwise be." Horn and his wife, Cindy, in 2015 brought a lawsuit in federal court in New York state seeking monetary damages, claiming, among other things, that Medical Marijuana and associated companies violated RICO's provisions. Horn had the tincture independently tested in a laboratory, which confirmed that the product contained THC. According to the suit, a "pattern of racketeering activity" by the companies - including violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act, as well as mail fraud and wire fraud - inflicted a business or property injury on Horn in the form of his firing. A federal trial judge ruled against Horn's civil RICO claim. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judge's decision, prompting Medical Marijuana's appeal to the Supreme Court. The justices are expected to rule in the case by the end of June. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-hears-case-trucker-fired-failed-drug-test-cannabis-based-cbd-2024-10-15/

2024-10-15 20:07

Fire broke out during a storm, raging through the evening People injured were taken to a PDVSA hospital Firefighters were running out of foam needed to extinguish it Nearby Bajo Grande terminal unaffected MARACAIBO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - At least 21 people including workers, neighbors and firefighters were injured on Tuesday in a fire at a crude storage tank in Venezuela's La Salina oil terminal, operated by state company PDVSA (PDVSA.UL), authorities said. The fire broke out early in the day during a storm and has been raging through the evening. The facility, which PDVSA uses mostly for moving crude and fuel between domestic ports, is located near the western city of Cabimas on the shore of Lake Maracaibo. "Many people were exposed to high temperatures. We have counted 21 injured so far, all of them with minor lesions," the chief of the Cabimas' firefighters, Mufid Houmeidan, told Reuters, adding that the number could increase. PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment. Fires, power outages and other incidents are common at PDVSA's facilities due to the deterioration of oil production sites, refineries, terminals, pipelines and vessels. They frequently disrupt operations. Firefighters from Cabimas said earlier on Tuesday they were working to control and smother the balls of fire, which were leaving a tall plume of black smoke. The firefighters were running out of the foam needed to extinguish this type of oil-related fires, Houmeidan was quoted as saying by local media. The tank had about 75,000 barrels of oil when the fire broke out at the terminal's storage patio, Houmeidan said in a video early on Tuesday, adding that nearby communities would not need to be evacuated. The tank's structure was seen collapsing in several videos, as people were standing close to it. An explosion was heard by neighbors later, a source close to operations said, followed by a taller column of fire. "There was a boil over," another source said. "That's what you see in the videos." Injured people were taken to a PDVSA hospital in the area, according to the sources. The nearby Bajo Grande terminal, used by PDVSA and U.S. producer Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab to export crude and fuel, was unaffected by the incident, sources close to operations said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/least-18-injured-fire-venezuelas-la-salina-oil-terminal-sources-say-2024-10-15/

2024-10-15 19:57

Exxon to auction operated and non-operated wells in Bakken shale Assets on sale spread across 49,000 net acres in North Dakota Assets sale could fetch over $500 million, says sources NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) , opens new tab plans to sell a portion of its assets in North Dakota's Bakken shale formation, the company told Reuters on Tuesday. Following a wave of megamergers in U.S. shale patches, oil producers are reviewing their portfolios to decide which assets remain core to their strategy and which to divest. "ExxonMobil is exploring market interest for select assets in the Bakken Shale Play, which includes approximately 137 operated wells and 676 non-operated and royalty wells across 49,000 net acres in North Dakota", a company spokesperson said in response to Reuters questions. The planned sale could fetch upwards of $500 million, two sources briefed on it told Reuters. They said it was part of Exxon's efforts to focus on assets with the highest growth potential after a $60 billion takeover of rival Pioneer Natural Resources in May. The sources requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly. The decision aligns with a company strategy to continually evaluate its portfolio, Exxon said. The company declined to comment on the valuation, noting it is a corporate practice not to share such information. A large portion of the land on sale is undeveloped, the sources said, which could make it attractive to potential buyers, both as it bolsters their land banks at a time when increased scale is important, but also as they may be able to boost output through future drilling. Exxon is one of the top producers in the Bakken, the third largest oil-producing region in the U.S., with the company's total production from the region at over 100,000 boepd, according to energy data provider Rextag. Exxon said it will continue to invest in shale production in North Dakota as part of its long-term strategy. This year, Exxon launched an auction to sell conventional drilling assets in the Permian basin, Reuters reported in June. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/exxon-seeks-buyers-portion-assets-north-dakotas-bakken-shale-2024-10-15/