Barrels

Propane supplies, after dipping to dangerously low levels earlier this year, have increased and are running ahead of a year ago, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday. Nevertheless, inventories have not reached comfortable levels, and refinery problems or a severe cold snap could quickly tip the balance, according to the EIA, a unit of the U.S. Energy Department. The department warned last month of possible propane shortages, saying supplies had never fully recovered from last winter's cold snap.

WASHINGTON - The runaway Deepwater Horizon well is pouring 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration said yesterday. The new estimate means that hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil will flow into the Gulf in the next several weeks until BP completes a plan that it hopes will collect 60,000 to 80,000 barrels daily. That plan won't be fully implemented until the middle of next month. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics, called the new estimate "a significant step forward in our effort to put a number on the oil that is escaping from BP's well.

Ending the longest meeting in its history, OPEC early today agreed to restrain oil production through the end of the year. The agreement by 12 of the 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries calls for them to limit production to 14.96 million barrels a day in November and 15.04 million in December. They now produce 14.8 million barrels a day. A communique ending the 17-day meeting emphasized that the new pact "should in no way be construed as a permanent quota distribution among members.

It's been 139 years since they served beer in Haddonfield's Indian King Tavern. But that will change Saturday when barrels of Colonial style beers will be tapped at a fund-raiser for the museum and historic site, meeting place of the New Jersey Rebel Assembly in 1777. Since Haddonfield has been dry since 1873, organizers have obtained a special permit from the state to sell beer to help pay for renovations at the tavern. Philadelphia's Yards Brewery is supplying the beer and food will be served.

PBF Energy Inc. said it expects to receive its first train delivery this week of North Dakota light crude oil at its Delaware City Refinery, and also announced that it will double the amount of heavy Canadian oil-sands crude it can receive by rail by the end of this year. The refinery can now receive 70,000 barrels of light crude a day and 40,000 barrels of heavy crude. The heavy crude capacity will double to 80,000 under a $50 million plan to expand the unloading facility. PBF is also securing an additional 2,500 rail cars through 2015 to transport the crude oil. PBF and other East Coast refiners are scrambling to incorporate lower-cost domestic crudes from new discoveries into their mix to reduce their production costs, which typically have been higher because of their reliance on expensive imported petroleum.

Wholesale gasoline futures in the Northeast surged Wednesday after a giant oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands announced it was closing next month, the latest petroleum processor to call it quits. Hovensa L.L.C., a joint venture of U.S.-based Hess Corp. and Venezuela's state-owned oil company, announced it will cease operating its 350,000-barrel-a-day refinery in St. Croix. The plant provided 83,000 barrels a day of gasoline and 47,000 barrels of distillate fuel like heating oil and diesel to the U.S. Northeast, according to the Energy Department.

NEW YORK - U.S. oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer. Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951. The boom has surprised even the experts. "Five years ago, if I or anyone had predicted today's production growth, people would have thought we were crazy," says Jim Burkhard, head of oil markets research at IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm.

Who knew that the economic solution for the region's beleaguered oil refineries would arrive on a slow train from North Dakota? Delta Air Lines, the new owner of the Trainer refinery that is scheduled to reopen later this month, on Thursday became the third fuel producer in the Philadelphia area to announce plans to bring in crude oil by rail from the Bakken oil field in the upper Midwest. Edward Bastian, the airline's president, told an investor conference in New York that Delta plans to replace some imported oil at Trainer with domestic crude brought in by rail.

Texans are trying hard not to appear smug this time. They are not flaunting their renewed oil wealth, or sneering at people from less fortunate regions. It's partly superstition - they can't believe their luck - and partly hard- learned tact. After their obnoxious behavior the last go-round, they don't want to offend those who regard the Persian Gulf crisis as no cause for celebration. Nevertheless, the figures are impressive. Texas pumped 716 million barrels of oil last year. The price bumps around a lot these days, but even without actual fighting it is roughly $15 a barrel higher than a year ago. That works out to a nice $10 billion infusion into the state economy.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's statistics on Marcellus Shale natural gas activity contain serious flaws and inconsistencies, and do not accurately report the volume of wastewater being reused in the industry's much-touted recycling efforts. The DEP's most recent statewide statistics on wastewater production overstate by nearly two times the amount of wastewater produced during the last six months of 2010 largely because one the 39 operators who filed reports last month inadvertently entered the wrong data in its forms.