Daily News Energy Headlines for August 20, 2015

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News highlights gathered by Industrial Info and IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas) over the past week.

CRUDE OIL
Contango Market Encourages U.S. Crude Oil Imports - The contango market for crude and high refining margins are encouraging continued crude oil imports in the U.S., which imported more than 8 million barrels per day of crude oil last week.

U.S. Oil Futures Near $40 per Barrel - Futures for West Texas Intermediate neared $40 per barrel on Thursday as traders reacted to an increasing market glut and an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Crude Glut Apparent in Western Canada - Western Canada Select (WCS) entered a contango market in mid-July, which has encouraged traders to fill available regional storage capacity. Accompanied by the partial shutdown of BP's (NYSE:BP) Whiting Refinery in Indiana, which is a major refiner of WCS, crude oil inventories in Alberta and neighboring provinces are rapidly growing.

Mexico Oil Swap Deal Likely to Have No Significant Effect - Analysts say that the recent allowance by the U.S. government to swap barrels of light U.S. crude oil for heavy Mexican crude is unlikely to have any real effects on the market outside of small gains in refining efficiency, as the U.S. currently imports about 700,000 barrels a day of crude from Mexico and similar export policies with other countries are unlikely to be put in place.

OTHER NEWS
Chesapeake Founder McClendon Makes Moves in Australia - Co-founder and former CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Aubrey McClendon's company American Energy Partners is negotiating the $100 million acquisition of a 75% stake in drilling rights for 21.5 million acres in Australia with Armour Energy Limited (Brisbane, Australia).

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About IIR Energy
Energy asset information on power plants, oil refineries and natural gas infrastructure is now more important than ever. A unit of Industrial Info Resources IIR Energy provides infrastructure information on these assets, as well as real-time tracking of planned and unplanned interruptions affecting the trading, logistics and marketing communities. We are the number one source for information about electricity outages, refinery turnarounds and midstream natural gas disruptions.

About Industrial Info
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.