State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has completed maintenance work on the atmospheric and vacuum distillation units within its 239,000-b/d Heydar Aliyev (formerly New Baku) refinery at Baku, Azerbaijan.

Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Inc., Houston, has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) under which Spain’s Iberdrola SA will purchase 400,000 tonnes/year of LNG on the start of operations of Train 1 of the LNG export facility under development near Corpus Christi, Tex.

Alberta’s bitumen production increased 8% in 2013 while crude oil production increased 5%, according to an annual report from Alberta Energy Regulator.

Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has been awarded an exploration permit (EP491) on the eastern flank of the Barrow Sub-basin offshore Western Australia.

Japanese company Inpex has signed a deal to sell its portion of LNG production from the Shell-operated Prelude field floating LNG (FLNG) project.

A crude unit shuttered as a result of inclement weather on May 28 at Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s 522,000-b/d Garyville, La., refinery will remain down for about 2 weeks, the company said.

In 2013, Russia’s natural gas pipeline exports to Eastern and Western Europe averaged 15.6 bcfd, a 16% rise compared with 2012, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, Eastern Bloc Research, and Russian Energy Monthly. The increase was mainly driven by exports to Western Europe, which rose by 20% to 12.3 bcfd.

SOCAR Turkey Energy AS, a joint venture of State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic and the Turkish government, has secured additional funding to proceed with construction of the planned 214,000-b/d Socar Turkey Aegean Refinery (Star) in Aliaga, Turkey.

State-owned Turkish Petroleum Corp. (TPAO) has agreed to acquire 10% interest in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field and the South Caucasus pipeline from Total SA for $1.5 billion.