NORTH AMERICA Fuel Fix Freeport LNG gets $1.

.2B in equity from Japanese utilities The agreement with Osaka Gas and Chubu Electric provides the final piece of equity that Freeport LNG needs for the initial phase of its plans. The company will receive the equity under an agreement finalized Wednesday night to fund construction of one of the facilitys liquefaction plants, also known as trains, Freeport LNG CEO Michael Smith said in an interview with FuelFix. Fuel Fix Oil-sands cargos face tougher US rail-shipping rules Train shipments of crude are under review across North America after a U.S. emergency order requiring new safety measures to prevent accidents. Oil-sands shippers may be scrutinizing the rules most closely. Fuel Fix Feds unveil study paving way for oil and gas research in Atlantic The Obama administration on Thursday is setting the framework for a new generation of oil and gas research off the East Coast and potential drilling in those Atlantic waters a decade from now by releasing an environmental study of seismic surveys to pinpoint those energy resources. U.S. Oil-Refineries Bulk Up - WSJ.com American refiners are set to add at least 400,000 barrels of oil-refining capacity a day to existing plants between now and 2018, according to information compiled by The Wall Street Journal and the consulting firm IHS. That is the fuel-making equivalent of constructing a new, large-scale refinery. Williams Partners to buy Canadian assets from Williams for $1.2 billion - Oil & Gas Journal The assets include an oil sands offgas processing plant near Fort McMurray, 260 miles of NGL and olefins pipelines, and an NGL-olefins fractionation facility and butylene-butane splitter facility at Redwater. Williams Partners also will buy an in-progress Redwater facility expansion project, which provides additional fractionation business to Williams Partners related to development of offgas processing at the CNRL Horizon upgrader facility retained by Williams. BP to split off US onshore oil, gas business - Oil & Gas Journal BP PLC reported plans to establish a separate business to manage its onshore oil and gas assets in the US Lower 48. ASIA / PACIFIC Gas to play key role in curbing Chinas pollution, official says - Oil & Gas Journal China plans to develop more domestic natural gas supplies, including some from unconventional sources, and increase its gas imports to reduce its reliance on coal and address its air pollution problems, the energy division leader in the country s Institute of World Economics and Policy said. Refiners Eye Better Oil Deal Terms on U.S. Boom: Corporate India - Bloomberg India, Asias second-biggest energy user, is in talks with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for better terms on oil contracts as surging U.S. output frees up supplies. A shale-oil boom in the U.S., the worlds biggest consumer, has pushed crude production to the highest in almost 26 years, leading the country to cut imports. In response, some of the biggest Middle East producers are turning to Asian nations to lock in buyers as the easing of sanctions on Iran brings more oil into the market. AFRICA Fuel Fix Energy projects struggling to find investors as costs rise Soaring costs across the oil and gas industry are threatening to price out emerging markets competing to attract capital, the head of the International Finance Corp. warned Tuesday. Speaking to energy industry leaders at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, CEO of the private-sector wing of the World Bank blamed the Basel III international finance regulations for inhibiting capital investment in emerging markets. Congo Freezes Mining Expansion Projects Amid Power Shortage - Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo, Africas biggest copper producer, told miners to halt any project expansion requiring more power amid a shortage that will take years to resolve, according to government documents.