Alon USA Energy, Inc. said last week that it has been selected as the “stalking horse” bidder for Flying J, Inc. subsidiary Big West of California LLC’s 70,000 bpd refinery in Bakersfield, California, which filed for reorganization bankruptcy protection in December 2008.

Flying J and Big West of California, LLC entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Paramount Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Alon, to sell their interest in the refinery for $40 million plus the fair market value of inventory.

After much delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced finalized rules on Feb. 3 for implementing the long-term renewable fuels standard referred to as RFS2 of 36 billion gallons by 2022, which was established by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency has also redefined the national renewable fuels targets, lifting a cap on the production of corn-based ethanol above the 15 billion gallon-a-year limit as part of efforts to a total renewable fuel production to reach 36 billion gallons by 2022. She said, however, that the agency had lowered dramatically the original 100 million gallon cellulosic ethanol output target for this year to 6.5 million gallons.

Amid a strengthening economy and improved capital markets, NuStar Energy is planning to increase its 2010 growth capital by 136 percent over last year, said Curt Anastasio, CEO of NuStar Energy and NuStar GP Holdings LLC.

Anastasio, who spoke at the 2010 Credit Suisse Energy Summit Feb. 2, said the company plans to spend $310 million on its internal growth program in 2010, up from $131 million spent in 2009.