Chemical News
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UK GAS: Day-ahead eases as imports bring relief to the system Mar 07,2013
Gas for day-ahead delivery continued to fall Wednesday from Monday's seven-year high following a return to operations of the Norwegian Nyhamna processing terminal and strong imports, which saw the system well supplied with little reliance on domestic storage stocks. At 1200 GMT, the within-day contract was valued at 74.40 pence/therm, down by 0....>>>
China to revise oil pricing mechanism to closely reflect global price movements: report Mar 07,2013
China is considering to make changes to its oil pricing mechanism by both shortening the price review period and removing the price fluctuation limitation of a basket of crudes used to adjust retail oil product prices, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday, citing Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission. ...>>>
USAC gasoline stocks rise 651,000 barrels to 60.5 mil barrels: EIA Mar 07,2013
US Atlantic Coast motor gasoline stocks rose 651,000 barrels to 60.463 million barrels in the week that ended Friday, which is the highest level in nearly a year, according to US Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday. The last time regional stocks were as high or higher was the week that ended March 16, 2012, when stocks tota...>>>
Asian SM margins, spreads narrow as price tumbles on weak China sentiment Mar 06,2013
Margins for producing styrene monomer in Asia have shrunk rapidly in March as SM prices tumble amid weak sentiment in China, with the spread to feedstock benzene narrowing 17% and to naphtha shrinking 8% since the end of February, Platts data showed Tuesday. SM prices tumbled $93.50/mt over Friday and Monday to be assessed at $1,593.50/mt FOB Ko...>>>
US mixed xylene March contract price settles 6 cents lower at $4.40/gal: sources Mar 06,2013
The March US mixed xylene contract price settled at $4.40/gal ($1,333/mt) Tuesday, 6 cents ($18.18/mt) lower than February's mark, trading sources said. Sources expected the contract price to settle lower after a decline in spot MX prices. Spot prices have been been on a downward trend since February 11, when MX was assessed at $4.66/gal FOB US ...>>>
ASIA THERMAL COAL: Chinese buyers scout for bargains for imported coal Mar 06,2013
Chinese buyers remained on the sidelines as they continued to scout for thermal coal cargoes at cheaper prices with no rush to conclude deals amid huge stockpiles at ports and power companies, sources said. Despite the lack of demand, some Indonesian miners have raised their offer prices since last week as supply gets cramped due to rains in Eas...>>>
Australian coalseam gas company WestSide aims to conclude takeover talks Mar 06,2013
Australian coalseam gas junior WestSide has decided to bring talks over a potential takeover to a conclusion in the "near term," the company said in a statement Tuesday. Westside announced in November 2012 that it had received an A$185 million ($188 million) offer for all of its shares. The buyer, which WestSide has not identified but local news...>>>
Belgium gas exports to UK expected at 'massive record' Tuesday: Bentek Mar 06,2013
The Interconnector [IUK] pipeline is nominated to ship a "massive record high" of gas from Belgium to the UK Tuesday, Platts' unit Bentek Energy said, following supply disruptions which drove a large price premium for UK gas Monday. "IUK is nominating 71.4 million cubic meters/day," an analyst at Bentek Energy said. "That would be a massive r...>>>
US should export light crude from shale boost: ConocoPhillips CEO Mar 06,2013
US policymakers should provide an opening for normal exports of light crude and other hydrocarbons that are seeing increased production due to the shale boom, ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance said Tuesday at an industry gathering. "We believe it's important to be globally interconnected in this business," Lance said at the IHS CERAWeek...>>>
OBITUARY: Chavez death brings uncertainty to OPEC member Venezuela Mar 06,2013
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday in Caracas after an almost two-year battle with cancer and 14 years of a dominating socialist presidency that leaves the country with the world's largest oil reserves mired in uncertainty. The vociferous Chavez, 58, who once regaled supporters for hours in speeches and on his weekly television show, ...>>>
Asian PX market sinks 2.8% to below $1,600/mt mark as selling accelerates Mar 05,2013
Asia's paraxylene market extended falls Monday morning, with the CFR Taiwan/China PX price benchmark declining quickly to under the psychological $1,600/mt mark for the first time in three months under heavy sell pressure, market sources said Monday. The CFR Taiwan/China PX price benchmark is pegged at $1,566/mt Monday morning -- a fall of $45/...>>>
Austria's Borealis acquires Dutch DSM-ExxonMobil JV DEXPlastomers Mar 05,2013
Austria's Borealis has acquired Netherlands-based DEXPlastomers from ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Royal DSM, the Austrian petrochemical company said in a statement issued Monday. No financial details were given. DEXPlastomers, founded in 1996 as a 50/50 joint venture between DSM and Exxon Chemical Holland Ventures, produces C8 plastomers and...>>>
Marathon Petroleum declares force majeure on benzene, toluene, MX: sources Mar 05,2013
Marathon Petroleum has declared force majeure on benzene, toluene and mixed xylene, trading sources said Monday. No further details are known and confirmation from Marathon was unavailable as a spokesman at the company declined to comment, but did say that a force majure wouldn't have been from a fire at the Galveston Bay refinery that took place l...>>>
UK gas hits 108 pence/therm as North Sea outages cut supply Mar 05,2013
UK natural gas for same-day delivery rose to 108 pence/therm Monday morning -- a price the market has not closed above since 2006 -- due to unplanned North Sea outages. Stormy weather caused a failure in the Norwegian power grid system leading to the Nyhamma gas processing plant losing 53 million cubic meters/day of production, Gassco said. G...>>>
NYMEX April gas futures settle up 7.3 cents on colder weather forecasts Mar 05,2013
NYMEX April natural gas futures settled 7.3 cents higher at $3.529/MMBtu Monday on an expected boost in heating demand due to near-term forecasts for below-average temperatures for most of the US, sources said. The National Weather Service is predicting below-average temperatures all across the US except for the West Coast in both its six- to 10...>>>
Shell says may shut down key Nigerian oil pipeline over sabotage attacks Mar 05,2013
Shell's Nigeria unit may be forced to shut down completely its key Nembe Creek oil pipeline in the Niger Delta following repeated attacks on the facility by thieves siphoning crude, the chairman of Shell companies in Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, said Monday. The sabotage attacks are "coming to a crunch [such] that rather than allow people to continue...>>>
Oil futures settle lower as market sentiment remains bearish Mar 05,2013
Oil futures settled lower Monday after extending an overnight slide that saw the front-month NYMEX crude contract trade below $90/barrel for the first time since December 26. NYMEX April crude settled 56 cents lower at $90.12/b, while ICE April Brent closed US trade down 31 cents at $110.09/b after market sentiment held a bearish tone in the wak...>>>
Asian butadiene Feb average price rises 14% from Jan on tight supply Mar 04,2013
The average price of butadiene in February rose 14% month on month to $2,007.50/mt FOB Korea amid tight availability and new downstream plants coming online. The first of about four butadiene rubber plants starting up in 2013 was brought online by Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical in Guangdong province in February. It started test runs at the new pl...>>>
NWE Mar benzene CP fully settled at Eur1,054/mt, up Eur14/mt Mar 04,2013
The Northwest European March benzene contract price has been fully settled at Eur1,054/mt, or $1,380/mt, CIF ARA, industry sources confirmed Friday. The settlement represents an increase of Eur14/mt and a decrease of $28/mt compared with the February contract price of Eur1,040/mt and $1,408/mt. LyondellBasell and BASF confirmed the settlement...>>>
US February PET contracts settle 2.75-3 cents/lb higher: sources Mar 04,2013
US polyethylene terephthalate contracts settled 2.75-3 cents/lb higher for February, multiple sources said Friday. February PET contracts were assessed at 87.75-88.75 cents/lb US railcar ($1,935-1,957/mt), a 3 cents/lb increase over January levels. The increase was in line with market expectations. Producers initially sought 4 cents/lb increa...>>>