Chemical News
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NYMEX crude settles $2.60/b; rallies to more than nine-month high Feb 22,2012
NYMEX March crude futures settled $2.60 higher at $105.84/barrel Tuesday after rallying to a more than nine-month high on concerns about global supply issues and a eurozone finance ministers agreement on a rescue plan for Greece. March crude traded up to $106.07/b -- the highest since May 5, 2011 -- on the contract's day of expiration. Also a...>>>
Utrecht researchers make plastic from biomass Feb 22,2012
It is now possible to economically produce plastics from biomass thanks to a new type of catalyst developed by chemists at Utrecht University. According to head researcher Prof Krijn de Jong: "The products are exactly the same [as petroleum-based ones], only they are made of pruning waste instead." The invention has already sparked the interest ...>>>
Iran to lift petchems exports 21% to $14 bil in current Persian year: report Feb 21,2012
Iran is expected to export petrochemicals worth $14 billion in the Persian year ending March 20, 2012 up 21% from a year ago, the Tehran Times reported Sunday. Iran currently has a 24.5% share of total petrochemical production in the Middle East and about 2.4% of global production, the newspaper quoted Abdolhossein Bayat, managing director at I...>>>
NWE styrene market backwardation likely in Mar on strong fundamentals Feb 21,2012
The Northwest European styrene monomer forward market structure is likely to flip into backwardation by March given strengthening fundamentals, industry observers said Monday. The view is based upon a confluence of bullish indications -- stronger downstream demand into March/April, balanced-to-tight regional supplies and a lack of an open arbitr...>>>
Japan's Mitsubishi to speed up LNG feasibility studies for Canada projects Feb 21,2012
Japan's Mitsubishi Corp intends to accelerate feasibility studies to export Canadian natural gas as LNG, following its latest agreement to take a 40% stake in Encana Corp's Cutbank Ridge natural gas play, the company said in a statement Monday. Mitsubishi's announcement follows Encana's statement Friday that the two companies had agreed on the C...>>>
Gazprom says has fully restored Russian gas supplies to Europe Feb 21,2012
Gazprom said Monday it had restored supplies of Russian natural gas to Europe in full, after several European countries reported cuts in supplies in early February as freezing weather from Russia to Western Europe drove up gas demand. "I am pleased to announce that Gazprom Group has restored in full natural gas supplies to cover demand of Europe...>>>
US, Mexico reach accord on Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement Feb 21,2012
The United States and Mexico formally agreed Monday on how to assign ownership rights and royalties from cross-border hydrocarbons reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. The Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement was signed in Los Cabos, Mexico, by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, with US Interior Secre...>>>
Total closes deal with UK's Tullow for one third in Uganda oil assets: source Feb 21,2012
France's Total has agreed a long-awaited deal with the UK's Tullow Oil to take a 33% stake in Tullow's oil assets in Uganda, a source close to the deal said Monday. "Total has reached an agreement with Tullow -- it's done," the source said. Tullow and Total both declined official comment. The long-delayed farm-down by Tullow of two thir...>>>
Rubber bearings to protect buildings in earthquakes Feb 20,2012
Mathematicians at the University of Manchester are working on a theory that could make buildings 'invisible' to earthquakes. Writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Dr William Parnell has shown that by cloaking components of structures with pressurised rubber, powerful waves, such as those produced by an earthquake, would not 'see' the ...>>>
India's Assam Petrochemicals plans methanol, acetic acid plants by end 2014 Feb 20,2012
India's Assam Petrochemicals plans to build a 500,000 mt/year methanol and a 200,000 mt/year downstream acetic acid plant in Namrup, in northeastern India's Assam state by the end of 2014, a source close to the company confirmed Friday. The methanol will be produced with natural gas from Assam. In the long term, the company also hopes to bu...>>>
Buyers accept ADNOC's term splitter, low sulfur naphtha at $23.50/mt premium Feb 20,2012
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has reached a final price agreement with its term customers to supply both splitter and low sulfur naphtha over the 12 months starting April 2012 at a premium of $23.50/mt to the ADNOC formula, trading sources said Friday. The ADNOC formula takes the average of FOB Arab Gulf naphtha assessments from Platts and Petroleum...>>>
ASIA SPOT LNG: Platts April JKM at $14.725/MMBtu on post-winter demand Feb 20,2012
Platts April LNG Japan Korea Marker was higher at $14.725/MMBtu at the end of the Asian trading week on the back of post-winter spot demand carried over from March. The April JKM rolled over at $14.675/MMBtu Thursday. There was a significant price gap between buyers and sellers for April shipments, but offers looked increasingly bullish across t...>>>
US Northeast could become net gas exporter by 2017: Bentek Energy Feb 20,2012
While low natural gas prices could lead to a 50% decline in northern Pennsylvania dry gas rig counts in the next several months, a quadrupling of liquids-rich production volumes in the southwestern Marcellus and Utica shales could make the US Northeast a net gas exporter by 2017, Bentek Energy said in a market alert issued Friday. Bentek is a un...>>>
Encana aims to close $2.9 bil sale of Canada gas play stake this month Feb 20,2012
Encana, the largest natural gas producer based in Canada, expects to close a $2.9 billion sale of a 40% stake in its British Columbia gas assets to Japan's Mitsubishi later this month, Encana CEO Randy Eresman said Friday. Eresman said in a conference call that the deal commits Mitsubishi to pay $1.45 billion at closing and the balance over the ...>>>
USAC high sulfur diesel cargo slated for rare February trip to Europe Feb 20,2012
Mild winter weather in the US Northeast is allowing traders to send a seasonally rare high sulfur diesel cargo from the Atlantic Coast to Europe, according to market sources. The cargo will be a 400,000-barrel load on the tanker Cape Troy, sources said. The Panamax is slated to load Saturday, according to the Platts' vessel tracking software cTr...>>>
US approves Shell oil spill response plan for Alaska offshore wells Feb 20,2012
Shell's plans to drill exploration wells in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this summer advanced Friday when the US Interior Department approved the company's oil spill response plan. While Shell must still file individual permits for the six wells it proposes to drill in the Chukchi over the next two years, approval of the response plan is a major step an...>>>
China petrochemical sector to fare better in 2012 - Barclays Feb 17,2012
The Chinese government's expansionary fiscal policy along with the first signs of stabilizing petrochemical and plastic prices in China will lead to a better performance of the Chinese petrochemical sector in 2012 compared with 2011, Barclays Capital said in a research note Wednesday. A healthier petrochemical sector would propel a stronger per...>>>
European PVC prices supported by weather-related supply constraints Feb 17,2012
Weather-related production issues are lending support to spot European PVC prices and pushing up pricing ideas for February contract price negotiations, sources said Wednesday. Suppliers, buyers and distributors all agreed that the market is currently "balanced to tight," having previously been long. They pointed to the recent force majeures ...>>>
Asian paraxylene prices fall Feb 17,2012
Asian benzene rose $3.75/mt day on day Thursday to $1,187.75/mt FOB Korea, shown in red below, as US benzene and crude oil prices ticked up. In Asia trade Thursday, front month ICE Brent crude futures rose $0.20/barrel day on day to $118.36/b at 4:30 pm Singapore time (0830 GMT). In the US, benzene climbed $9 to $1,246/mt FOB USG, shown in blue bel...>>>
US Huntsman posts fourth-quarter profit of $105 million Feb 17,2012
US-based Huntsman Chemical on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profits of $105 million -- up from $30 million a year ago -- as higher selling prices in the polyurethanes, performance products and pigments divisions offset decreases in sale volumes. The higher income came on revenue of $2.63 billion, up 9% from the same time period in 2010. Ad...>>>