Chemical News
-
California PUC considers penalties for PG&E over pipe classification Nov 14,2011
The California Public Utilities Commission has opened a penalty proceeding to consider whether Pacific Gas & Electric violated state or federal rules related to proper classification of its natural gas transmission pipelines. The utility submitted a class-location study report to the commission in June, as part of the follow-up to the 2010 explo...>>>
Heavy crudes on US Gulf gaining strength relative to light crudes Nov 14,2011
The spread between the light crude benchmark and the heavy crude benchmark on the US Gulf has narrowed since trading for December injection commenced, signaling a higher demand for heavier crudes. The spread between the Light Louisiana Sweet differential and the Mars differential has narrowed from plus $6.15/barrel on October 25 to plus $3.60/b ...>>>
Canadian Minister sees Northern Gateway approval process expedited 1 year Nov 14,2011
Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said November 13 he wants a regulatory decision by early 2013, a year ahead of the current schedule, on Enbridge's Northern Gateway project to expedite the shipment of Alberta oil sands crude to Asia. Back from a week in China and Japan, he said both countries are eager to see Canada start its first...>>>
China BP Zhuhai restarts 500 kt/year No. 1 purified terephthalic acid line after maintenance Nov 11,2011
China purified terephthalic acid producer BP Zhuhai Chemical Company restarted its 500,000 mt/year No 1 line Wednesday after two weeks of scheduled maintenance, a company source said Thursday. BP Zhuhai, based in the southern province of Guangdong, has another 900,000 mt/year PTA line that is scheduled to shut in December for a month for debottl...>>>
European acrylonitrile spot prices at 22-month lows on demand slump Nov 11,2011
The slump in demand and lower feedstock propylene cost dragged spot acrylonitrile in Europe down this week, with prices shedding a further $25/mt to $1,725/mt CIF Med, the lowest level in 22 months, Platts data showed. The propylene contract price for November was fully settled Thursday at Eur1,013/mt ($1,375) FD NWE, down Eur55/mt from October...>>>
ConocoPhillips announces Phillips 66 is name of Houston-based downstream spinoff Nov 11,2011
ConocoPhillips Thursday unveiled the company name of the pending spinoff of its downstream oil and petrochemicals business, Phillips 66, a moniker long-used in US retail stations. The downstream company, focused on refining, marketing, midstream and chemicals, will be based in Houston, according to a statement. The spinoff from ConocoPhillip...>>>
EU regulators probe worst scenario for non EU-wide renewables support Nov 11,2011
The Council of European Energy Regulators launched a consultation Thursday looking into the worst case scenario of Europe failing to harmonize national support schemes for renewable energy. The consultation addresses the existing differences between national support schemes in Europe and other "non-harmonized" areas of electricity markets. T...>>>
Adriatic LNG plans capacity allocation for November Nov 11,2011
Spot regasification capacity for November will be allocated on a first come, first-served basis at the 8 billion cubic meters/year Adriatic LNG terminal offshore Porto Levante, Italy, terminal operator Adriatic LNG said Thursday. Spot capacity is available for a November 25-28 unloading slot. The maximum volume of LNG that can be unloaded is 145...>>>
NWE Eurobob gasoline crack spread moves negative for first time Nov 11,2011
The front-month Northwest European Eurobob gasoline crack spread--the price difference between gasoline and crude oil--has moved into negative territory for the first time due to a combination of winter sentiment and higher crude prices, sources said Thursday. Firm middle distillate cracks have also put pressure on gasoline cracks. The front-...>>>
US September crude imports down 4.26% year-on-year: Commerce Nov 11,2011
The US Department of Commerce said Thursday that crude oil imports into the US in September fell 4.26%, or 416,000 b/d, to 9.338 million b/d, from September 2010. The September 2011 import figures were 4.29%, or 419,000 b/d, lower than August. Year-to-date through September, the US imported 9.216 million b/d of crude, down 2.6%, or 247,000 b/...>>>
Traders eye toluene cargoes from US to Asia as arbitrage window opens Nov 10,2011
The price of toluene in the Gulf of Mexico showing seasonal weakness even as the Korea benchmark rises on steady demand, has led to an arbitrage window from the US to Northeast Asia opening on paper. The FOB Korea marker was assessed at $1,153.50/mt on Tuesday, up $25/mt from Friday last week while FOB USG was assessed at 348 cents/gallon or $1,...>>>
Wider naphtha/propane spread could tempt NWE petchems to buy more propane Nov 10,2011
The widening spread between delivered prices for naphtha and for propane could tempt petrochemical companies in Northwest Europe to buy more propane, according to industry sources. Propane can be used by several petrochemical companies in NWE as an alternative feedstock to naphtha providing the delivered propane price is below the delivered naph...>>>
Petroperu says inks accords with Braskem, Repsol Nov 10,2011
Peruvian state oil refiner Petroperu has signed separate agreements with Brazi's Braskem to develop a petrochemical industry in Peru and with Spain's Repsol for a joint venture to distribute gas in Peru's mountainous south. In the deal with Braskem, Petroperu and the chemicals producer signed a letter of intention aimed at looking at the potenti...>>>
Indonesia's PGN signs revised deal doubling price for gas from Australian Santos Nov 10,2011
Indonesia's state-owned gas transmission and distribution company Perusahaan Gas Negara has agreed to more than double the price it pays for gas from the Indonesian gas fields of Australia's Santos, a senior official from Indonesia's upstream regulator said late Tuesday. "We expect that this [amended gas sales] agreement to be followed by other ...>>>
UT initial study sees no direct link between fracking, water contamination Nov 10,2011
Preliminary findings from a study on the use of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas development suggest the drilling technique has no direct link to reported groundwater contamination, the project leader at The University of Texas Energy Institute said Wednesday. "From what we've seen so far, many of the problems appear to be related to other aspe...>>>
Wider naphtha/propane spread could tempt NWE petchems to buy more propane Nov 10,2011
The widening spread between delivered prices for naphtha and for propane could tempt petrochemical companies in Northwest Europe to buy more propane, according to industry sources. Propane can be used by several petrochemical companies in NWE as an alternative feedstock to naphtha providing the delivered propane price is below the delivered naph...>>>
EPA may deem more biodiesel RINs as invalid over alleged fraud: lawyer Nov 10,2011
The US Environmental Protection Agency may end up deeming more biodiesel renewable identification numbers (RINs) as invalid following federal investigations into two companies that allegedly sold RINS without producing the appropriate volumes of biodiesel, a lawyer familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The companies -- Maryland-based Clean Gr...>>>
Cain vows won't be forced out of 2012 campaign Nov 09,2011
"Ain't going to happen," Cain said, referring to the chances of him giving up his presidential bid. "We will get through this." Cain spoke at a televised news conference to respond to Sharon Bialek, a Chicago woman who went public on Monday with allegations that Cain made a crude sexual advance against her in 1997 when he was head of the Nationa...>>>
China's Sinopec cuts ex-works butadiene prices by 13-16% Monday Nov 09,2011
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, cut its ex-works butadiene prices by 13-16%, effective Monday, end-users said Tuesday. The largest reduction was in North China where Sinopec Sabic Tianjin is selling butadiene at Yuan 13,000/mt, or about $1,726/mt on an import parity basis. The current price is down about 16%, or Yuan 2,500/mt, fr...>>>
Supply congestion in NWE styrene market to remain as buyers shun storage Nov 09,2011
Load port congestion in the NWE styrene market could persist into December, as weak PS demand, a steep backwardation of around $125/mt and strict inventory management leads buyers to nominate at the start of the month, sources said. "[The congestion/supply problems are] still there [but] you are going to see worse in December as the there are on...>>>