Chemical News
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US PET prices likely to increase in October on MEG, PX cost push Sep 09,2011
US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) prices were set to go up in September and again in October on a continuing increase in costs, sources said Thursday. "We might see another 4-cent/lb increase in October," a PET producer said, "but it depends how PX finishes the month." Bottle resin prices in the US tend to increase when raw materials increa...>>>
US spot toluene under blend value amid weak demand Sep 09,2011
Rising blend values this week were leaving US spot toluene at a discount for the first time since Aug. 29, and such discount should make the product attractive economically, sources said Thursday. Spot toluene was assessed Wednesday at 371 cents/gal FOB USG for September, 0.63 cents/gal under the blend value. Meanwhile, the blend value rose near...>>>
UK's Centrica finds more gas than estimated in Norwegian Sea prospect Sep 09,2011
UK utility Centrica has found more gas than it had previously estimated at its Fogelberg prospect in Production Licence 433 in the Norwegian Sea, one of its partners in the licence said Thursday. Norwegian oil and gas explorer North Energy said that deeper studies at the prospect showed that the license contains more gas than originally anticipa...>>>
Canadian producers issue guidelines for shale gas development Sep 09,2011
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, acting on behalf of the country's natural gas producers, Thursday announced guidelines for hydraulic fracturing of shale gas developments. The new principles emphasize water management and improved disclosure of water and fluid practices. Salient new features include: safeguarding the quality and ...>>>
BP completes $296 million sale of five African businesses to Puma Sep 09,2011
BP Thursday said Trafigura Group oil products marketing unit Puma Energy has paid $296 million for its fuels marketing businesses in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. The sale of the assets, which was first announced by BP in May 2010, follows a strategic review of the company's southern African refining and marketing businesses, a...>>>
US Gulf Coast production again near record on high run rate: EIA Sep 09,2011
US Gulf Coast production of ultra low sulfur diesel steadied last week just below the previous week's record, government statistics showed Thursday, although total US output dipped as East Coast refineries shut due to hurricane threats. US production dropped from an all-time high of 4.1 million b/d to 3.93 million b/d, with most of the decline i...>>>
Major Chinese refineries' operation rate inches down to 79.66% in early Sep Sep 09,2011
Major Chinese refineries' operating rates averaged 79.66% on Sep 8, down by 0.51 percentage points from two week ago, C1 research showed. This run rate was close to the lowest level this year, sharply down by 8.3 percentage points from the record high that was set in the second half of May, or down by 5.7 percentage points from a year earlier. ...>>>
Oil majors plan to supply GB-IV gasoline in Nanjing from Oct 1 Sep 09,2011
Petrol stations under Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC petrol stations in East China's Nanjing plan to supply gasoline that all meets GB (national standards) IV as from Oct 1, C1 learned. According to this plan, Nanjing will become the sixth Chinese city to implement GB-IV vehicle emission standards, after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and...>>>
Ethylene and propylene prices decline in Asia. PP prices also fall. Sep 08,2011
Ethylene prices in North East Asia drifted lower on Thursday. Prices fell on mounting worries that a sudden flood of availability from plant restarts would hammer spot prices sharply down going forward. Adding to the bearish pricing momentum were sluggish regional buying trends coupled with softening prices of downstream PE. CFR North East Asia ...>>>
Siam Polyethylene eyes maintenance at LLDPE plant Sep 08,2011
An industry source based in South East Asia informed a Polymerupdate team member on the maintenance schedule of a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant operated by Siam Polyethylene. The source said, “located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the LLDPE plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year. Currently, the plant is operating at nor...>>>
Asia CPO futures soften on expectations of strong supply Sep 08,2011
Asian crude palm (CPO) futures closed lower on Tuesday on expectations that supply will increase following a full resumption of milling activities after a week-long holiday, traders said. Malaysia CPO September contract prices were settled at Malaysian ringgit (M$) 3,144/tonne ($1,059/tonne) on Tuesday, down by M$41/tonne from Monday, with a to...>>>
US Praxair to build air separation plant near Mumbai, India Sep 08,2011
Praxair plans to build a 300 tonne/day industrial gases plant in the Pune-Mumbai industrial corridor of western India, with start-up expected in late 2012, the US-based firm said on Tuesday. Praxair said the plant, about 60km (37 miles) from Mumbai, will supply liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon to customers in India's Maharashtra and Gujarat sta...>>>
Sunoco US refineries may become ethylene plants, terminals Sep 07,2011
HOUSTON-US Sunoco executives laid out on Tuesday several options for its Marcus Hooks and Philadelphia refineries in Pennsylvania, including the possibility of converting the sites into ethylene plants. The sites would benefit from the rich ethane reserves in the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit that is largely concentrated in Pennsylvania. ...>>>
Asian isomer MX-naphtha spread at 52-month high of $391.12/mt on firm PX Sep 06,2011
The Asian isomer-grade mixed xylenes-naphtha spread was at a 52-month high of $391.12/mt Friday as isomer-MX prices surged to a 37-week high of $1,365/mt FOB Korea on strong downstream paraxylene. Platts last assessed the isomer MX-naphtha spread higher on May 10, 2007, at $395.25/mt. The isomer-MX market in Asia has been on a bullish trend s...>>>
Iran in talks to establish JVs with Asia petchem companies at Chabahar Sep 06,2011
The Iranian government is in talks with investors across Asia to establish petrochemical joint ventures in the southeastern port city of Chabahar, a source close to the matter said Sunday. "The Iran government wants to develop Chabahar on the lines of Pars special economic zone in Assaluyeh," the source said. "The plan is to establish methanol,...>>>
Indonesia's Pertamina plans to sign Natuna contract end Oct: official Sep 06,2011
Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina expects the long-awaited and technically challenging East Natuna gas block project to be on stream by 2022, with the company planning to sign a production sharing contract with the government on October 28, a senior official said Monday. "We target to sign the PSC on October 28 this year. We ...>>>
Kiev to honor Russian gas contract until deal reached: Ukraine PM Sep 06,2011
Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov ratcheted down the rhetoric on Sunday in a brewing conflict over natural gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine, saying Kiev will honor its contract with Moscow until an agreement is reached to change it. "We have a disagreement and believe these deals are not beneficial for us; our citizens, country and econo...>>>
Non-Commercials add 21,999 contracts to Brent futures longs: ICE Sep 06,2011
Non-commercials added 21,999 contracts of Brent futures in the week ended August 30, halting three weeks of selling to leave them long by 49,971 lots, according to data released Monday by the IntercontinentalExchange. Non-commercials primarily comprise managed money accounts. The buying came as prices for the front-month Brent contract climbe...>>>
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port yet to resume offloading crude tankers Sep 06,2011
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port said Monday it has not resumed discharging crude from oil tankers because the weather remains bad due to Tropical Storm Lee. "We have not resumed offloading tankers as the weather remains bad," spokeswoman Barb Hestermann said. LOOP suspended tanker discharges early Friday as Lee approached the southern Louisia...>>>
PetroChina Guangxi Petchem likely to reduce daily crude throughput by 7% in Sep Sep 06,2011
PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical plans to process about 0.72-mil mt of crude in September, with daily throughput down by 7% month on month because of maintenance of some secondary units, according to a source with the refinery. The refinery plans to start 10-day maintenance of a 2.2-mil-mt/yr continuous reformer, 1-mil-mt/yr aromatics extraction...>>>