Chemical News
-
PetroChina Guangxi Petchem to cut LPG output on maintenance in first half of Sep Sep 06,2011
PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical will reduce LPG production by 150-200mt a day later this month, as it is scheduled to start 8-10-day maintenance of some secondary units around Sep 12, according to a source with the refinery. The refinery already cut spot LPG supply to the market by about 200mt a day as from late August. This was because it bega...>>>
Tropical Storm Lee keeps US Gulf energy production shut-in Sep 05,2011
HOUSTON-Much of the offshore oil and natural gas production in the US Gulf remained shut-in as a result of Tropical Storm Lee, regulators said on Sunday. As of 11:30 Houston time (16:30 GMT), companies have evacuated personnel from 239 production platforms, or 38.7% of the 617 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Bureau of Oc...>>>
Vietnam Polystyrene to start up new 60,000 mt/year plant in November Sep 05,2011
Vietnam Polystyrene aims to start production at its new 60,000 mt/year polystyrene plant at Vung Tau City, east of Ho Chi Minh City, in November, a company source said this week. The new plant will be able to produce both general purpose and high impact polystyrene, but the production ratio is not known. Vietnam Polystyrene also operates a 24...>>>
Germany's Brenntag buys UK specialty chemicals distributor Multisol Sep 05,2011
German specialty chemicals distributor Brenntag said Friday it is acquiring UK-based peer Multisol for an undisclosed sum to expand its portfolio and gain a bigger presence in central and eastern Europe, and Africa. Brenntag said the purchase of Multisol allows the company to further develop its market position in the distribution of specialty c...>>>
US benzene-to-crude ratio rebounds after six-day slide Sep 05,2011
As sources pegged the US benzene spot market Friday mid-morning at 392 cents/gal FOB USG for September, the benzene-to-crude ratio rose to 1.8905 after sliding for six days. Previously, the ratio had been depressing steadily from 1.9904 August 24 to 1.8675 Thursday, according to Platts data. By 11:00 AM CDT, October NYMEX crude futures had mo...>>>
TransCanada eyes transfer of Gulf of Mexico gas pipes, facilities Sep 05,2011
TransCanada subsidiary ANR Pipeline asked FERC Thursday to allow it to sell its offshore pipelines and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico because its shippers are shifting to onshore gas supplies. The facilities include 535 miles of pipeline, seven offshore platforms and other related facilities, including three discrete gathering and transmission ...>>>
Shale gas revolution to drive EU gas market changes: think tank Sep 05,2011
The EU gas market could undergo significant changes over the next 10 years due to an "unconventional gas revolution", according to a report Friday by Polish think tank The Kosciuszko Institute. The report, compiled by 20 academics and scientists for the Krakow-based agency, said the development of the unconventional gas sector in Europe, chiefly...>>>
ANALYSIS: European bunker fuel market slow to move to new ISO standard Sep 05,2011
On June 15 2010, the fourth edition of the International Standards Organization's 8217 document prescribing marine fuel specification limits was released by the non-governmental organization. In the past buyers and sellers have adopted ISO standards readily, with almost all global bunker hubs trading to ISO standards. However, despite the ongoin...>>>
Impacts from Lee receding; no reports of refineries affected by storm Sep 05,2011
With crews heading back to their platforms and no refineries reporting any outages, it appears that the impact of Tropical Storm Lee on the New Orleans-area oil industry has peaked and is now waning. The risk from power outages affecting pipelines and gas processing plants also appears over, as Louisiana's primary utility Entergy reported Sunda...>>>
PetroChina Dalian Petchem to resume normal production in Sep Sep 05,2011
PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical set crude throughput target for September at a normal level of 1.45-1.5-mil mt, with daily throughput to rise by 35% from August, a source with the refinery said. It will restart a 10-mil-mt/yr crude distillation unit and a 3.6-mil-mt/yr hydrocracker next week, according to the source. The CDU was shut down on ...>>>
CNAF cuts Sep benchmark price of jet supplied to domestic airlines by 1.5% Sep 05,2011
China National Aviation Fuel Group Corp (CNAF) marked down the benchmark price of jet that it supplies to domestic airlines as from Sep 1 to Yuan 7,670/mt, down 1.5% or Yuan 115/mt from the previous month, according to a source with a domestic airline company. The price cut was because of lower jet ex-refinery prices for September. The actual ...>>>
Sinopec Qingdao Refining & Chemical cuts LPG barge sales by 14.3% Fri Sep 05,2011
Sinopec Qingdao Refining & Chemical sold three LPG cargoes by barge totaling 5,400mt in the week ended Sep 2, down by 900mt or 14.3% from the previous week, according to a refinery source. The source ascribed the decline to relatively low barge prices in Northeast China. However, Qingdao Refining & Chemical faced few LPG inventory pressures a...>>>
Malaysia's BP Petronas Acetyls declares force majeure on AA supplies Sep 02,2011
BP Petronas Acetyls declared a force majeure on acetic acid supply from its 480,000 mt/year plant in Kertih, Malaysia on Tuesday, a source close to the company said Thursday. The source, however, declined to comment on current operations at the AA plant and the reason for the force majeure, but said that the force majeure would be in place unti...>>>
US MX September contract settles down 8 cents to 415 cents/gal Sep 02,2011
The US September mixed xylene contract was heard settled Thursday at 415 cents/gal ($1,257.45/mt), down 8 cents/gal, or 1.9%, from the August mixed xylene contract of 423 cents/gallon ($1,281.69/mt). Market sources said they heard the involved parties were Citgo and BP. A trader added that Conoco-Phillips could also be involved. Confirmation was...>>>
FEATURE: Woodside won in Australia's 2009 Browse decision - WikiLeaks Sep 02,2011
The Australian government's December 2009 decision to impose a 120-day deadline for the Browse LNG joint venture to decide on a development option left Woodside Petroleum as a "clear winner" among its partners, according to cables from the US embassy in Canberra, published this week by WikiLeaks. Australian resources minister Martin Ferguson cit...>>>
ACER scopes first technical EU gas interoperability guidelines Sep 02,2011
EU energy regulatory agency ACER has published a scoping document outlining what could be included in its first operational and technical EU framework guidelines for gas. "The framework guidelines on interoperability rules for European gas transmission networks aim at improving the inter-operation of the gas systems in the EU," ACER said in a no...>>>
Queensland environment body confirms Kingaroy UCG closure: Cougar Sep 02,2011
The state Queensland government's Department of Environment and Resource Management has confirmed its decision to shut down Cougar Energy's Kingaroy underground coal gasification pilot plant, the Australian company said Thursday. The confirmation was handed down by a delegate appointed by the DERM in response to Cougar's application for an inte...>>>
Supply sees 0.1% NWE cargo price over Med for first time since June Sep 02,2011
A tightness in the supply of 0.1% gasoil cargoes in the Northwest European market saw the price rise above that of the Mediterranean Wednesday for the first time since June 9, according to Platts data. Platts assessed CIF NWE cargoes at a flat price of $982/mt, a premium of $9.25/mt over the front month ICE gasoil contract. The Mediterranean ...>>>
Private oil product inventories fall 10% to 140,000mt Thu Sep 02,2011
Commercial oil product inventories of private traders in China amounted to 140,000mt up till Aug 31, down by 5,000mt or 10% from two weeks ago, C1's research found. The inventories were 72,000mt for gasoline, down by 8,000mt; gasoil inventories fell by 7,000mt to 68,000mt. Private traders reduced oil product stocks in mid-August with bearish ...>>>
Operation rates of Shandong independents rise 7.1 percentage points to 36% Thu Sep 02,2011
Run rates of Shandong's independent refineries averaged 36% as of Thursday, a rise of 7.06 percentage points from a week ago, but down by 4.71 percentage points from a year ago, according to C1 research. Crude throughput of some independent refineries increased as oil product retail ceilings became unlikely to drop amid rises in international cr...>>>