Chemical News
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China approves Sinopec investments in Indonesia, Angola oil, gas fields Aug 03,2011
China's central government has granted approvals to overseas investments by state-owned China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, in Indonesia and Angola. The government has approved Sinopec's $983 million acquisition in March for Total's 5% stake in Angolan oil block 31 via China Sonangol International, the country's economic planning agency...>>>
Global oil and gas sector to boost E&P capex 12% in 2011: IHS Aug 03,2011
Capital spending on exploration and production by 139 publicly traded oil and natural gas companies is expected to rise about about 12% to $406 billion in 2011, consultant IHS said Tuesday. "Although this modest increase is less than the 19% rise in 2010, oil and gas companies, many of which decreased spending considerably during the economic do...>>>
China's gasoil apparent consumption rises 12% yoy in H1: NBS Aug 03,2011
China's gasoil apparent consumption in the first six months of the year reached 83.08-mil mt, up by 11.98% from the same period last year, the data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The steady growth in economy in the first six months propped up gasoil consumption in the domestic market, some market sources said. In the meantime, do...>>>
PetroChina raises Aug settlement price of Daqing crude supplied to Sinopec by 1.1% Aug 03,2011
PetroChina lifted August settlement prices of both Daqing crude and Jidong crude supplied to Sinopec's subsidiary refineries by Yuan 69/mt to Yuan 6,339/mt, with tax inclusive, a source with Sinopec told C1. Settlement prices of most of the other crude supplied to Sinopec increased Yuan 167-174/mt, according to the source. C1's data showed th...>>>
CNAF raises benchmark price of jet supplied to domestic airlines by 1% Aug 03,2011
The China National Aviation Fuel Corp (CNAF), China's dominant jet supplier, lifted the benchmark price of jet it supplies to domestic airlines to Yuan 7,785/mt on Aug 1, up by Yuan 85/mt or 1.11%, according to a source with a domestic airline company. The rise was in tandem with the increase in CNAF's purchasing price of the fuel, which gained ...>>>
Taiwan Formosa chairman, president resign after latest refinery fire Aug 02,2011
Formosa Petrochemical Corp.'s chairman and president have stepped down after its Mailiao refinery in western Taiwan was hit by a second fire in a week over the weekend, which was also the seventh to hit the refinery in a year. In a statement published on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday, the company said that chairman Wilfred Wang and preside...>>>
Saudi SIIG forms joint venture for nylon, downstream products Aug 02,2011
Joint stock company Saudi Industrial Investment Group, or SIIG, said Monday it has established a joint venture company dedicated to producing downstream petrochemical products. The venture, called Petrochemical Conversion Company, or PCC, has been formed under a 50:50 partnership with the Arabian Chevron Phillips Petrochemical Company, the comp...>>>
Chilean Petroquim's PP plant to go back on line by August 3 Aug 02,2011
Chilean producer Petroquim is expected to restart operations of its 100,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) plant in Concepcion, Chile, by August 3, after a maintenance shutdown that started on July 25, a company source told Platts Monday. "We stopped the plant for maintenance because ENAP, our propylene's supplier, was having technical problems but ...>>>
US spot mixed xylene premium to blend value rising for nine days Aug 02,2011
The premium of US Gulf Coast spot mixed xylene to the blend value was calculated Friday by Platts at 50.56 cents/gallon, the highest premium since late March. Mixed xylene was assessed at 430 cents/gallon FOB USG for August that day, the highest price since May 10. The premium to the blend value has been on a general upward trend starting from ...>>>
Bison gas pipeline to undergo more testing: TransCanada Aug 02,2011
TransCanada will begin digging and inspecting selected points of the Bison Pipeline to further check for anomalies in the 302-mile line after a July 20 rupture forced its closure and repair, it said Monday. TransCanada spokesman David Dodson said the company is launching targeted digs at the request of the US Department of Transportation Pipelin...>>>
Australia's increasing oil, NGL output to help Aframax market: report Aug 02,2011
The Aframax market in Southeast Asia and in the Fast East can expect some support as Australia's crude and natural gas liquids output makes modest gains, shipbroker Poten & Partners said in a report published over the weekend. "It is estimated that Australia's oil production will increase to reach 620,000 b/d over the course of 2012 [from 562,00...>>>
Australia's increasing oil, NGL output to help Aframax market: report Aug 02,2011
The Aframax market in Southeast Asia and in the Fast East can expect some support as Australia's crude and natural gas liquids output makes modest gains, shipbroker Poten & Partners said in a report published over the weekend. "It is estimated that Australia's oil production will increase to reach 620,000 b/d over the course of 2012 [from 562,00...>>>
Debt deal would see sharp energy spending cuts: ex-Clinton energy advisor Aug 02,2011
The agreement to raise the US government's debt limit makes it more likely than ever that federal energy spending will see sharp cuts, a former presidential energy advisor said on Monday. Although several energy and natural resources-focused interest groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, declined comment on the deal, reached Sunday...>>>
Archer plans $742 million buy of US services provider Great White Aug 02,2011
Fledgling acquisitive oilfield services provider Archer took a step Monday toward expanding its global reach with a $742 million deal to acquire US pressure pumper Great White Energy Services. Formerly known as Norway-based Seawell, Archer is based in Bermuda. The acquisition derails a pending initial public offering by Oklahoma City-based G...>>>
Sinopec Yanshan Petchem to cut crude throughput by 7.4% in Aug Aug 02,2011
Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical plans to process 880,000mt of crude in August, with daily throughput down by 7.4% from July, a source with the refinery said. The decline was mainly due to a once-every-four-year turnaround of an 840,000-mt/yr ethylene cracker and its affiliated units, expected to occur during Aug 15 and Sep 20, according to the sou...>>>
Oil products inventories of Shandong’s independent refineries increase 1.5% Aug 02,2011
The total gasoline and gasoil inventory of independent refineries in Shandong Province rose by 1.5% from two weeks ago to 464,000mt as of Aug 1, C1's research showed. Gasoil inventory increased by 12.8% or 28,000mt from mid-July to 247,000mt. Gasoil demand from end-users and speculators were soft in the past two weeks, industry sources remark...>>>
Beijing Petroleum Exchange launches spot trading of oil products Aug 02,2011
A 1,000-mt gasoline deal was concluded on the electronic platform of the Beijing Petroleum Exchange recently, marking the commercial operation of the bourse, according to an insider. The seller was PetroChina Beijing, said the source. "We provide spot transaction platforms for nearly ten kinds of petrochemicals and we will apply for petrochem...>>>
Atlas Methanol plans mid-Aug restart for Trinidad and Tobago plant Aug 01,2011
Atlas Methanol is expected to restart its 1.7 million mt/year methanol plant at Point Lisas in Trinidad and Tobago mid-August following an unplanned shutdown July 20 or 21, a source close to the matter said Friday. The shutdown will cut the plant's annual production by around 98,000 mt, based on the its capacity. After the restart, the plant ...>>>
Asia SM prices hit three-year high on supply concerns, outages Aug 01,2011
Asia styrene monomer prices hit three-year highs Thursday on supply concerns for August and September due to turnarounds and unknown restart dates for three plants that were shut unexpectedly, market sources said Friday. FOB Korea was assessed Thursday at $1,503.50/mt, the highest level since August 4, 2008, when it was at $1,522.50/mt, while CF...>>>
European styrene prices fall on widening Aug-Sept contango Aug 01,2011
The European styrene prices dipped $5/mt to $1,495/mt FOB Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp on Thursday as sentiment continued to focus on the front month, pushing September loading prices higher and widening the August-September contango. Earlier in the day, prices were seen pushing beyond the $1,500/mt mark, led by firmer feedstock prices and short...>>>