Chemical News
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EURO GAS: Prompt prices fall in line with oil, euro currency Mar 11,2011
Prompt prices on the European continent dipped down midday, London time, Thursday following the easing back of oil prices. Concerns over the euro caused the price of Brent to dip almost $2/barrel to around $114/b at 1300 GMT despite continued unrest in Libya. The TTF day-ahead contract fell 20 euro cent day-on-day to trade midday at Eur23.05...>>>
Americas: ExxonMobil says plans to resume Gulf of Mexico drilling in 2011 Mar 11,2011
ExxonMobil plans to drill in the US Gulf of Mexico this year, it said Wednesday, as the company looks to resume activity in the aftermath of Macondo-related disruptions that slowed the industry. A slide presented at ExxonMobil's annual presentation to analysts noted the company is "actively building Gulf of Mexico prospect inventory." Permi...>>>
Asia: ExxonMobil Singapore to switch to mainly ULSD output 2014 Mar 11,2011
ExxonMobil's 605,000 b/d Singapore Refinery in Jurong will produce mainly low sulfur diesel from 2014 when its diesel hydrotreater is expected to be ready, industry sources said this week. Once the hydrotreater is ready, the refinery will move away from producing high sulfur gasoil, which it mainly produces and exports now, to production of low ...>>>
Middle East: Bombed Iraqi pipeline will take 4-5 days to repair: sources Mar 11,2011
The Iraqi northern oil export pipeline, damaged in a bomb attack Wednesday, will take four or five days to repair, a high level source at North Oil Company said Thursday. "We think that the attacked part of the pipeline will take four to five days to be fixed and all the exports from that pipeline have stopped," the source said. "There has been ...>>>
China: Shandong independent refineries run at 42.1% Thu, down 4.3 percentage points on week Mar 11,2011
Operating rates of independent refineries in Shandong Province averaged 42.1% Thursday, down 4.3 percentage points from one week ago, 15.1 percentage points higher than a year earlier, C1's research showed. Some refineries shut crude distillate units for maintenance in the past week, with shutdown capacities totaling 3.3-mil-mt per year, accordi...>>>
China: Sinopec estimated to trim Mar daily crude throughput by 3.07% to 573,000mt Mar 11,2011
Refineries affiliated to Sinopec are forecast to process a combined 17.7-17.8-mil mt of crude in March, with daily consumption slightly down 3.07% from the previous month to 573,000mt, C1's research showed. The daily throughput touched the lowest level of the first quarter. Guangzhou Petrochemical's 5.2-mil-mt/yr crude distillate unit and Wuh...>>>
China's Feb imports of refined oil fall 14.29% on month to 3.3-mil mt: GAC Mar 11,2011
China's imports of refined oil amounted to 3.3-mil mt in February, down 14.29% from the previous month, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. The nation is estimated to have imported 2.01-mil mt of fuel oil in the month, sharply down 420,000mt or 17.28% on month. In face of misty outlook of international crude pric...>>>
China: Operation rate of Guangdong minor refineries declines 1 percentage point to 16% Thu: on week Mar 11,2011
Operation rates of minor refineries in South China's Guangdong Province was 16% on average Thursday, slightly down 1 percentage point from one week ago, down 11% from a year earlier, C1's research found. Five minor refineries were in operation in total at present, with feedstock throughput reaching 5,700mt per day, down 300mt on week. The ref...>>>
China: Major domestic refineries' run rate falls to 81.84% amid maintenance Mar 11,2011
Major Chinese refineries' operating rates averaged 81.84% on Mar 10, down 2.68 percentage points from two weeks before, 0.21 percentage points lower compared with one year ago, C1's research found. Dalian Wepec, Jinling Petrochemical and Guangzhou Petrochemical put altogether 18.7-mil mt of annual topping capacity under maintenance and Fushun ...>>>
Linde achieves record levels and is set for further growth Mar 11,2011
Group 2010 financial year: Group sales up 14.8 percent to EUR 12.868 bn Group operating profit* increases at a faster rate than sales, by 22.6 percent to EUR 2.925 bn 22.2 percent rise in proposed dividend to EUR 2.20 per share Gases business in Greater China region 2010 financial year: Greater China sales up 36.8 percent to EUR 576 ...>>>
Middle East:Kevin Shaw: Horizontal drilling an oil & gas game-changer Mar 10,2011
The Energy Report: Technology is changing the exploration landscape. It has enabled companies to reach untapped oil and gas in what were previously considered non-economical parts of many conventional producing reservoirs and to enter into many unconventional shale plays. How is this changing the game for North American exploration and production (...>>>
Americas:Oil dips below $105 as OPEC hints at output hike Mar 10,2011
Global oil prices extended losses Wednesday despite escalating concerns over Middle East and North Africa unrests. Light sweet crude for April, delivery was seen trading at $104.51 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude for April delivery was at $112.47 a barrel in London. Analysts attributed oil's second day dips to OPEC's...>>>
China:China sees significant rise in renewable energy use Mar 10,2011
China's renewable energy use will climb to 26.7 percent by 2030, according to Centre for Renewable Energy Development. However, a more probable middle scenario sets the share at 20-22%, according to the CRED. A report containing three scenarios for the contribution of renewable energy to China's energy consumption, has been developed by CRE...>>>
Europe:EU calls for big investments in energy conservation Mar 10,2011
European Commission called for big investments to find ways to limit rising energy costs and beat its own target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The EU also unveiled plans to move to a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050, reports the EurActiv Much or all of the extra investment would be recovered from savings on oil imports, the Co...>>>
Asia:India requires quantum jump in renewable energy to meet targets Mar 10,2011
India requires quantum jump in renewable energy generation (RE) inorder ot mee the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) target of ensuring 15% RE in total energy mix by 2020 Wind power has witnessed a phenomenal growth in India over the past few years, it could make a significant contribution towards the shift to a low-carbon and ener...>>>
Americas:US lifts oil price forecast for 2011-12 Mar 10,2011
The US Department of Energy lifted its projection for the average cost of refiners in 2011 by $14 to $105 a barrel. According to US Energy Information Administration, the benchmark WTI crude will average $102 a barrel this year and $105 a barrel in 2012. Oil prices have been particularly sensitive to turmoil in Libya, which halved the oil-r...>>>
Asia:Why commodity prices are surging on Libyan crisis Mar 10,2011
Global powers did not come any closer to creating a Libyan no-fly zone and Col. Gaddafi's loyalists appeared to gain the upper hand against rebels in at least one coastal city of the country on Wednesday. The situation prompted traders to keep bids on WTI oil prices just above $105 per barrel, and US dollar selling came back into the picture as wel...>>>
Asia: Mitsui Chemicals and Teijin Form JV To Integrate PET Resin Production Mar 10,2011
Tokyo - Mitsui Chemicals and Teijin have established MCT PET Resin Co. as a new joint venture to integrate their Japanese production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin for bot-tles. Scheduled to begin operations on 1 Apr. 2011, MCT PET will combine the PET production, marketing, sales and related technologies of the two companies to optim...>>>
ExxonMobil sees no new US cracker in its future Mar 10,2011
NEW YORK-US-based energy and chemical major ExxonMobil has no plans to build a cracker or make a significant expansion of petrochemical capacity in the US, said its chief executive on Wednesday. "We will keep running full out, but we have no plans to expand capacity at this time," said chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson at ExxonMobil's analyst meeti...>>>
Americas: US benzene prices hit 7.5 week low on weak fundamentals Mar 10,2011
Spot benzene prices in the US continued to move south midweek, hitting a seven and a half week low with March near 405 cents/gallon DDP USG, according to Platts data. The last time prices were at this level was in mid-February when the price was assessed at 410 cents/gal on January 14. March spot benzene prices were talked Wednesday at 400-4...>>>