Chemical News
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Buzzard level in North Sea Forties blend back below 30%: BP Aug 06,2010
The amount of higher-sulfur Buzzard crude entering the North Sea Forties Pipeline System dropped 4 percentage points to 29% in the week ending August 1 from the week of July 19-25, FPS operator BP said Thursday. Because the Buzzard field inputs sour crude into the FPS, the more it makes up of the Forties blend, the more sour the overall q...>>>
Britain: BP oil spill's effects likely to linger for decades: NOAA chief Aug 06,2010
BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico "will likely have considerable impacts for years and decades to come," Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday at a White House briefing. The impact would not be as great as it could have been, she said, because much of the oil has been removed ...>>>
India's Reliance expands US shale gas presence with new deal Aug 06,2010
India's Reliance Industries Ltd. Thursday said that its subsidiary,Reliance Marcellus II, has signed an agreement to enter into a Marcellus Shale joint venture with US-based Carrizo Oil & Gas. Under the proposed transaction, RIL will acquire a 60% interest in Marcellus Shale acreage in central and northeast Pennsylvania that is currently ...>>>
China: PetroChina Jinzhou Petchem to consume 28% more crude oil in Aug with CDU maintenance complete Aug 06,2010
PetroChina Jinzhou Petrochemical lifted crude oil refining plan for August by 28% from the previous month to 500,000mt after the completion of maintenance for its 4.5-mil-mt/yr crude distillation unit, a refinery source said. As reported previously, Jinzhou Petrochemical started to revamp the above-mentioned CDU from mid-June, when the 1.2-mi...>>>
Qatar's Tasweeq tenders to offer 45,000mt per month of refrigerated LPG in Sep'10-Jun'11 Aug 06,2010
Qatar International Petroleum Marketing (Tasweeq) issued at tender Wednesday to offer 45,000mt per month of refrigerated LPG at a 75:25 ratio for delivery in September 2010-June 2011, traders said. Bids due Aug 9 local time with validity till 16:00 the following day. >>>
China: Shandong independent refineries run at 40% Thu, up 4 percentage points on week Aug 06,2010
Operation rates of independent refineries in Shandong Province averaged 40% Thursday, up 4 percentage points from one week ago, up 5 percentage points compared to a year earlier, a survey found. Many refineries increased crude runs in the past week, stimulated by rises in oil product prices, market sources denoted. As of Aug 5, a total of...>>>
China: Operation rate of Guangdong minor refineries drops 2 percentage points to 15% Aug 06,2010
Minor refineries in South China's Guangdong Province ran at 15% on average Thursday, down 2 percentage points from one week ago, 3 percentage points higher than a year earlier, a survey found. Foshan Ruifeng Refinery had to lower utilization rate because of feedstock shortage, leading to the fall. Five refineries were in operation at pres...>>>
China: Dalian Wepec sets Aug crude throughput target at normal level of 700,000mt Aug 06,2010
Dalian Wepec schedules to process 700,000mt of crude oil in August, with daily throughput at a normal level of 23,000mt, said a refinery source. As C1 reported earlier, Dalian Wepec had to cut daily crude oil throughput to 19,000mt (140 kbd) mid-July due to unstable crude oil supply caused by pipeline explosion and following embargo in Dalian ...>>>
China: CNOOC Huizhou refinery to slash LPG output over maintenance in late Aug Aug 06,2010
CNOOC Huizhou refinery plans to start 15-20 days of maintenance on a hydrogenation unit as from Aug 20, likely to slash its daily LPG output by about 39% or 400-500mt from 1,100-1,200mt, according to a source with the refinery. As Huizhou refinery tries to ensure supply for truck delivery, its will probably cut supply for barge delivery, a mar...>>>
China: Fuel oil supply from S. China refineries estimated down 8% in Aug Aug 06,2010
Refineries in South China are estimated to supply about 165,500mt of fuel oil in August, down 8% from the previous month, a survey found. This supply comprises 36,000mt of slurry, 57,000mt of bituminous feedstock, which is residue sold under the name of bitumen, 56,500mt of high-sulfur residue, 3,000mt of low-sulfur residue, 8,000mt of heavy c...>>>
Saudi Sipchem to build ethyl acetate/butyl acetate swing plant Aug 06,2010
Saudi International Petrochemical Co. or Sipchem plans to build a 100,000 mt/year ethyl acetate/butyl acetate swing plant at its complex in Jubail Industrial City, the company announced Wednesday. The plant was slated to be commissioned during 2013, and Sipchem has signed an agreement with France's Rhodia to build it. It also...>>>
US propylene inventories gain, close at 3.037 million barrels Aug 06,2010
US propylene inventories gained ground this week, lengthening by 151,000 barrels to close at 3.037 million barrels for the week ending July 30. The previous week inventory levels were at their lowest point since mid-April at 2.886 million barrels. Meanwhile in spot, prices were mostly stable on the week amid thin trade activity. Aug...>>>
China: Will Calcium Carbide Prices Rise on the Shutdown of Plants? Aug 06,2010
High feedstock costs and increasing electricity prices forced more shutdowns of small-scale calcium carbide plants. Distributors focused on whether the shutdowns would push up market prices or impact on the downstream PVC production. Presently, many small-scale calcium carbide plants were shut down or to be shut down in the major production ar...>>>
China's Spandex Capacities Jumped 40.56% in H1, 2010 Aug 09,2010
According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, domestic spandex capacity rose significantly by 40.56% in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, total capacity of domestic chemical fiber industry reached 14.4739 million tons, increasing by 13.43% over the same period of last year. In 2010, chemical fiber industry kept good mome...>>>
China: Sinopec Gaoqiao's Exports Hike in H1, 2010 Aug 09,2010
Sinopec Gaoqiao’s total export volume in H1 touched the highest level in history, up by 46% over the last year. In 2009, the profits of its new polyether products occupied 50% of total profits, compared with 25% in 2004. The company always engaged itself in product innovation and market expansion. For now, there were some breakthrou...>>>
Huntsman Releases Second Quarter 2010 Results Aug 09,2010
IMPROVED DEMAND LEADS TO SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS OF: $116 MILLION IN NET INCOME AND $257 MILLION IN ADJUSTED EBITDA Second Quarter 2010 Highlights Revenues for the second quarter of 2010 were $2,343 million, an increase of 27% compared to $1,846 million for the same period in 2009 and an increase of 12% compared to $2,094 million for the fi...>>>
Stephen F Cooper Elected to LyondellBasell Board Aug 09,2010
LyondellBasell has elected Stephen F Cooper to the company’s supervisory board. Cooper is replacing Philip Kassin, who recently resigned. Cooper is co-founder of Zolfo Cooper, an interim management firm, and has also served as vice chairman and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in 2005 and CEO of Enron between 2002 an...>>>
Russia: NWE biodiesel prices rise sharply on Russia's grain exports ban Aug 09,2010
Biodiesel prices in NWE rose sharply Thursday afternoon and continue to be supported Friday morning after feedstock prices rallied after Russia announced a temporary ban to grain exports. The ban, which covers wheat, barley, rye and corn as well as wheat and rye flour, led CBOT wheat prices to explode in the Chicago Board of Trade. ...>>>
Japan's Inpex acquires first upstream exploration asset in Peru Aug 09,2010
Japan's Inpex Corporation has taken a foothold in the Peruvian upstream sector through the acquisition of a 25% participating interest in Block 117 in the country's north, the exploration and production company said Friday. Inpex is already involved in a number of exploration, development and production projects in Latin American countrie...>>>
BP says Macondo static kill cementing completed Aug 09,2010
BP has completed the cementing phase of the static kill operation to close its blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, said Thursday. "BP today completed cementing operations at the MC252 well at 14:15 CDT, as part of the static kill procedure," the company said in a statement. "Monitoring of the well is underway in order to confi...>>>