Royal Dutch Shell may start up its ethylene plant in Singapore after mid-May

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) reiterated that its ethylene plant at Pulau Bukom, Singapore, may only start up after the middle of this month. The ⌠earliest possible restart isn't expected before the middle of May, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Shell shut the plant on March 18 because of technical problems, according to the notice. The company said April 11 that the facility isn't expected to start up before mid-May.

The European refiner declared force majeure on some chemical contracts from the plant because of unplanned operational issues, according to an e-mail from the company on March 21. Force majeure is a legal clause allowing companies to miss deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.

The Singapore cracker complex has the ability to turn naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and heavy hydrocarbons into chemicals. It has an annual capacity to produce 800 KT of ethylene, 450 KT of propylene and 230 KT of benzene, according to the company's website.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of joint control over certain assets currently wholly owned by Ineos AG of Switzerland by PetroChina Company Limited of China and Ineos AG. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

PetroChina is a Chinese company active in the production and distribution of petroleum and petrochemical products. It is controlled by China National Petroleum Corporation ("CNCP group"). CNPC group is a Chinese State-owned company which is engaged in a broad range of petroleum and gas related activities.

Ineos manufactures petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products at global level. The target assets consist of Ineos' refining business, namely two refineries in Grangemouth (Scotland) and Lavera (France) and associated assets.

The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that the horizontal overlaps and the vertical relationships between the parties' activities were limited and that the transaction would not change the competitive structure of the markets for oil products under any alternative product and geographic market definition. This assessment would have remained unchanged also taking into account the market shares of the other Chinese State-owned companies active in the oil sector.

MRC

(Bloomberg) -- Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, said it will suspend dock operations at two factory sites in Louisiana tomorrow as a precaution against potential flooding from the swollen Mississippi River.

While the company doesn't expect floods at its Plaquemine and St. Charles sites, it is suspending dock work based on water-level projections, Gregory Baldwin, a Dow spokesman, said today in an e-mailed statement. It's too early to say how long the suspensions will be or whether they will affect production and sales, he said in response to questions from Bloomberg News.

The Mississippi and Ohio rivers, swollen by heavy rain and melted snow, have been inundating cities and towns, flooding cropland and disrupting shipping.

Dow has three ethylene plants, known as crackers, along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. South of Baton Rouge are Plaquemine 2, which can produce 499 KT of ethylene a year, and Plaquemine 3 which can produce 758 KT, according to Bloomberg data. West of New Orleans at the St. Charles site in Hahnville is Taft 1, which can make 610 KT of ethylene a year.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Petrotechnics has formed a partnership with Omani company Rukun Al Yaqeen (RAY) International Oil & Gas to provide a web-based safety-at-work system tailored to the challenges of the often unstructured and dynamic nature of management, maintenance and associated activity in the oil and gas industry.

RAY is a provider of oil and gas well services for Maintenance and Integrity, Well Cementing and Stimulation, Wireline, Laboratory and Environmental Services.

The web based system, called Sentinel PRO, controls the risks of an oil and gas working environment through a unified business process. The system integrates permit to work, risk assessments and isolation management and delivers it to the frontline user in an intuitive graphical real-time software tool.

Iain Mackay, executive vice president of Petrotechnics, said: ⌠Oman has huge potential and we expect to see strong growth in the Middle East this year.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China is grappling with its worst power shortage in years, particularly in the country's main industrial bases in the east and south, which will lead to reduced economic output in the second quarter, industry sources said on Monday.

China typically faces a power crunch from June to September, when demand is at its peak. This year, the shortage came about in March, and it is expected to worsen, said a source from the State Grid, which builds and operates China's power networks.

China Electricity Council, a power-industry federation, said in late April that a power shortfall of about 30m kilowatts will be seen this summer and that the demand gap will likely expand.

A fuel shortage has resulted from heavy demand for diesel since March, as the manufacturing season approaches its peak. State-owned oil firms are trying to address the lack of fuel by cutting production of chemicals and curbing exports. The power restrictions in place in select regions of China will only aggravate the fuel shortage, analysts said.

In the eastern Zhejiang province, some polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities and their downstream pipeline plants reduced operating rates by 10-20% from March, sources said.

Some polyester plants in this province have bought diesel generators, hoping to keep normal production at plants in anticipation of the power rationing, they said.

China's energy giants China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec are boosting domestic supply of diesel amid the power shortage.

MRC