China sees slow growth of treated distillate aromatic extract

(ICIS) -- China's production of treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) for tyres is unlikely to grow significantly given the poor demand for the product, which costs 30% higher than the regular aromatics-based rubber oil, industry sources said on Monday.


The country started producing TDAE - considered an environmentally friendly rubber oil which is now required for tyre manufacturing in the EU - this year. The output in 2011 is estimated to be less than 10,000 tonnes, according to the producers of the rubber oil.


China has not been able to start exporting the product yet as only one producer has been able to meet EU standards.


The actual consumption of TDAE within China is at 12.7% of the country's total rubber oil consumption, which was recorded at 786,700 tonnes in 2010, according to C1 Energy, an ICIS service in China.


MRC

Oil and natural gas production in the US Gulf shut-in as a result of the storm

(ICIS) -- 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 Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.


In all, 60.2% of the Gulf's oil production and 44.3% of its natural gas production has been shut in, the bureau said. The natural gas figure is lower than Saturday's, when 54.6% was shut-in. Earlier, Tropical Storm Lee had made landfall on the coast of Louisiana.


The southern portion of Louisiana has several refineries and petrochemical plants. Although companies were on alert for any disruptions, there were no known shutdowns or cutbacks in production.Oil companies, though, had evacuated personnel from offshore platforms.


MRC

SOCAR to build oil and gas facilities

(Trend) -- The Oil and Gas Construction Trust of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) laid a 38.5 km of a pipeline to transport naphtha (straight-run gasoline) between the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery and "Azerkimya" Production Unit, Oil and Gas Construction Trust head Mirkazim Abbasov's article published by official press says. He said work to lay the pipeline with a length of 55.2 kilometers to transport dry gas from the oil refinery to Azerkimya has been fully completed.


Also since early year the Trust conducted repair work on the Mozdok-Kazimagomed pipeline. In particular, Shirvanovka gas compressor station was reconstructed. Repair and restoration work was conducted on crossings over rivers Engilanchay and Shabranchay, gas measuring installation was built on 260 kilometer of the gas pipeline.


Speaking about plans for the period by late 2011, Abbasov said that the Trust will carry out work to construct a pipeline to supply low-pressure gas to a gas compressor station on the "Gunashli-4" platform. It is also envisaged to reconstruct a number of platforms in the shallow part of the "Guneshli" field to drill additional wells.


MRC

Formosa to restart crude distillation units in Mailiao

(Plastemart) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp. plans to restart the No 2 180,000 bpd crude distillation units at its Mailiao refinery. It's No. 3 CDU is scheduled to resume operations on Sept. 3.
Formosa plans to bring all of its CDUs online within about two weeks and then process around 400,000 bpd, or 74.07% of its full capacity. The government wants some parts of the refinery to remain shut for safety reasons.


MRC

BP and Reliance Industries commence strategic alliance for India

(Plastemart) -- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP have announced the completion of BP's acquisition of a 30% stake in 21 oil and gas production sharing contracts (PSCs) that Reliance operates in India, including the producing KG D6 block. This significant step will commence the planned alliance which will operate across the gas value chain in India, from exploration and production to distribution and marketing. The completion of the deal delivers one of the largest ever foreign direct investments into India. The two companies will also form a 50:50 joint venture for the sourcing and marketing of gas in India which will also accelerate the creation of infrastructure for receiving, transporting and marketing natural gas.


MRC