Kuwait's production of the crude oil exceeded 2.8 million barrels per day in August

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Kuwait's production of the crude oil exceeded 2.8 million barrels per day in August, the Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Mohammad Al-Busairi has said in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). Kuwait's current output capacity stands at 3.50 million bpd, he added.

Price of the oil on international spot markets would have jumped to much higher levels had OPEC producers, and specifically Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, not increased their production of the crude, Al-Busairi added in his remarks to KUNA.

According to Reuters, Kuwait has not produced over 2.80 million bpd since its output peaked at 2.85 million bpd in September 2008, just before oil demand dipped in the global economic crisis.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V. (ALFA) subsidiary DAK Americas, LLC has completed the acquisition of the PET Resins business of Wellman, Inc. The acquisition is expected to bring DAK's total PET resin production capacity to more than 4.3 bln lbs pa in the Americas. The acquisition includes PET resin production facilities in Bay St. Louis, Miss., which has a production capacity of about 950 mln lbs pa of PET resin. The acquired facilities will be integrated into DAK Americas Resins Business Unit, also which has U.S. operations in Wilmington, N.C.; Fayetteville, N.C. and Charleston, S.C.

Alvaro Fernandez, President of ALFA, commented: ⌠This transaction allows our subsidiary DAK Americas to increase efficiency, gain additional product flexibility and broaden product range to better serve the needs of our customers.

MRC

(Reuters) -- Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Co said it started maintenance work as planned on Thursday at its sole naphtha cracker in Chiba, near Tokyo. Maintenance work on the cracker, with ethylene production capacity of 380 KTa, is due to finish on Oct. 17.

Mitsubishi Chemical Co separately said the No.2 453 KTa naphtha cracker at its Kashima plant, north of Tokyo, entered regular maintenance on Aug. 30, as planned. The turnaround is due to end in mid-October, a company spokesman said.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is mulling a change in its existing overseas investment policy. A ban on Taiwanese companies investing in the naphtha-cracking sector in China may be lifted, but with some stipulations. These conditions are aimed to be negotiated with the Chinese government during the next Economic Cooperation Committee meeting. One of the key constraints will be the Taiwanese Ministry requirements that domestic firms have a 50% stake in crackers in China, which China does not allow. Also the MOEA may necessitate that a quota of output from plants in China would have to be shipped home to Taiwan to sustain the operations of the nation's supply chain, and their investment in Taiwan must match that in China.

MRC

Last year overall Linik PP output made 46 KT. Such weak production volumes were caused by a long suspension of refinery and polymer production for scheduled maintenance in May-June and force-majeure due to an unprecedented heat wave in July-August.

MRC