ConocoPhillips to include its CP Chem stake in the spinoff of its refinery business

(ICIS) -- US-based ConocoPhillips confirmed on Thursday its plan to include its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) stake in the spinoff of its refinery business. That spinoff will become a new downstream company that will combine three of ConocoPhillips's core businesses: refining, marketing and transportation (RM&T); chemicals; and midstream.

ConocoPhillips laid out its plans for the downstream spinoff, which it plans to complete by the second quarter of 2012, during the Barclay's Energy Conference in New York City. The new downstream company's portfolio will include about $50bn (┬36bn) in assets.

The RM&T segment has 16 refineries, 12 of which are in the US, with a Nelson complexity average of 12. They have a capacity of 2.4m bbl/day, and about 10,000 branded marketing outlets.
The chemicals segment, which includes the CP Chem stake, is North America's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE), the company said. It is also North America's fourth largest ethylene producer. CP Chem is a 50:50 joint venture made up of ConocoPhillips and Chevron.


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(PlasticsToday) -- Japan's Sekisui Plastics (Osaka) became the third company in the space of two days to announce a major investment in automotive plastic components in the state of Tennessee when it announced plans to invest USD 3 million in a second manufacturing facility for foam plastics, primarily used in automotive safety components, in Mount Pleasant on August 31. The previous day, ABC Group Fuel Systems (Toronto, ON) and NYX, Inc. (Livoni, MI) also announced major investments for molding plastic auto parts in the state

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(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Technip, in consortium with the UAE's NPCC has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction lump sum contract, worth a total of approximately USD 500 mln for the offshore Satah Full Field Development project.

This Satah field is located 200 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is owned by ZADCO and is slated to produce 25,000 barrels of oil per day over 25 years.

The Satah Full Field Development project's objective is to maximize crude oil production and oil recovery by reducing the well heads' back pressure and introducing of gas injection and gas lift facilities.

The project scope involves offshore brownfield works to the existing well head platforms and production manifold platform, installation of infield pipelines, as well as modifications and installation of new facilities at the Onshore Satah plant at Zirku Island.

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(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- London-listed independent Circle Oil has reported first-half profits up 400% on the back of a rise in production and higher oil prices. The oil and gas explorer - with assets in Egypt, Namibia, Oman and Tunisia - said it planned to bring more gas wells on stream in Morocco that would result in higher sales in 2012.

The company, also expects production levels to increase in Egypt after the installation of gas production facilities there by the end of 2011.

Circle Oil said its current share of production ranges between 3,700 and 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), and said it was on track to achieve its medium-term target of 10,000 boepd.

The company's January-June pretax profit was $8.7 million, compared with $2.1 million a year ago. Revenue jumped 35%.

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(Honeywell) -- UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co. Ltd. selected it to provide key technology to help meet the growing Chinese demand for propylene, a petrochemical used in plastics production.

The new propane dehydrogenation unit at the facility will use UOP's C3 Oleflex technology to produce propylene, a material used in the production of materials such as films and packaging. UOP will provide engineering design, technology licensing, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, staff training and technical service for the project at Fujian Meide's facility in Fujian City, Fujian Province, China. The unit, expected to start up in 2014, will produce 660 KTa of propylene. It will be the largest propane dehydrogenation unit in the world to date.

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