Ministry to present proposal for Cuddalore petrochem hub for Cabinet approval

(plastemart) -- The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers will present a proposal for setting up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region near Cuddalore in two weeks.

Mr Jose Cyriac, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and petrochemicals, said that the Cuddalore PCPIR proposal has reached a stage where it could be presented to the Cabinet for approval. After the Cabinet approves it, Government of India would sanction the project, whereupon various agencies from the central and state governments would swing into action.

Spread over a 250 sq. km area around Cuddalore, the project will become a chemical and petrochemical hub. Officials of the Tamil Nadu government had previously told Business Line that the project envisaged total infrastructure spending of Rs 16,725 crore.

The only operational PCPIR in India is in Gujarat. The Centre has given its sanction to PCPIRs in three other States - Haldia (West Bengal), Paradeep (Orissa) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Tamil Nadu's proposal is under consideration.

MRC

(stltoday) -- Spain's Repsol energy company said Wednesday its fourth quarter profits fell 29 percent largely due to reduced production because of the Libya war.

Net profit adjusted for the current cost of supply a key earnings yardstick for oil companies which strips out one-time items and changes in the price of oil was Eur355 million (USD478 million) for the October-December period compared with euro499 million the year before.

Repsol YPF SA resumed operations in Libya in October after suspending production of a near capacity 350,000 barrels per day when the Libyan revolt started in mid-February. The suspension diminished income by Eur220 million (USD296 million) in the quarter, compared to the previous year, the company said.

Repsol said production in the north African country is currently at around 300,000 barrels per day.Adjusted net profit for the year was Eur1.9 billion (USD2.56 billion) compared to euro2.03 billion in 2010. The company also said strikes at its Argentina operations also dented earnings.

Upstream production was down by 14.4 percent mainly due to Libya and maintenance turnarounds in Trinidad and Tobago, Repsol said.The company said its fourth-quarter refining margin indicator in Spain plunged some 72 percent to euro0.8 a barrel compared to the same period in 2010.

When not adjusting for oil price changes and one-time items, fourth quarter net profit fell to Eur292 million from Eur2.9 billion a year earlier, when earnings were boosted by a big accounting gain on a deal with China's Sinopec in Brazil. Repsol's shares were down 0.5 percent at Eur20.5 (USD27.6) in midday trading in Madrid.

MRC

(en.rian) -- One of the world's largest oil trading companies, Gunvor Group, owned by Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko, has bought the Petroplus oil refinery in Antwerp, Gunvor said on Friday.

"The parties plan to close the deal within six or eight weeks with the support of Belgium's state authorities," Gunvor said in a statement. The company declined to disclose financial details.

Netherlands-registered Gunvor plans to resume operations soon at the refinery, which halted last month due to financial difficulties at Petroplus. The facility has capacity to refine over 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Oil storage capacity amounts to 1.2 million cubic meters.

MRC

(perstorp) -- Leading specialty chemicals company Perstorp will increase price for Butyl Ethyl Propanediol (BEPD) April 1st or as existing contracts permit.

Effective 1 Aprill, or as existing contracts permit, Perstorp will increase price for Butyl Ethyl Propanediol (BEPD).

Prices increases are as follows for Europe - 200 eur/tonne, for US, Canada Mexico 10 c/lb, for Asia/Pacific 200 usd/tonne.

The Perstorp Group is a world leader in several sectors of the specialty chemicals market.

MRC

(basf) -- BASF has purchased the PET foam business of the Italian company B.C. Foam S.p.A., headquartered in Volpiano. The companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price for the transaction. The acquisition includes production facilities and intellectual property rights, as well as a special extrusion process which enables the production of high-performance PET foams with very high densities.

⌠By expanding our portfolio of sophisticated structural foams, this acquisition will enable BASF to further strengthen its position as a leading foam provider. These PET foams are primarily used in wind turbine rotor blades and will extend our product range for the growing global wind energy market, explained Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, president of BASF's Performance Polymers division.

PET foams are both temperature- and chemical-resistant. As well as being used in the wind energy sector, high quality PET foam boards are employed in lightweight composite materials that are particularly well-suited for applications in the automotive and aeronautics industries, as well as in shipbuilding.

⌠The development of specific system solutions and new types of materials plays a decisive role in bringing forward sustainable energy generation. We will benefit from the expertise and synergies resulting from the acquisition of extrusion technology from B.C. Foam, said Dr. Christian Fischer, president of Advanced Materials & Systems Research at BASF.

MRC