Nova Chemicals mulls expansion of ethylene, PE capacity on supply of shale ethane

(observer) -- Nova Chemicals expects to receive feedstock in the form of Marcellus shale ethane as early as mid-2013.

An application is being sent to the National Energy Board for an 8 km pipeline extension to link to an existing St. Clair River crossing for Marcellus shale gas. Nova plans to expand ethylene production at its Corunna site, increase polyethylene production at its Moore site, and is eyeing the possibility of a new world-scale polyethylene plant in Sarnia-Lambton.

The Corunna cracker is being converted to use all natural gas liquids by 2014. The unit can currently handle ethane, butane, crude oil, propane and other materials. Construction of the project estimated to cost up to USD250 mln, will start to ramp up in Q3/Q4, upon environmental approvals.
MRC

(polyestertime) --Lukoil and Gazprom Neft may retreat as much as 10 percent over the next few weeks as waning concern over tensions with Iran brakes oil's advance, according to Quesnell Capital SA.

Lukoil, Russia's biggest non-state crude producer, has jumped 22 percent in U.S. trading in 2012, while Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom, has added 12 percent as Iran's threat to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a transit route for a fifth of the world's oil, pushed Brent crude above USD125 for the first time in nine months. Futures (VEA) expiring in June on Moscow's dollardenominated RTS Index were little changed at 169,455 in U.S. trading on March 16.

Bets that Brent will continue to rally have dropped from a seven-month high reached on March 9 and options on West Texas Intermediate, the most liquid oil contracts, show traders are paying less to insure against price swings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Concern that a reduction in Iranian exports will cut global oil supply is dissipating as the U.S. and U.K. mull releasing strategic reserves and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, says it can make up for shortages.

"We've already seen a slowdown in the oil rally, I would expect some weakness in the oil stocks,"Ian McCall, a managing partner in Geneva at emerging-markets investment adviser Quesnell, which oversees 100 million Swiss francs (USD107 million) including Russian assets. "Once the rally tops, we may see a 5 to 10 percent pullback in Russian oil stocks over a couple of weeks."

MRC

(greenerpackage) -- PepsiCo has announced that it has developed what it says is the world's first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources, enabling the company to manufacture a beverage container with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

PepsiCo's "green" bottle is 100% recyclable and is made from bio-based raw materials, including switchgrass, pine bark, and corn husks. In the future, the company expects to broaden the renewable sources used to create the bottle to include orange peels, potato peels, oat hulls, and other agricultural byproducts from its foods business.

Combining biological and chemical processes, PepsiCo has identified methods to create a molecular structure that is identical to petroleum-based PET, which results in a bottle that the company says looks, feels, and protects its product identically to existing PET beverage containers.

PepsiCo will pilot production of the new bottle in 2012. Upon successful completion of the pilot, the company intends to move directly to full-scale commercialization.
MRC

(infoseekchina) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec, said it intends to acquire the overseas oil and gas assets of its parent, China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, in a move that will increase its hydrocarbon-reserve base and help it become a fully integrated oil major.

The plan, which comes at a time of rapid foreign expansion under the direction of the Sinopec family's new head, Fu Chengyu, may pave the way for further restructuring, which some analysts say would be positive for the company's investment returns in the long run.

The planned move also mirrors efforts by Petrochina Co. to take similar steps with its parent, China National Petroleum Corp.

Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, said late Wednesday it intends to be the sole platform within the Sinopec family for international exploration and production of oil and gas, refining, chemicals output and the sale of petroleum products, which it said would happen at an "appropriate time." Sinopec didn't provide a potential price for the acquisition.

Sinopec Group, which holds a 76.38% stake in its unit, plans to sell its minor remaining chemicals business within five years, it said. Its overseas upstream oil and gas assets could be worth USD20 billion, Credit Suisse estimated in October.
MRC

(Reuters) -- China wants to identify the right technology to unlock its potentially large shale gas resource in the next few years, aiming for a leap in shale production by 2020, two years after it embarked on a search of the unconventional fuel.

Top energy agency, the National Energy Administration (NEA) officially unveiled on Friday a target to produce 6.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of shale gas by 2015, or roughly 6 percent of China's current total gas production.

But it intends to dramatically boost output to 60-100 bcm in 2020, a level some experts say is over-ambitious as it faces techonological, environmental and regulatory roadblocks.

"The U.S. technologies may not be fully applicable in China's shale gas formation, they need to be revamped," Zhang Yuqing, NEA's head of Oil and Gas Department, said.

"The main task in the 12th five-year period is to lay a good foundation, especially some key technologies in shale gas exploration and development." China started the shale push in late 2009, inspired by a shale boom in the United States. Its state energy firms have since then entered multi-billion-dollar shale deals in the United States with Chesapeake Energy and Devon Energy Corp.

At home companies have drilled several dozens of wells and brought in firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corp and Hess Corp for joint studies. But China has yet to start commercial shale production, though it is widely believed to hold the world's largest shale resource.

The Ministry of Land and Resources revealed early this month China may hold 25.08 trillion cubic metres (tcm) of potentially recoverable shale gas resources. That compared to a U.S. Energy Informationa Agency's forecast in March 2011 at some 36 tcm.
MRC