Phillips 66 to focus on chemical, midstream units, less on fuels

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Phillips 66 will focus on growing its chemical and midstream segments at the expense of its fuel production business because of the weak outlook for fuel demand, the company's incoming CEO said. The comapny will split 50% of its capital expenditure budget evenly on the two segments.

Phillips 66 will focus on growing its chemical and midstream segments at the expense of its fuel production business because of the weak outlook for fuel demand, the company's incoming CEO said Monday.

Phillips 66, the refining arm of oil major ConocoPhillips that will become a stand-alone company after April 30, will shift its long-term capital spending to its Chevron Phillips Chemical production and DCP Midstream segments.

Chevron Phillips is a 50-50 joint venture with Chevron. DCP is a partnership with ConocoPhillips and Spectra Energy.

Phillips 66 will roughly double its 2012 capital expenditure budget for its chemical business to USD500 million, while its spending on its refining business will grow from just under USD1 billion, Greg Garland, a ConocoPhillips executive vice president who will head Phillips 66, said.

MRC

Kunlun to raise HKD10 billion to fund LNG projects

(news.flanders-china) -- Kunlun Energy, the gas distribution arm of PetroChina, announced it would raise HKD10.48 billion to fund its liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

PetroChina has agreed to sell 800 million existing shares and subscribe to the same number of new shares to be issued by Kunlun. PetroChina's stake in Kunlun will be diluted to 58.7% from 65.1% as a result. Kunlun said the share placement will allow it to "capture future expansion and acquisition growth opportunities as and when they arise".

The company began construction of 15 LNG processing plants last year, with a total daily capacity of 20 million cubic meters. Four of the plants, in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Hainan, have a combined daily capacity of 1.38 million cu m.

The rest are slated to come on stream in the next two years. Kunlun also said it has 23 compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations and 109 LNG stations under construction. Kunlun posted a net profit of HKD5.61 billion for last year, up 33.7% from a restated 2010 profit.

Oil and gas production accounted for 43% of before-tax profit of HKD10.4 billion, against 41.6% from pipeline transmission, 12.8% from city gas sales, and 2.5% from LNG terminal processing.


MRC

Repak hopes to have Easter recycling cracked

(plasticsinfomart) -- Repak is urging householders to recycle up to half of the used packaging over the holiday period - 98% of which is not Easter egg-related.

Last year Repak helped to recycle 18,300 tonnes of mixed packaging from households over the Easter period - the highest since its establishment in 1997.

At the launch of its Easter recycling campaign yesterday, Repak pointed out that Easter egg consumption increased by 3.4% last year, with Irish people spending EUR24.2m on Easter eggs alone.

This Easter Irish people will consume more than 9.5m Easter eggs - an average of 2.13 eggs per person.Almost 70% of Irish households buy Easter confectionery, with the average shopper buying around eight eggs.


As well as eating 1,000 tonnes of Easter chocolate, over 6.5m litres of wine and 15m litres of beers is expected to be drunk over Easter, especially at Good Friday parties.As well as reducing the size of the outer cartons, manufacturers have lightened the cardboard and many have removed the previously used plastic inserts, as well as experimenting with packaging-free eggs.

Repak is an industry funded organisation whose aim it is to facilitate and grow packaging recycling.

MRC

Propylene prices surged in Asian markets

(yarnsandfibers) -- Propylene prices surged in Asian markets amid mixed sentiment and tight supply. Downstream acrylonitrile market remained firm supporting propylene market. US spot propylene assessments were at roughly nine-month high to close the shortened week while in Europe, demand for spot propylene supply in Northwest Europe was scarce as many industry players were away on Easter break.

Acrylonitrile prices remained flat across all regions as participants stayed on the sidelines amid uncertainty over the market's direction. During the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday, spot trade was mute in China and liquidity at producers was slow on limited demand. In US, spot acrylonitrile assessments remained unchanged for a second week as traders awaited direction from feedstock April propylene contracts. European spot prices were steady as many industry players were either sidelined ahead of the long Easter break.

Acrylic fiber markets saw thin trades on weak demand from the downstream. However, offers and spot discussions remained flat amid balanced fundamentals.
mrcplastc.com

Ethylene prices remained flat in China market

(yarnsandfibers) -- Ethylene prices remained flat amid thin spot trading activity as major markets were closed for a major part of the week. China was on holiday Monday to Wednesday, while Taiwan was closed Wednesday. The US spot was mostly steady while European contract steam cracker margins for April turned positive following the increase in the ethylene April contract price. Paraxylene was cheaper in Asia and US on thin trading amid tight supply.

Mono ethylene glycol prices sank in Asian markets, hit by weak polyester market and high inventories. Trading was weak after the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in China, but MEG market tends to hold stable at low prices. Purified terephthalic acid markets were dull and prices declined on thin trading amid hard to improve downstream polyester markets. In Europe, the market for PTA in NW Europe appeared set to move from balanced to long in the coming months as Artlant PTA announced it had begun delivering PTA from its in Sines, Portugal.

Polyester chip markets in Asia remained under flat correction as feedstock, PTA and MEG prices showed sluggish trend, but were seen picking up later in the truncated week. The markets were more active supported by post-holiday small-volume restocking activities.
MRC