Eni, Petronas to develop Malaysia elastomer plants

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Petronas has signed an agreement with Eni-controlled Versalis to jointly own, develop, construct and operate elastomer plants within Petronas’ proposed refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) complex in Pengerang, Johor.

The proposed joint venture will produce and market synthetic rubbers using Versalis’ technology license and technical know-how, the companies said.

Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Versalis manages the production and marketing of a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, using a range of proprietary technologies and production systems and a wide-reaching distribution network.

The agreement signed with Versalis is the fourth-such arrangement secured by Petronas for RAPID, and the engineering activities will commence immediately, officials said.

Prior to this, Petronas inked similar agreements with Germany-based BASF, ITOCHU Corp. of Japan and Thailand’s PTT for various high value-added downstream chemicals.

Petronas says it is currently evaluating other potential partners and licensors for the various facilities to be developed within RAPID.

The proposed RAPID project is the largest liquid-based green-field downstream undertaking in Malaysia, according to the company.

It will have a 300,000 bpd refinery to supply the petrochemical complex, apart from producing a host of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel that meet Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel specifications.

The petrochemical component of the project will allow Petronas to expand its product portfolio from commodity petrochemicals to premium differentiated and specialty chemicals, the company said, capitalizing on the growing demand for these products in the Asia Pacific region.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- PetroChina Company Limited delivered confident growth in the first quarter of 2012: revenue increased by 17.9% to CNY 525.6 billion (B) against the corresponding quarter of the previous year, gross profit almost did not change its value with final result of CNY 85.1 B, operating income declined by 1.9% and amounted CNY 52.8 B, net income grew by 5.8% and reached CNY 39.2 B.

PetroChina was successful in finishing of new project and foreign expansion, setting a positive start for the year. The priority focus is set for oil exploration and processing, as oil prices deliver constant increase. Natural gas is also an area of importance for PetroChina. During Q1 2012 the company produced 227.0 million barrels of crude oil, which is 3.6% higher than the corresponding period of 2011. Natural gas production volume comprised 710.9 billion cubic feet, which stands for 11.2% increase.

During Q1 2012, 257.1 million barrels of crude oil, 23.025 million tons of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, and 0.921 million tons of ethylene were produced. This represents 2.8%, 4.7% and 0% growth over the Q1 2011, respectively.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Beijing (China), PetroChina Company engages in oil and gas exploration and processing into crude and finished products. PetroChina is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, wholly controlled by its parent. PetroChina is not only the largest oil and gas producer and distributor in China, but also China’s most profitable company and one of the world’s largest oil companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In H1 2012, the output of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) amounted to 128,800 tonnes, as per MRC analysts.
In June, Russian makers of HIPS and GPPS produced 20,857 tonnes of material, down 3% from May. Year to date production made 128,800 tonnes, which is almost the same as in H1 2011.

Two-thirds of economic output in January-June 2012 fell on Nizhnekamskneftekhim, which is 95,029 tonnes of material in absolute terms. Structure of production remains the same. The share of general purpose polystyrene makes 53,684 tonnes of material (56.5%), while the share of high-impact polystyrene – 41,345 tonnes (43.5%).

Company PGProf produced 21,100 tonnes of general purpose polystyrene, which equals to the first half of 2011. Nevertheless, in 2012, the production of polystyrene in Kirishi was reduced and in June amounted to 3,100 tons of material.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat produced 12,641 tonnes of polystyrene in H1 2012, where 6,555 tonnes are for HIPS and 6,086 tonnes for GPPS. In July the production of Salavat was suspended for a scheduled turnaround, which will last until August, 28.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Suspension PVC import to Ukraine grew to the level of 10,300 tonnes in June. The year-to-date total import of suspension made about 35,000 tonnes, down by one-half year-on-year, report MRC analysts.

In June the total import of suspension PVC to the Ukrainian market went up to the level of 10,300 tonnes. This index in May made about 5,900 tonnes. Such a significant increase in imports was due to both a seasonal factor and aspiration of major window profile producers to form large feedstock inventories for summer period.

As it was expected, last month resin supply from the USA was resumed. In June PVC import from the USA reached 3,700 tonnes. A further growth of North-American import of PVC is expected in July-August on June slash of export prices.
In June suspension PVC import from Europe rose by 16% from May and made about 5,600 tonnes.

In general, the total year-to-date import of suspension PVC to Ukraine amounted to about 35,000 tonnnes, down by one-half year-on-year. This year a major reduction of PVC imports was due to a sluggish demand for PVC from converters, stable operations of the domestic maker Karpatneftekhim (Lukoil group) and a moderate PVC price increase in the foreign markets.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In June, imports of PET to Russia grew by 8,000 tonnes from May and amounted to 22,000 tonnes, according to MRC analysts.

In early summer, the Russian companies increased their purchases of the material in Asia on weak prices in China and Korea. The attractive difference between the price quotations of Russian and Asian producers also contributed to it. The difference was quite substantial, and in some cases exceeded Rb4,000/tonne.

The purchases in China increased more than twofold. Converters gave preference to the Chinese raw materials, as per market players, the lowest bids in the Asian region. The supplies of Chinese PET granulate in June totalled 12,500 tonnes.

The import volumes of Korean material did not change and amounted to 7,500 tonnes.

In H1 of 2012, Russia imported 91,700 tonnes of PET granulate. At the same time for the same period in 2011, Russian companies imported about 200,000 tonnes of PET.

The import volumes in the current year remains relatively low compared with previous years due to the increasing domestic production.

MRC