BASF, Cargill and Novozymes target commercial bio-based acrylic acid process

(basf) -- BASF, Cargill and Novozymes have signed an agreement to develop technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw materials.

Presently, acrylic acid is produced by the oxidation of propylene derived from the refining of crude oil. BASF – The Chemical Company, Cargill and industrial biotechnology company Novozymes will develop bio-based technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks.

"The cooperation combines BASF’s global market strength and innovation power with the excellent know-how and competencies of Novozymes and Cargill who are global leaders in their respective industry segments. Together we are uniquely positioned to more sustainably meet market and society needs", said Michael Heinz, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.

MRC

(petrolworld) -- The amount of oil crude oil being transported to refineries in Ukraine fell by 38.7% in the first seven months of the year, a government spokesperson has said, mainly due to a sharp fall in the number of deliveries coming through Russia. In total, 3.17m tonnes of oil were transported over the period, the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Ministry has said. Supplies from Russia fell by 73%.

Over the period the amount of domestically produced oil that was processed in the refineries rose by 31.9% to 1.6m tonnes; 449,300 tonnes of Kazakh oil went through processing, a 300% increase; while deliveries from Azerbaijan stopped completely. It had sold 617,000 tonnes to Ukraine between January and July 2011.

The ministry said that the oil was refined in four of the country’s facilities, the Lisichansk refinery, The Kremenchug refinery, the Shebelinsky Gas Plant and the Drogobychsky refinery.
MRC

(Plastemart) -- India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is in talks with BP PLC about buying the British oil company’s petrochemical plant in Malaysia. RIL has expressed interest in BP’s 610,000 tpa purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Malaysia.

Both the companies have declined to comment.

Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business.
MRC

(Plastemart) -- Mexichem together with Occidental Chemical Corp (Oxychem) is going to build a cracker that would be fully operational in 2016. The cost of the venture is a USD1 bln. A feasibility study for the new cracker is expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2013.

Both the companies will invest equally in the project. It will comprise an ethane-based cracker to produce about 500,000 tons of ethylene to feed a Texas facility of Oxychem. Oxychem would use the ethylene to produce about 1 mln tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and sell it back to Mexichem under a long-term supply agreement. The agreements, along with a joint investment with Mexico's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, would guarantee the supplies it needs for its PVC production at competitive rates.

Mexichem is a Mexican company and one of the largest leader in the Latin American chemical and petrochemical industry.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America. Oxychem is Oxy's Texas-based subsidiary which manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins, chlorine and caustic soda used in plastics, pharmaceuticals and water treatment chemicals.
MRC

(Plastemart) -- Williams Energy is going to invest over USD800 mln to build a facility near Redwater to convert propane into a higher value feedstock for the petrochemical industry - propylene.

The propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant will produce propylene to be sold into the US Gulf Coast market. The expected cost of the plant construction is between USD600-800 mln.

"Building a PDH facility would further build on the value and expertise that we’ve built in Canada and serve the booming North American petrochemical market," said David Chappell, president of Williams Energy Canada. "We’ve built a unique business in Canada and we’re continuing to explore ways to capture more of the off-gas available from existing and planned upgraders and add more value to the products we produce," he added.

The Redwater plant converts the extracted gases into five petrochemical feedstocks, which are sold throughout North America. The company expects the proposed Redwater expansion would see it produce about 500,000 tons of petrochemical feedstock each year.
MRC