Petrobras to start up its first of new refineries in November 2014

(hydrocarbon processing) -- Brazilian Petrobras plans to launch the first of its new refineries in November 2014, the company said on Wednesday. The second line will be put in operation in May 2015. The refinery will add 230,000 bpd of processing capacity.

Currently, Petrobras processes about 2 million bpd at 12 refineries.

Petrobras will invest USD71.6 billion in its downstream operations through 2016. The investments are part of the company's USD237 billion spending plan for 2012-2016.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.
MRC

Petrochemical industry in Louisiana is greatly affected by Isaac hurricane

(hydrocarbon processing) -- Hurricane Isaac keeps spreading along the Louisiana coastline on Wednesday evening ( though it has weakened to a tropical storm), bringing high winds and flooding to a region loaded with downstream infrastructure. Isaac’s center of circulation is still near the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, the initial weakening process will be gradual, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Those conditions are inflicting damage on the numerous hydrocarbon processing industry facilities in coastal Louisiana, informed earlier MRC. As of Wednesday, five refineries in Isaac’s path are shut down. Those sites have a combined output of 936,500 bpd, representing 12% of total Gulf Coast refining capacity. The five Louisiana refineries to shut down include the Phillips 66, Valero, Motiva, Placid Refining and ExxonMobil joint venture.

On the petrochemical side, major ethylene units believed to be down include Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil Chemical, and Williams cracker in Geismar (see MRC's article as of August 29). Dow has derivative plants in Taft for ethylene oxide, monoethylene glycol and polyethylene that are also believed to be down. ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge has also shut down its polyethylene, refinery-grade propylene and butadiene units.
MRC

European producers to increase PE prices in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- European negotiations on the prices of PE for September are on the sidelines, waiting for the setting of ethylene prices. However, some market players have announced a significant increase in prices of polyethylene by EUR100-150/tonne, as per MRC analysts.

In recent months, amid the highly volatile oil prices the formation of monomer contract prices in Europe are deferred to the last day of the month. The contract price of ethylene in Europe for September has not been agreed yet. As a consequence, European makers do not hurry to form the prices of polyethylene.

The contract price of ethylene in Europe for delivery in August rose by EUR 140/tonne, from July, but due to the limited supply European producers could increase PE prices on average by EUR 200/tonne. Export prices of HDPE for CIS markets in August reached EUR 1,220 -1,300/tonne, FCA, the deals for the butene LLDPE were concluded at EUR 1,140-1,240/tonne, FCA.

This week the European producers said that the export quotas of polyethylene for the CIS markets in September will be also limited. The settlement of PE prices for September will be postponed to the next week. While some European makers have targeted to increase the September price of polyethylene by EUR 100-150/tonne, from August.

MRC

Dow developed new polyolefin-based technologies for solar panels

(DOW) -- Dow Chemical introduces new polyolefin-based technologies and brings next generation solutions to the market to help harness the power of the sun and turn it into cost-effective energy to help address the world’s growing needs.

ENLIGHT Polyolefin Back Encapsulant Composite Films use patent-pending technology and offer excellent electrical insulation properties, increased resistance to the effects of Potential Induced Degradation (PID) and extended module efficiency levels.

Dow has recently brought its next generation of ENLIGHT Polyolefin Encapsulant Films to market. These innovative encapsulants have been in very strong demand since their introduction in 2010 because they offer faster processing speeds with improved moisture resistance, excellent adhesion, extended electrical efficiency, excellent long-term weathering capabilities, and good optical transmission when compared with the more traditional EVA-based encapsulant films.
MRC

Octal to increase PET production at its complex in Salalah

(plastech) -- Octal has announced that phase two in the expansion plan of its state-of-the-art PET complex in Salalah has been successfully completed within budget and on time.

Following the ramp-up period, full production is expected by August, fortifying the company’s ability to serve the North and South American markets’ dedicated capacity commitments. Phase two capacity takes total system output to 920,000 tons per year of PET bottle-grade resin.

OCTAL, based in the port city of Salalah, Oman, is the largest PET resin manufacturer in the Middle East and the largest integrated PET sheet manufacturer in the world. Company’s focus on PET responds to converging global trends of consumer lifestyles that increasingly demand convenience packaging and the industry’s growing need for environmentally friendly products and improved economics throughout the value chain.
MRC