Petronas picks Ineos technjlogies for project LLDPE/HDPE plant

(apic-on-line) -- Petronas has selected Ineos Technologies' Innovene G platform for the linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) portion of Petronas' Refinery & Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Johor, Malaysia.

The 350,000-t/y plant will produce a full line of high value polyethylene resins, including HDPE, LLDPE and metallocene LLDPE to serve Malaysian and other Asian markets.

Petronas' Rapid project includes a 300,000-b/d refinery, a naphtha cracker to produce about 3-million t/y of ethylene, propylene and other olefins, and several downstream petrochemical units.

Petronas has said the Rapid project will likely need 10 to 12 partners who have the ability to contribute technology, marketing networks, operational experience and project management execution skills.

Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) is the leading integrated chemicals producer in Malaysia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Company is involved primarily in manufacturing, marketing and selling a diversified range of chemical products, including olefins, polymers, fertilisers, methanol and other basic chemicals and derivative products.


MRC

(songwon) -- Switzerland-based Songwon Additives Technologies and Polysys Industries (Abu Dhabi / UAE)announced that they will establish a new company Polysys Additive Technologies ME, which will build an OPS (One Pack Systems) manufacturing plant in Kizad (Khalifa Industrial City of Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi.

Maurizio Butti, Chief Operating Officer, Member of the Songwon Industrial Group Executive Committee and Chairman of the Board of Songwon Additive Technologies AG, stated: "We are very pleased to be able to confirm that Kizad, Abu Dhabi will be the location of our OPS plant in the Middle East. The new plant will have an initial capacity of approximately 7.000 metric tons,and we expect that construction will be completed in approximately 12 months. Our aim is to be able to offer our customers, in each of the key regions, access to OPS based on the same technology and the same level of reliability and service which has supported the growth of Songwon Industrial Group in the Polymer Stabilizer market. The Middle East already represents a key market for OPS and Polymer Stabilizers and we expect this position to grow significantly in the near future."

In conclusion, Mohamed Al Muhairi, Chairman of the Board of Polysys Industries LLC., commented: "This Joint Venture is fully in line with our strategy to develop businesses which support the fast growing regional petrochemicals industry with local supply of critical components and raw materials. Having already created a global partnership through Songwon Additive Technologies AG, which brings important synergies in terms of access to technologies, raw materials and multi regional customers, we are delighted to have the new plant located in Kizad. This will be a very effective hub for supplying not only locally, but the whole region due to its unique location and infrastructure."
MRC

(apic-on-line) -- Saudi Aramco is "diligently" exploring shale gas reserves in Saudi Arabia, however uncertainty reigns over whether such reserves could be tapped by petrochemical companies, top officials from the country's petrochemicals industry said Wednesday at Seventh Annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association forum in Dubai.

Saudi Aramco sells gas to several other petrochemical producers in the country through Sabic.

Al Mady told reporters at Jubail in November that the company is looking forward to making investments in shale gas-based petrochemicals production outside Saudi Arabia. He said at the GPCA forum that there were no further developments in this regard so far.

US oilfield services company Baker Hughes in April estimated Saudi Arabia shale gas reserves at 645 Tcf -- the fifth largest such reserve in the world. The country's conventional gas reserves at estimated to be around 279 Tcf.

Besides shale gas, Al Mady said new technologies that convert coal to olefins and syngas to chemicals are the others to watch for.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco was estimated to be the world's most valuable company. It is the largest oil company in the world due to having the largest proven oil reserves, about 260 billion barrels, and the highest production, 10 million barrels per day.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- China's oil giant China Petrochemical Corp., known as Sinopec Group, is planning an initial public offering in Hong Kong for its newly-formed refining and petrochemical engineering unit in the second quarter of 2013, which could raise around USD1.5 billion, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said Wednesday.

Beijing-based Sinopec Engineering Co., which was set up in September with a registered capital of 3.1 billion yuan (USD500 million), is hoping that a Hong Kong listeing could raise its profile in the international market, as it strives to secure more overseas engineering and construction projects.

Sinopec Engineering was created through the consolidation of eight construction and engineering subsidiaries, as MRC reported earlier. It has undertaken engineering projects in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Singapore, Bangladesh.
MRC

(plastemart) -- The Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) has launched the construction of its ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) films project in Hail Industrial City, as per Arab News.

The project enjoys the patronage of Hail Governor Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen, who is also the chairman of the High Commission for Development of Hail Region.

Built on an area of 40,000 square meters, the SR 120 million project will manufacture 4,000 metric tpa of EVA films. The project, which is fully owned by Sipchem Chemicals Company (SCC), will be financed by the company and other local backers. The project is expected to be operational by Q3-2013.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) affiliate Gulf Advanced Cable Insulation Company had awarded on LSTK basis the engineering design, procurement and construction contract for the Wire and Cable Polymers Compounding Plant to POSCO Engineering Co, South Korea. The new plant will produce the power cable insulation materials at Sipchem’s site in Jubail Industrial City. This plant comes as part of Sipchem’s third phase expansion downstream program. Gulf Advanced Cable Insulation Company is equally owned by Sipchem and Hanwha Chemical of South Korea.
MRC