Pertamina asks government to prevent competition in petrochemical refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pertamina has requested an Indonesian government guarantee of protection that would restrict other companies from building petrochemical refineries capable of producing 1 million tpa in the country, according to GV.

Pertamina, citing petrochemicals as one of its "core growth pillars," has disclosed plans to invest about USD5 billion in an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex on Java Island.

The company has signed several memorandums of understanding with international firms for refinery and petrochemical projects in Indonesia. Among those companies are PTT Global Chemicals, Mitsubishi and SK Global Chemical.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said the government has not yet reached a decision on providing protection to Pertamina.

Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

VOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Justice Department and Gulf Coast states consider offering BP a USD16 billion deal to settle civil claims related to the Deepwater Horizon incident, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to people familiar with the discussions.

The settlement offer would cover potential fines owed by BP under the Clean Water Act and payments under another process known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, or NRDA, the people said. The fines stem from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that ensued from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout in April 2010.

BP's potential Clean Water Act fines could run as high as USD17.6 billion, but the company has argued they would likely be less than USD5 billion. The NRDA payments could also run into the billions, but they are tax deductible for BP.

As MRC wrote previously, BP won approval of an agreement for the U.S. government to not count 810,000 barrels of oil captured before they became part of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, reducing the potential maximum fine under the Clean Water Act by USD3.4 billion. The first of two Deepwater Horizon trials is set to begin Monday before a federal judge in New Orleans.

The people said among the disagreements between the governments are how much of the fines will fall under the Clean Water Act and how much will fall under NRDA. A law passed by Congress would give the states control over 80% of Clean Water Act fines, while NRDA fines would go to specific wildlife and natural habitat restoration projects.

Louisiana would likely receive the most NRDA funds since that state's coast line and waters were most directly affected by the spill.

BP previously agreed to a USD4 billion settlement of criminal charges related to the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the ensuing spill, as well as a USD525 million civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Transocean, the owner of the rig, agreed to a USD400 million criminal settlement and USD1 billion civil settlement for violations of the Clean Water Act.

BP says it is eager to fight it out in court, believing past settlement offers didn't adequately reflect the company's legal position. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, BP general counsel Rupert Bondy said of the few Clean Water Act cases that go to trial, the per-barrel penalties are significantly less than the maximum allowed.

He also noted judges take into account several other factors when determining penalties, such as a company's efforts to address the environmental impacts of the spill.

BP has spent more than USD14 billion on spill response and cleanup, paid out more than USD9 billion to Gulf Coast businesses and individuals impacted by the spill, and committed billions more to environmental restoration and research.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Sibur Elastomers, a joint venture between Reliance Industries (RIL) and Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company SIBUR, has started construction of its butyl rubber plant in Jamnagar, according to The Hindu Business.

When commissioned in 2015, this plant will be India’s only manufacturer of butyl rubber. The Jamnagar plant will have a capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes annually.

RIL and SIBUR have signed a technology licensing agreement facilitating the use of the latter’s proprietary butyl rubber production technology at the new facility.

This includes a basic engineering package (BEP) and provision of experienced technical personnel on both project and operational stages.

RIL will supply the monomer and provide the joint venture with world-class infrastructure and utilities. It has also already started market seeding butyl rubber from SIBUR in India.

As MRC reported earlier, in February, 2012, Russia and Eastern Europe's largest petrochemical company SIBUR and India's largest private company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) have agreed to form a joint venture named Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited to produce 100,000 tonnes of butyl rubber per year in Jamnagar, India. The joint venture will be the first manufacturer of butyl rubber in India and the fourth largest supplier of butyl rubber in the world. The JV will meet demand for synthetic rubber from the Indian automotive industry. Reliance Industries will own 74.9% of the JV with SIBUR 25.1%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara Petrochemicals Co. announces the completion of the maintenance works of the cooling water system of the plant of its affiliate, Al Waha Petrochemicals Co, said Sahara in its Statement.

Reference to Saharas previous announcement dated Saturday 06 Rabi II, 1434 H, corresponding 16 February 2013, regarding the technical failure of the plant of Al Waha Petrochemicals Co, an affiliate of Sahara, which affected the cooling water system and resulted in the shutdown of the production units, Sahara Petrochemicals Co. announces that all the necessary maintenance works of Al Wahas plant have been completed and it has also initiated the necessary steps to restart the operation and production units (see MRC news).

The world-scale petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia has a capacity of 467 KTa of propylene utilising Oleflex technology, which serves as a feedstock for the 450 KTa Polypropylene Unit. The plant is considered to be largest, producing high-quality polypropylene using LBI's technology, sphereizone.

Al Waha Petrochemicals Company is owned by Sahara Petrochemicals Company, which holds 75% of its share capital with LyondelBasell owning 25%.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petrochemical International Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Sinopec, has selected LP Oxo technology licensed by Davy Process Technology (DPT) and Dow Chemical for a new 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and butanol project in Anqing City, Anhui Province, China, said Apic-online.

The new LP Oxo unit, being built by Sinopec Corp. Anqing Co., will be designed to produce 100,000 t/y of 2-EH, 115,000 t/y of normal butanol and 23,000 t/y of iso-butanol. The plant will use the LP Oxo Selector 10 technology with liquid phase hydrogenation, which offers a high conversion of propylene to alcohols, low capital investment and easy operation.

"We're confident that Sinopec has made the correct choice, as an LP Oxo alcohols plant enjoys low feedstock and energy requirements," said Faye Miller, oxygenated solvents licensing leader for Dow.

DPT Managing Director Antoine Bordet noted that this "milestone project" is the fifth LP Oxo facility with Sinopec. "We have started the process design and look forward to working closely with Sinopec through subse-quent stages of the project to a successful start-up." A project schedule was not given.

As MRC wrote earlier, Sinopec Qilu is likely to shut operations at its polypropylene (PP) plant. Located at Zibo, Shandong province in China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year. The plant will be taken off-stream for a maintenance turnaround in April 2013 and will remain shut for around 40 days

China Petrochemical Corporation or Sinopec Group is Asia's largest oil refining and petrochemical enterprise, administered by SASAC for the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered at Chaoyangmenwai in Beijing, across the road from the headquarters of competitor CNOOC Group.

MRC