Sanfangxiang to shut its PTA plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Chinese company Sanfangxiang Group is in plans to shut its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for maintenance, according to Apic-Online.

The plant is likely to be shut in early May 2013 for maintenance and to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Jiangsu province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year.

As MRC informed previously, in late 2012, Jiangsu Sanfangxiang announced its plans to start up a new plant for the production of bottle PET with total capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year in March-April 2013. With the launch of the new plant, the company's total production capacity will increase from 1.2 million tonnes per year to about 1.6 million tonnes per year, which will make Jiangsu Sanfangxiang the largest PET producer China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - PetroChina, China's dominant oil and gas producer, reported an eight percent fall in first-quarter profit, weighed down by lower realised crude prices and further losses at its natural gas import business, said Reuters.

Net profit reached 36.02 billion yuan (USD5.8 billion)in the first three months, versus 39.15 billion yuan a year earlier, under international accounting standards, the Beijing-based company said on Thursday.

PetroChina has been importing natural gas at crude-linked prices and selling it at home at a loss because of government price controls aimed at taming inflation. Losses have been expanding due to increases in import volumes.

As MRC informed earlier, PetroChina has overtaken Exxon Mobil as the world’s biggest publicly traded producer of oil. The company announced it pumped 2.4 million barrels a day last year, surpassing Exxon by 100,000 barrels.

PetroChina and Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, have suffered losses at their refining segments as they could not fully pass on higher crude costs to consumers because of government controls on oil product prices.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron has annonced that the process of introducing feed to its Richmond, Calif., refinery's crude unit is underway and, at the same time, other process units are in restart mode, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The crude distillation unit (CDU) was shuttered last Aug. 6 when a leak in associated piping caused a major fire. Other plants at the refinery have been operating at reduced rates since then.

"This is one step in a thorough and methodical process in allowing the refinery to resume normal operation of the crude unit. We are taking the time necessary to perform this work safely and effectively," Chevron spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this month, the company said repairs to the 245,000-bpd crude unit had been completed and that normal operations were expected to resume within the month.

As MRC informed earlier, in early February this year Chevron was cited for fines worth almost USD1 million stemming from a major fire at its Richmond refinery in Richmond. Chevron will appeal the citations, company spokesman Sean Comey said.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States, and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world"s six "supermajor" oil companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) announced income from continuing operations of USD1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2013, compared with USD1.6 billion for the first quarter of 2012, said OXY.

Net income for the first quarter of 2013 was also USD1.4 billion.
In announcing the results, Stephen I. Chazen, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our first quarter domestic production of 478,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 342,000 barrels per day were liquids, set a record for the tenth consecutive quarter. Our total company production of 763,000 barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of 2013 was 8,000 barrels higher than production in first quarter of 2012.

"We executed well in the first quarter and to date are running ahead of our full-year objectives in our program to improve domestic operational and capital efficiencies. We have reduced both our domestic well and operating costs by about 19 percent relative to 2012. Overall, we generated cash flow from operations of USD2.9 billion before changes in working capital for the first quarter of 2013 and invested USD2.1 billion in capital expenditures."

Chemical segment earnings for the first quarter of 2013 were USD159 million, compared with USD184 million in the first quarter of 2012. The lower earnings resulted from weaker chlorinated organics demand and pricing combined with higher natural gas costs, partially offset by higher caustic soda exports.

Midstream segment earnings were USD215 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared with USD131 million for the first quarter of 2012. The increase mainly reflected improved marketing and trading performance.

As MRC wrote earlier, Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) and Mexichem are targeting February 2017 for possible launhc of a proposed new ethane cracker at an existing Occidental site near Ingleside, Texas.

Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem) is a leading North American manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins, chlorine and caustic soda – key building blocks for a variety of indispensable products such as plastics, pharmaceuticals and water treatment chemicals. Other OxyChem products include caustic potash, chlorinated organics, sodium silicates, chlorinated isocyanurates and calcium chloride. For every product it markets in the U.S., OxyChem’s market position is No. 1 or No. 2. Based in Dallas, Texas, the company has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tosoh is in plans to shut its No.1 vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant for maintenance, said Apic-online.

A source in Japan informed that the plant will be shut on May 16, 2013. It will remain off-stream till June 25, 2013.
Located in Nanyo, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 260,000 mt/year.

In addition, Tosoh also produces VCM at its complex in Yokkaichi to the tune of 250,000 t/y. Once the expansion at Nanyo's number 3 plant is completed, this facility alone will turn out 600,000 t/y of VCM.

As MRC wrote earlier, Tosoh's proposed restructuring of operations in Nanyo could lead to a net loss of 320,000 tpa of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) capacity, thereby tightening feedstock supply to the polyvinylchloride (PVC) industry. Almost one year after a fire seriously damaged its complex in Nanyo, Tosoh Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) has touted plans to raise output at the site"s number 3 vinyl chloride monomer plant. The building phase of the 200,000 t/y capacity expansion was to kick off in November last year, with completion scheduled for October 2014.

Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene.

MRC