5 people died following explosion at Ukranian Concern Stirol

MOSCOW (MRC) - Five died and several injured following a Tuesday explosion at ammonia facility of Concern Stirol, one of the largest chemical producers in Ukraine, said Ukrainian media with reference to the producer.

According to an eyewitness, the explosion occurred during maintenance works at an ammonia reservoir.
Authorities have opened a criminal proceeding under Article 272 of Criminal Code of Ukraine - violation of safety rules during the execution of the work with increased risk.

The Prosecutor's Office at Gorlovka carries out a preliminary investigation. A serious fire at Stirol's facilities of amonia had also occurred on 26 May 2013. There were no dead or injured people in that accident.

Concern Stirol is the largest chemical producer in Ukraine. Stirol is a diversified company that produces ammonia, inorganic acids, fertilizers, medicines, paints, plastics (polystyrene) and finished PS products.
The company is part of Group DF, represented by holding OSTCHEM.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's federal cabinet Thursday approved a proposal to sell a 10% stake in state-run fuel retailer and energy company Indian Oil, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shares of the company closed at 195.75 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday. At this price, the government will be able to raise 47.5 billion rupees (USD786 million) from the offering.

The government currently owns 78.92% of the country's largest fuel retailer.

The share sale is part of the government's program to raise 400 billion rupees in the fiscal year through March 2014 by selling shares in state-run companies.

This revenue is key to India's plan to narrow its fiscal deficit from 4.9% of gross domestic product in the last fiscal year. India's wide fiscal deficit has pushed up market borrowing by the government in recent years, stoking inflation and reducing credit availability for private borrowers.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is planning a Rs 30,000 crore refinery on the west coast in Gujarat or Maharashtra as part of its plans to raise the refining capacity to 100 mln tons. IOC has seven refineries totalling 54.2 mln tons and a 11.5 mln ton subsidiary - Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL). It so far has no coastal refinery, impairing its ability to process cheaper difficult crude oils. IOC is looking for sites for the new unit in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The company has been offered land by Adani Group at Mundra in Gujarat as well as by Shapoorji Pallonji Group in Saurashtra.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is in the process of exploring a 50:50 polyurethane (PU) joint venture in Kochi with city-based Manali Petrochemicals Ltd., at an outlay of around Rs.2,500 crore, said Plastemart.

"We are in the process of exploring a joint venture with Manali Petrochemicals to set up a polyurethane project in Kochi. A joint study is being made, as per an undisclosed BPCL official to IANS. BPCL is expanding its refinery capacity at Kochi to around 15.5 mln mtpa from the current 9.5 mln mtpa. Once the expansion goes on stream, the company will have propylene capacity of 500,000 tpa - a quantum jump from its existing 50,000 tpa. This propylene could serve as feedstaock for the proposed PU plant. "The plant capacity will be dependent on the availability of propylene. A 300,000 tpa plant will be ideal," officials said.

As MRC wrote before, the proposed project envisages increasing the capacity of Kochi refinery from the present 9.5 mln mtpa to 15.5 mln mtpa, modernisation of the refinery to produce auto-fuels complying with Euro-IV/Euro-V specifications, upgradation of low value refinery residue stream to value-added products and production of propylene, which is a major petrochemical feedstock.

The state government has agreed to extend incentives like deferment of various taxes to BPCL for its expansion program. BPCL has already signed an MoU with petrochemical major LG Chem, South Korea in this regard.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Bharat Petroleum owns refineries at Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kochi, Kerala (Kochi Refineries) with a capacity of 12 and 9.5 million metric tonnes per year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, is proceeding with a 50% expansion in capacity at its Azo pigments and pigment preparations plants in Roha, India, underlining the company's commitment to provide customers in the region with high quality products specifically tailored to their needs, said Plastemart.

This recently approved investment will also enhance the capabilities and output at the site in a sustainable manner by reducing energy consumption and expanding the range of low VOC-containing pigments preparations offered to the market.

These latest investments are intended to support the strong market growth in India. They also mark another step in Clariant’s efforts to enhance its on-the-ground presence and offer more intimate customer service to customers in the emerging Indian and Asian markets. Clariant is in the process of doubling its marketing and sales organization in India, China and Indonesia throughout 2013.

"Our on-going efforts to strengthen our presence in India are part of a broader commitment to meet growing demand here and in the rest of the region, and to give customers access to high quality, sustainable products and technical support tailored to their local product development needs," comments Marco Cenisio, Senior Vice President & General Manager Business Unit Pigments, Clariant.

As MRC wrote before, Clariant will build a new pigment preparations plant in Indonesia in a series of investments to strengthen on-the-ground support for customers in China, India and Indonesia. The investments include the construction of a new pigment preparations plant at Clariant’s Tangerang site in Indonesia that will double capacity to support the strong market growth in the country. Production is scheduled to commence in September 2013.

Clariant is an internationally active specialty chemical company, based in Muttenz near Basel. The group owns over 100 companies worldwide. Clariant is divided into eleven business units: Additives; Catalysis & Energy; Emulsions, Detergents & Intermediates; Functional Materials; Industrial & Consumer Specialties; Leather Services; Masterbatches; Oil & Mining Services; Paper Specialties; Pigments; Textile Chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tapping methane hydrate for natural gas might have a positive impact on global energy production, but critics say the potential fuel source could have a negative impact on global warming, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The trillions of cubic feet of methane hydrates contained in the ocean's floor are in geologically unstable areas. The fear: One wrong move and an undersea landslide in the muddy sediment containing the methane hydrates could send massive amounts of a particularly potent greenhouse gas to the ocean's surface and into the atmosphere.

"Adding more methane to the atmosphere is a really bad idea," said Kert Davies, research director at Greenpeace, which is known for its use of direct action as well as lobbying and research to sway public opinion on issues including global warming and commercial whaling.

Although methane remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time than carbon dioxide, "pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane on climate change is over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period," according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Japan, the country making the most aggressive push into methane-hydrate development, will concentrate its efforts on relatively flat stretches of the seafloor off its coast. That will minimize the chances of a landslide, according to the Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan, a group with representatives from government agencies, universities and businesses.

Natural gas is being touted as a bridge fuel to replace oil and coal while strides are made in wind and solar energy, but backers of switching to renewable resources say successful development of methane hydrate could prolong dependence on carbon-based fuels.

"Hydrates, when and if they ever turn out to be commercially extractable, will be just one more excuse to fiddle while Rome burns," said Richard Charter, senior researcher at the Ocean Foundation, a conservation group.

As MRC wrote before, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued strong final standards requiring facilities that produce polyvinyl chloride and copolymers (PVC) to reduce harmful air emissions, which will improve air quality and protect people's health in communities where facilities are located. Exposure to toxic air pollutants, like those emitted from PVC facilities, can cause respiratory problems and other serious health issues, and can increase the risk of developing cancer. In particular, children are known to be more sensitive to the cancer risks posed by inhaling vinyl chloride, one of the known carcinogens emitted from PVC facilities.
MRC