French Total Company stands ready for cooperation with Turkmenistan

(Trend) -- Any form of cooperation with Turkmenistan will be suitable for French Total Oil and Gas Company, said Total CEO Christophe de Margerie at a meeting with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Total holds talks in Turkmenistan on the details of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) to develop the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, which is prepared to be signed.

The head of Total said that "he believes perspective the cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly in view of initiated fundamental changes, particularly in the energy sector." De Margerie also noted the huge resource potential of Turkmenistan and the "investment climate".

Total, the fifth largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company and a world-class chemicals manufacturer, operates in more than 130 countries and has 96, 387 employees.

MRC

(PRW) -- A European ban on feeding bottles for babies containing bisphenol A (BPA) is being imposed by the European Commissions from next June over fears that additive could harm the immune system of infants.

"There were areas of uncertainty, deriving from new studies, which showed that BPA might have an effect on development, immune response and tumour promotion," said John Dalli, the EU's health and consumer affairs commissioner.

Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, along with other applications.

MRC

(PRW) -- Silvergate Plastics, the North Wales colour and additive masterbatch manufacturer, has announced that the pay-related industrial action started on 17 October by 11 of its 48 employees has ended.

Earlier this year the company offered a 2% pay increase to all employees effective from 1 July 2010. The offer, which represented the sector average, was rejected by the 11 employees who are members of the GMB. They argued for a 4% rise and held a series of one-day strikes in support of their demand. The GMB has advised the company that it now accepts the 2% and all industrial action has ceased.

Silvergate Plastics, has recently been acquired, by its management, from multinational organization, The Vita Group.The company therefore combines the autonomy of a SME with the systems, controls and quality management techniques of a much larger organisation.

Silvergate manufactures colour and additive masterbatch. Colour masterbatch is the product that determines the colour in plastic mouldings, extrusions, sheets or films and additive masterbatch delivers other benefits to those products.

MRC

(BASF) -- The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has pledged ┬2.2 million in funds for a project by the BASF-supported Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa) and hte AG, a company in which BASF has a majority interest. The goal of the project, which takes place with the cooperation of research scientists at Technischen Universitaet Muenchen and the University of Stuttgart, is to make economical and ecological use of carbon dioxide (CO2) on an industrial scale - through the production of sodium acrylate based on CO2 and ethene.

Sodium acrylate is a key basic ingredient for high-performance polymers like the superabsorbent polymers used in diapers. BASF and hte have earmarked another ┬1.7 million for the project in the coming few years to top up the BMBF funding.

MRC

(BASF) -- BASF SE management and employee representatives signed a new site agreement for the company's Ludwigshafen site. The agreement, titled ⌠Safeguarding the future through flexibility and operational partnership, applies to the approximately 33,000 BASF SE employees at the site for the period from the beginning of 2011 to end of 2015. It replaces the site agreement from end of 2004 which expires at the end of this year.

A no-redundancy pledge is a key element of the agreement. Another is the company's promise to spend ┬9 to 10 billion on measures to safeguard the site's future through to the end of 2015. Approximately two-thirds of the amount will be used on investment, modernization and maintenance to keep the Ludwigshafen site performing at its best in terms of technology and organization and thus strengthening core operations.

The investment thus remains at the high level of the past years. Research and development expenditure will also be at the level of previous years and will account for more than one-third of the total amount. Ludwigshafen will remain the central platform for global research and development at BASF.

MRC