Ivory Coast signs agreement to establish Total-led LNG consortium

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ivory Coast signed a partnership pact to create a consortium headed by France's Total to build a LNG import terminal that could begin receiving gas shipments by mid-2018, said Reuters.

Ivory Coast has emerged from years of political turmoil to become one of Africa's fastest growing economies and demand for electricity is increasing by 10% annually, according to the energy ministry. "The arrival of LNG in Ivory Coast opens a new era in the production of electricity," Energy Minister Adama Toungara said at a signing ceremony in the commercial capital Abidjan.

Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa's largest economy, has the region's most reliable power production sector and exports electricity to its neighbors. However, a lack of new domestic gas discoveries has raised concerns of a supply crunch.

The project aims to conceive, build and operate a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) with initial capacity of 100 MMcf that would gradually be brought up to 500 MMcf, according to an energy ministry statement.

The ministry estimated the cost at USD200 MM. Total would be the project's operator. Other members of the consortium include Royal Dutch Shell, Houston-based Endeavor Energy, Ivory Coast state oil company Petroci, CI-Energies, Azerbaijan's SOCAR and Golar LNG.

Total said earlier Tuesday that the discussions in Ivory Coast were in a preliminary stage. It has said it plans to invest and finance downstream gas infrastructure especially in countries where there is a growing demand for power. The move could enable it capture new gas buyers.

Ivory Coast's oil ministry said last year that USD20 B in power investment would be needed over the next 15 years to meet demand.

As MRC informed earlier, in September,Total shut down some units at its 247 Mbpd Gonfreville refinery in northern France following a technical incident. The spokesman said the incident occurred in a steam producing unit whose backup was under maintenance.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs and Borealis have signed an agreement for Neste Jacobs to perform an energy screening for all production units at Borealis’ site in Porvoo, Finland, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Neste Jacobs will utilize its unique NJe2 technology, part of Neste Jacobs proprietary NAPCON offering for the project. The project will start in autumn 2016 and the recommendations will be implemented in the upcoming projects.

"We are happy to continue our good long term relationship with Borealis", says Jarmo Suominen, CEO of Neste Jacobs. "With this project Neste Jacobs brings its high class energy efficiency expertize to benefit the petrochemical industry. The importance of energy efficiency within the process industry is becoming ever important and with our NAPCON – NJe2 product we are able to provide the right solutions for our customers’ needs."

As MRC informed earlier, Borealis (Vienna), a leading producer of polyolefins, said today that it plans to study the feasibility of a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at its existing production site at Kallo, Belgium.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries. It generated EUR 8.3 billion in sales revenue in 2014.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is building a world-scale production plant for acetylene at its Ludwigshafen site, said the producer on its site.

The plant will start up at the end of 2019 and replace the existing plant. The new facility will have the capacity to produce 90,000 metric tons of acetylene per year and will use the world’s most efficient production process. Around 20 production facilities at the Ludwigshafen site use acetylene as a starting material for many other products and value chains.

"With the new plant, we are strengthening the BASF Verbund by ensuring an efficient supply of the key intermediate acetylene at our Ludwigshafen site. This will improve our competitiveness and support growth in the various acetylene value chains," said Dr. Stefan Blank, President of the Intermediates division. "We have been working on acetylene production for more than 50 years and have continuously refined the associated processes during this time. Accordingly, the new plant in Ludwigshafen will use state-of-the-art technical equipment and processes."

"As an important starting material for many BASF products at the Ludwigshafen site and for products produced by our customers, acetylene is very important to BASF. Integrating this plant within our Verbund approach offers advantages such as efficient use of resources, excellent production synergies and short supply routes. This will further enhance the long-term competitiveness of our Ludwigshafen site," said Dr. Uwe Liebelt, head of the BASF Ludwigshafen Verbund site.

With its modern production process, the plant will strengthen the BASF Verbund in Ludwigshafen. The process uses raw materials very efficiently. Furthermore, the heat given off during production will be used to generate energy. The end-product yield is higher and by-products are used efficiently.

As a chemical component, acetylene has a diverse range of applications. It is an important starting material for many everyday products, including pharmaceuticals, plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals and highly elastic textile fibers. BASF customers use these products in the automotive, pharma, construction, consumer goods and textiles industries. BASF has also operated an acetylene plant at its Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana, since 2000.

As MRC wrote before, BASF will expand its capacity for the production of Paliocrom effect pigments by more than 20% by 2017 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The investment will enable the company to accommodate for the growing demand of its aluminum-based effect pigments in the automotive coatings sector. With an investment of approximately EUR10 million, BASF aims to strengthen its position in this fast-growing market.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell is expecting to restart its ethylene cracker at Pulau Bukom, Singapore, in the next few weeks following an unplanned shutdown last week, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, reported Reuters.

"Our Ethylene Cracker Complex (ECC) at Pulau Bukom is currently shut down for unplanned maintenance to repair a compressor," the spokeswoman said.

Last week, as a result of the shutdown, Shell on September 29 declared force majeure on its ability to supply base chemicals to customers, she said.

"Based on current assessments, we expect to restart the plant in the next few weeks," she added.

The cracker, which produces more than 900 Mtpy of ethylene, is located at the same site as its 500 Mbpd refinery.

As MRC wrote earlier, in April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell completed a revamp and upgrade of its Singapore ethane cracker. The project increased production for the 800,000-tpy ethylene plant on Bukom Island by 20%. The ethylene and olefins unit is also integrated with Shell’s 500,000-bpd refinery. The revamp project will support expansion of other intermediate product facilities located on nearby Jurong Island, including Shell’s mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant and third-party facilities. The Bukom Island ethylene cracker is a flexible-feed unit and can process both naphtha and LPG.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkey's imports of paraxylene (PX) increased by 116% on year to 12,938 mt in August, compared with 5,985 mt in the same month last year, the latest Turkstat data showed, reported Apic-online.

The August total decreased by nearly 6% from 13,721 mt in July.

The increase on the year was largely due to volumes inflow of 7,739 mt from Israel in August, whereas it had shipped none in the same month last year. Israel also retained the leading position among exporters in August, although it was largely unchanged from 7,732 mt in July.

Turkey's other PX supplier, the Netherlands, however had a monthly decrease in exports of around 13% to 5,199 mt in August, compared to 5,989 mt in July. August exports were also down from 5,984 mt twelve months ago.

Turkey is a net importer of xylenes, with negligible export volumes across all xylene isomers throughout the year, according to Turkstat.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, global PX demand is estimated to exceed 62.98 mln tons at a CAGR of 7% from 2015 to 2022, as per Grand View Research, Inc. Growing utilization of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) for polyester production, particularly in Asia Pacific is expected to fuel growth in paraxylene market over the forecast period. The global PX market is anticipated to reach USD66.93 bln by 2022 owing to increasing demand for fiber and polyester resin in numerous end-use applications across various industries. Growing utilization of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) for polyester production, particularly in Asia Pacific is expected to fuel growth in paraxylene market over the forecast period.
MRC