Fina Antwerp Olefins NV to halt a naphtha cracker next month

(Bloomberg) -- Fina Antwerp Olefins NV, a petrochemical venture of Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp., will halt a naphtha cracker next month for planned maintenance, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Naphtha cracker 3 will be idled at the site in Belgium from the end of March, they said, declining to be named because the information is confidential. The shutdown will last for as long as six weeks, one of the people said. The cracker can produce 610,000 metric tons of ethylene a year, according to the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe. Ethylene is used in plastics products from car parts to carrier bags.

Naphtha cracker 2 at the same site in Antwerp was shut for a few hours on Feb. 25 because of pressure problems, one of the people said. The unit can produce 550,000 tons of ethylene annually, according to the association's website.

The Antwerp site has three naphtha crackers. Cracker 1 is the smallest with a capacity of 255,000 tons a year. Total and Exxon declined to comment on the crackers, referring questions to the joint venture.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Formosa Plastics Group is studying the feasibility of investing in Singapore, possibly a refinery and petrochem complex, at an estimated investment of USD 10.7 bln. FPG controls more than 100 companies making products ranging from semiconductors to detergents, and operates in China, USA, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Formosa Plastics has been considering construction of its plants overseas because of limited land in Mailiao, western Taiwan, where the group's refinery and ethylene plants are based.

MRC

(Bloomberg) -- Ineos Group Holdings Plc reported an upset with a demethanizer tower in the olefins unit 1 at its Chocolate Bayou chemical site in Alvin, Texas, according to a filing with state regulators. Emissions associated with the flaring began today at 5 a.m. local time and lasted for seven hours, the Lyndhurst, U.K.-based company said in the report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Ineos was ⌠stabilizing the unit to bring ethylene product back on spec and decreased feed to the furnaces, according to the filing.

⌠Operations are normal at Chocolate Bayou, Charles Saunders, a company spokesman based in League City, Texas, said in an e-mail.

The Chocolate Bayou plant includes two olefins units and has one of the largest hydrocarbon crackers in the U.S., according to the company website. The plant is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Houston.

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(Southeast Texas Record) -- Texas Petrochemicals has filed a motion to dismiss in a lawsuit claiming its pipelines were damaged when another pipeline ruptured and started a fire. As previously reported, Texas Petrochemicals filed a lawsuit April 20, 2009, in Jefferson County District Court against UCAR Pipeline Inc., Dow Chemical Co. and Union Carbide Corp.

Court records show an ethylene pipeline in Port Arthur owned by UCAR ruptured around 2 a.m., Oct. 18, 2007, resulting in an uncontrolled released of ethylene. The ruptured pipeline, which was located near Main B Canal in Port Arthur, caused an explosion and fire. An hour later, Texas Petrochemicals' pipeline also ruptured and caught fire. According to the suit, the fire was caused by metal fatigue that occurred because of flames from the burning UCAR pipeline.

On Jan. 10 Texas Petrochemicals filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice, requesting Judge Donald Floyd, 172nd District Court, to dismiss all claims.

Texas Petrochemicals was seeking actual damages, cost of repair and replacement, unspecified exemplary damages, pre- and post-judgment interest at the legal rate, court costs and other relief to which they may be entitled.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US petrochemical, chemical and refining interests on Tuesday welcomed a federal government decision to postpone the 31 March deadline for industrial reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said earlier on Tuesday that it would put back the original 31 March reporting deadline to an unspecified date in mid-2011.

Under the agency's May 2010 reporting mandate, large emitters of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) - basically industrial sites, manufacturers such as chemical plants and refiners - were to begin reporting the volume of their GHG emissions beginning the end of this month.

EPA said it was putting the deadline back so that it could further test the online reporting system that would be used by industry. The agency said that it would announce a new deadline later this year.

American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Cal Dooley welcomed the delay. ⌠Reporting done right requires a thorough understanding of the new rules, ample time for feedback and sufficient testing to ensure a high-quality database, he said.

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) also hailed the delay, saying it was ⌠a sensible step.

MRC