Total to invest in its Belgian petrochemical complex

(plastemart) -- Total plans to invest over 1 billion euros at its Belgian refining and petrochemical complex to boost its diesel-making capacity and create cost-cutting synergies, as per Reuters.

This investment could bring Europe's largest refiner extra cash of USD500 mln a year. Total wants to focus on investing in its larger, integrated petrochemical and refining plants to maximize synergies, while keeping investment at other European plants to a minimum.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and international crude oil and product trading. Total is also a large-scale chemicals manufacturer.
MRC

(lanxess) -- LANXESS has opened its first production plant for high-tech plastics in the United States. With the new facility in Gastonia in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the company will help to meet the growing demand for premium, lightweight plastics. The amount of the company's investement in the new facility makes USD 20 million (EUR 15 million). The new plant will initially operate with a capacity of 20,000 metric tons a year.

Lanxess' highly innovative materials (Durethan and Pocan brands) help to build much lighter plastic parts that can replace metal ones in motor vehicles, helping to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Furthermore, the materials enable automobile manufacturers and suppliers to achieve more freedom in design and considerable savings in production.

The new LANXESS site in Gastonia is on the fringe of the so-called "auto belt" in the southern USA. Numerous car manufacturers - including a number of German companies - and auto suppliers have settled in the states of North and South Carolina. And around a quarter of North American auto suppliers - including many LANXESS customers - operate manufacturing facilities in North Carolina.

Demand for high-tech plastics is being driven, above all, by the trend towards lighter automobiles and rising car production. The global demand for high-tech plastics is expected to increase by roughly seven percent per year through 2020. In addition, the plastic content of any car can amount to 20 percent - a figure that is showing an upward trend. The USA is the largest market for high-tech plastics, with the automotive industry at the forefront.

LANXESS is a leader in specialty chemicals. Its core business comprises the development, manufacture and sale of plastics, rubber, specialty chemicals and intermediates.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Westlake Chemical Corp announced plans to perform planned maintenance and an expansion of the Petro 2 ethylene unit at its complex in Lake Charles, LA in the first quarter of 2013.

This expansion will increase ethane-based ethylene capacity by approximately 230-240 mlnlbs annually in support of the Company's ethylene integration strategy. The unit is expected to be down approximately 50 days for the work to be completed.

Westlake Chemical is a vertically integrated manufacturer and marketer of basic chemicals, vinyls (PVC), polymers (PE) and fabricated products.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Egyptian Propylene and Polypropylene Company (EPPC) is exploring various means to raise upto USD450 mln to invest in expanding capacity of its propylene and polypropylene complex at Port Said. Capacity is planned to be expanded by 25% from 400,000 tpa to 510,000 tpa within two years, the company's chairman told Zawya.

New investors will be invited to subscribe to the company's shares in order to raise the paid-up capital, in order to fund the expansion. The company mulls issue of new shares to expand the shareholder base or issue rights shares to existing shareholders.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- BP said on Friday that it aims to stay in Russia for decades to come and could use some of the proceeds from the potential sale of its stake in joint venture TNK-BP to increase its holding in Russian oil giant Rosneft.

BP said it wanted to continue its investments in Russia regardless of whether it sells its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft or to the group of Soviet-born billionaires who own the other half of the joint venture.

The comments illustrate the UK-based energy company’s desire to retain a significant presence in oil-rich Russia, despite a plan to exit the turbulent, yet highly profitable TNK-BP joint venture.

BP’s commitment to Russia follows a meeting Tuesday involving Mr. Dudley, BP chairman Carl Henric Svanberg, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If we're successful at selling our stake, we’d be interested in buying a share in Rosneft," a BP spokesman said. BP already owns 1.3% of Rosneft.

"We are pleased with BP's decision to reinvest part of the funds from the sale of its stake in TNK-BP in new projects in Russia, including in Rosneft shares," Mr. Sechin said earlier Friday, according to a report by Russian news agency Interfax.

Mr. Sechin added that Rosneft could raise the cash to acquire BP’s stake in TNK-BP on capital markets. Rosneft could pay $10 billion to $15 billion in cash for BP’s stake in the joint-venture and the rest in shares, resulting in BP acquiring at least a 12.5% stake of Rosneft, as MRC reported last week.

The BP spokesman said that talks on the sale of its share of TNK-BP are continuing and it isn't definite that Rosneft will be the buyer or how a final deal might look.
MRC