Fire at Chevron-owned gas plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Midstream player Targa Resources Partners reported a fire at a gas processing plant in New Mexico co-owned by California-based supermajor Chevron, said Upstreamonline.

All workers were "accounted for", Targa said. It did not specify whether there had been any injuries.

The Saunders gas processing facility in Lea County, New Mexico "experienced a fire" on Thursday morning, Targa said.

"Emergency services were notified and arrived promptly on-site," the company said. "The fire was contained and surrounding roads were secured and monitored by emergency personnel."

The fire had been extinguished by late morning. Targa said it would begin to assess damage to the facility.

The facility is owned by Versado Gas Processors, a joint venture 63% owned by Targa and 37% owned by Chevron. Targa is the operator.

Saunders is "the smallest gas processing plant in the Versado system", with around 70 million cubic feet per day churned out. Its total processing capacity is about 280 MMcfpd gross.

As MRC wrote before, Chevron is in advanced talks to sell most of its downstream assets in Egypt and Pakistan in a sale that could be valued at around USD300 million. The company is conducting separate sale processes for its assets in both countries, the sources said in the report.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States, and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world"s six "supermajor" oil companies.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals and Itoh Oil Chemical have announced the signing of a joint venture agreement with India's Jayant Agro-Organics for the establishment of the company in India to produce "bio-polyol", the main raw materials of which are non-edible plant derived fatty acid, reported Mitsui on its site.

Mitsui Chemicals manufactures and distributes polyurethane raw materials for various applications including that of insulation application for refrigerators. The company is the largest supplier of polyurethane raw materials for automotive interior to Japanese manufacturers and is the world's only commercial supplier of non-edible plant derived bio-polyol.

The joint venture will make "bio-polyol" cost competitive with fossil derived polyol, allowing Mitsui Chemicals to target further expansion of automotive application sales on its own and through its six system houses strategically located throughout Asia.

Itoh Oil Chemical is Japan's leader in castor oil production with state-of-the-art refineries, manufacturing technology, and quality control expertise in castor oil derivatives such as fatty acids. The company targets use of other by-products, co-produced in the manufacture of bio-polyol, in development of new applications to expand its castor oil derivative market and intensify existing businesses such as its urethane elastomer operations.

Jayant Agro-Organics is the world's leading producer of castor oil. Through supply of raw materials derived from castor oil to the new joint venture, the company targets development of new business in the castor oil derivatives sector to further strengthen its position in the castor business.

The partnership of the three companies who bring their own unique strengths to the table in India, where 80% of the world's castor oil are produced, will establish a stable supply base for overwhelmingly cost competitive bio-polyol.

As MRC wrote previously, in March 2013, Dow Chemical signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that will allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise. The joint venture is being formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a Linear Alpha Olefins unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Mitsui Chemicals,a Japanese chemical company, is a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. Mitsui Chemicals’ business portfolio includes petrochemicals, basic chemicals, polyurethanes, functional polymeric materials, functional chemicals, and films and sheets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the recent announcements of plans to divest both its Building Adhesives business and Decorative Paints stores in Germany, AkzoNobel has informed employees of its intention to streamline its organizational structure in the country, said The Wall Street Journal.

The proposals involve reducing the number of office locations from eight to three by the summer of 2014. The three offices will be based in Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart.

"By bringing office-based management and supporting staff together in fewer locations and better aligning them with the needs of our businesses in Germany, we aim to improve our operational effectiveness as well as lowering overheads," said AkzoNobel Executive Committee member Werner Fuhrmann.

Currently, office employees (including management, supporting staff functions such as HR and finance, and sales personnel) working for diverse business units and the country organization are based in eight office locations spread across Germany (Bornsen, Cologne, Duren, Essen, Hannover, Ludwigsburg, Norderstedt and Wuppertal). This highly fragmented footprint is the result of various mergers and acquisitions that have occurred during the years.

AkzoNobel's main offices in Germany will be sited at a new location in Cologne, providing workspaces for around 250 people. Sales offices in the north and south of the country will be consolidated in Hamburg and Stuttgart. The company expects to have completed the move by summer 2014.

"The need to further streamline our organizational structure in Germany has become increasingly clear in light of recent developments," continued Fuhrmann.

This June, AkzoNobel's Decorative Paints business in Germany announced plans to divest its network of over 70 stores for professional painters, having determined it can better cater to this market by focusing distribution through independent wholesalers.

In August, AkzoNobel agreed to sell its Building Adhesives business to Sika AG. Nearly two thirds of Building Adhesives' approximately 550 personnel are based in Germany.

Going forward, AkzoNobel will align the supporting management and staff functions for the country with the organization's changing dimensions.

AkzoNobel is a leading global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, it is consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran Offshore Engineering & Construction (IOEC) could have sanctions imposed on it by the European Union after a ruling by an EU court, said Upstreamonline.

The ruling may also lead to sanctions, imposed on numerous Iranian companies in an attempt to disrupt the country’s perceived nuclear weapons programme, being lifted on a shipping company and four banks.

The EU court ruled that sanctions on IOEC, Good Luck Shipping, Export Development Bank of Iran and Persia International Bank should be scrapped. It also said sanctions against Post Bank Iran, Bank Refah Kargaran and Iran Insurance Company should be lifted.

The ruling can, however, be appealed.

The EU, like the US, has hit various Iranian individuals, companies and institutions with sanctions as international players seek to halt what they see as the country’s attempts to build nuclear weapons. Iran has always contended that its nuclear programme is for civilian use only.

As MRC wrote before, theUS has announced new sanctions against Iran by identifying eight Iranian petrochemical companies it claims to be owned or controlled by the Iranian government, namely Bou Ali Sina Petrochemical Company, Mobin Petrochemical Company, Nouri Petrochemical Company, Pars Petrochemical Company, Shahid Tondgouyan Petrochemical Company, Shazand Petrochemical Company, Tabriz Petrochemical Company and Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Klockner Pentaplast Group has added to its global production capacity in Asia, the Americas, and Europe, said Plastemart.

The company is investing EUR45.6 mln as part of its 2013 and 2014 expansion plans, which include facilities in Cotia,Brazil; Suzhou, China; Newport/Crumlin, Great Britain; and Santo Tirso, Portugal. Klockner Pentaplast is the only rigid film solutions producer with manufacturing sites located on four continents – Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. KP will add to its UK and European production capacity for polyester films.

Primarily used for food and consumer packaging applications, the new capacity will be located at the company’s Newport/Crumlin, Great Britain, manufacturing facility. The start-up of the state-of-the-art extrusion line is targeted for July 2014 and will add 15 employees. The EUR6 mln investment will add 8,000 metric tons of capacity.

KP opened its first Chinese production site in the Suzhou Industrial Park (Suzhou, China) in July 2013. The site is producing packaging films for the growing domestic Chinese and Asian markets. The first phase of operations has focused on transverse-direction oriented shrink-label films and houses state-of-the-art production equipment, high-tech production control systems, and an extensive laboratory. The site has increased Klockner Pentaplast’s global shrink-films capacity by 6,600 metric tons to meet double-digit shrink-sleeve growth in Asia.

The EUR22.5 Mio investment employs 76 people. In Spring 2013, KP added 8,000 metric tons of polyester film capacity to the company’s Santo Tirso, Portugal, manufacturing facility. The EUR5.5 mln nvestment supports KP’s growing European food and consumer packaging films markets. The expansion added 25 employees.

Klockner Pentaplast makes films for pharmaceutical, medical device, food, electronics, and general-purpose thermoformed packaging, as well as printing and specialty applications. The company has sales of more than USD1.4 billion, more than 3,000 employees, and 17 plants.
MRC