Chevron pipeline explodes in Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Chevron-operated pipeline carrying liquid petroleum gas (LPG) exploded in rural Texas on Thursday after a excavation crew accidentally drilled into it, said Upstreamonline.

The US supermajor confirmed that there had been "an incident" at one of its pipelines near Milford, Texas, at around 9:30 am local time. The company later confirmed local reports, saying an excavation crew was working at the site when the pipeline ruptured.

"Chevron has initiated its emergency response procedures and is currently responding to the incident," the company said in a statement. "Chevron's primary concern at this point is to ensure the safety of its employees and the surrounding community." No injuries were reported. Some residents of Milford, a town of 700, were asked to evacuate. A local fire chief said about 200 students were evacuated from a nearby school district.

The pipeline "has been shut off and residual burn continues", Chevron said, adding that it was monitoring an adjacent LPG line. Chevron is the majority owner of 10-inch, 2295-mile West Texas LPG pipeline system that transports fuel from New Mexico and West Texas to a processing plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas, near Houston, according to Reuters.

Chevron owns 80% of the pipeline system, with Atlas Pipeline Partners on 20%.

As MRC wrote before, Chevron Phillips Chemical, the petrochemical venture of US oil producer Chevron Corp. and refiner Phillips 66, has finalized the sale of its Chinese polystyrene business to Grand Astor Ltd. In the deal, Chevron Phillips is selling its affiliate company Chevron Phillips Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., which owns a polystyrene plant located in Zhangjiagang, China.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell and China’s Sinopec are drilling exploration wells to test the shale potential of an underexplored area of central China, said Upstreamonline.

The pair is currently drilling Engye-1, the second of a three-well programme to evaluate shale resources at the Xiang E Xi Block, located at the junction of the central Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces of east central China.

The joint venture completed the first well, Liye-1, last August but it was subsequently sealed after results from hydraulic fracturing were not "very satisfactory", a Sinopec official told the news wire. The official declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to media.

The official said a third exploration probe was planned for the block, but no timing or location was disclosed. China is still in the early stages of developing shale resources and has drilled less than 150 exploration wells, mostly in and around the Sichuan basin in south-west China.

In Sichuan, Shell is carrying out appraisal drilling at the Fushun-Yongchuan Block in partnership with state-run PetroChina. The joint venture is aiming to start commercial production after next year.

Shell secured the production sharing contract to develop the Sichuan block in March last year. It was the first shale PSC to be awarded in China.

A majority of the USD1 billion investment the company spent in 2013 on China’s upstream business went to Sichuan, Shell China spokesman Shi Jiangtao told Reuters in an email. A former Shell executive had said last year that the company planned to spend at least that much each year on exploring China’s shale gas resources.

However, Shell chief executive Peter Voser said in October it would take longer than expected for Shell to reap benefits from its global shale gas projects due to poor short-term results.

China is looking to replicate a boom in North American natural gas production, which has begun reshaping global energy markets. Chinese companies need international players such as Shell to lend technology and operational expertise in extracting the gas trapped in shale rock formations. China has set a target of producing some 6.5 billion cubic meters/year of shale gas by 2015 and as much as 100 billion cubic meters/year by 2020, up from virtually zero in 2012. That is a target some analysts have been skeptical the country can achieve.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Russian government has been working out issues on liquidation of JSC "Khimprom" (Volgograd ), but the production of emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) is unlikely to be shut down, reported MRC analysts.

JSC "Khimprom" has become unprofitable for the state for several years, and, therefore, the Russian government is considering a possibility of liquidating the company because of its huge debts before the energy sector. Khimprom's representatives are confident that, despite all the problems, they will be able to preserve EVPC production at the plant.

Volgograd "Khimprom"'s EPVC production is highly profitable among the other plant's units. And, even in case of a shutdown of the high-cost (in terms of energy consumption) chlorine and caustic soda units, the company can still preserve its PVC production. Chlorine for the resin production can be procured from a nearby plant - Kaustik (Volgograd), this scheme has been already practiced before. Despite the fact that it will result in increased costs of PVC production, it will still be highly profitable, a plant's spokesman said.

As noted earlier, JSC "Khimprom" is the only producer of emulsion PVC in Russia. The other two plants that prouduced EPVC were a plant in Novomoskovsk ("Azot", Novomoskovsk) and another one in Usole ("Usolekhimprom"), which were shut down several years ago.

RusVinyl (a JV of SIBUR and Solvin) intends to launch modern EPVC production with the capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year. However, even the launch of new capacities will not allow the Russian market to get rid of dependence from imports, as EPVC imports are about 115,000 tonnes (according to the data of 2012).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Medical polymers represents a major opportunity in the medical materials market over the next few years, said Plastemart.

Several factors are leading to growth in this market. Perhaps the most obvious is the aging of the population in developed nations is expanding the addressable market for polymer implants. Many polymer implants are specifically intended to assist elder patients. Opportunity in this market has also expanded because the latest technical developments in medical polymers can fine tune implant capabilities, enable better fits for implants, and increased biocompatibility.

Polymer structures can also now substitute for cartilage or enable doctors to grow a patient’s tissue for transplants. At the same time the new legal protections that followed the silicone breast implant debacle have considerably reduced the risk in the medical polymer space. And as a result of all of these factors, the medical polymer business has taken off, with the emergence of new start ups and plenty of M&A activity.

With all that is happening in this space, NanoMarkets is publishing a report that identifies current and future opportunities in the medical polymers space and provides guidance on the technical and regulatory framework in which these opportunities are arising. As with all NanoMarkets reports in the medical materials field, this report includes a granular eight-year forecast and also profiles key suppliers and analyzes the complete supply chain for medical polymers. For the firms covered we discuss their strategies and needs along with their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the report provides an analysis of the market for medical polymers in various important country-specific markets.

As MRC wrote before, the value of the global medical polymer market is set to rise by more than half in the next five years, boosted by an ageing population and developing markets. The market is estimated to grow from USUSD2.3 bln to over USUSD3.5 bln, a rise of more than 52%, between now and 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co (CSPC) has shut a monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant owing to mechanical issues, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant was shut on November 10, 2013. A restart date for the plant could not be ascertained.

Located in Guangdong province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, another Chinese petrochemical producer Xinjiang Tianye Group is in plans to start a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in August 2014. To be located in Xinjiang province, China, the plant will have a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

Besides, Hubei Chemical Fertilizer is likely to start a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in late 2013. Located in Hubei, China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.
mrpclast.com