Lukoil set to drill two Black Sea wells

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian independent Lukoil is set to drill two wells on its pair of blocks in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea in 2014, said Upstreamonline.

Romgaz development director Radu Gheorghe told Romania’s Ziarul Financiar newspaper that "we plan to dig at least two wells" next year.

The Romanian state gas producer holds a 10% interest in the holds Est Rapsodia and Trident blocks since farming in this time last year.

Lukoil operates the block on a 72% working interest, while Houston-based PanAtlantic Exploration, formerly Vanco International, holds an 18% stake.

The Moscow-headquartered explorer was awarded the two blocks by Romanian authorities in 2011, and contracted CGG for a seismic acquisition programme on the blocks that was completed late last year.

The contiguous blocks cover 2014 square kilometres of the Black Sea in water depths of between 100 metres and 1000 metres.

As MRC wrote before, Karpatneftekhim (LUKOIL group) resumed polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)production in Ukraine. The resumption of PE and PVC production will fully meet the needs of the Ukrainian market in these products.
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МOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem is in plans to shut an aromatics plant for maintenance turnaround, said Apic-online.

The plant is likely to be shut in mid-October 2014. The duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a benzene capacity of 240,000 mt/year, toluene capacity of 96,000 mt/year and solvent xylene capacity of 36,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constacted in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The flexible packaging market is estimated to grow from USD73,825.3 mln in 2012 to USD99,621.9 mln by 2018 with a CAGR of 5.1% from 2013 to 2018, as per Plastemart with reference to MarketsandMarkets.

Asia-Pacific led the global market followed by Europe and North America in terms of revenue in the year 2012. Flexible packaging market is a mature sector that has various stake holders such as raw material suppliers, processors, packaging manufacturers, and end-user industries such as manufacturers of food, beverage, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals.

Packaging is essential to preserve the quality of the product and it also prevents it from chemical reactions endangering the consumer’s health. Rise in the consumption of packaged products offers a strong customer base for the global flexible packaging market. Hence, an efficient and suitable packaging is imperative for every product.

The important materials used in flexible packaging market are polyethylene, polypropylene, BOPET, EVOH, polyamide, paper, aluminum, cellulosic, and PVC. This raw material is converted into films that are further converted into pouch, sachet, and bags in which the products are packaged.

Food dominated the flexible packaging market and pharmaceutical segment promises a healthy and fast growth in the market. Asia-Pacific has the highest market share and is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 7.1% during the period under review.

Europe is growing with a CAGR of 3.9%, and is driven mainly by the East European markets. ROW is also expected to experience growth in flexible packaging market in the future. The CAGR for ROW is 6.0% from 2013 to 2018. The four most potential nations for flexible packaging market are India, China, Russia, and Brazil which are poised to exhibit the fastest growing trend

In the flexible packaging market, pharmaceutical packaging is the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. Following it, the food packaging is estimated to be the second fastest growing market in 2013, due to the rise in consumption of packaged food.

As MRC reported earlier, in October, 2013, BASF started up a tailor-madepolyamide coextrusion line for packaging and technical films at its Ludwigshafen site. With the collaboration of customers from the film industry, the line will be used to develop new applications for Ultramid polyamides. The line can produce cast and blown films with up to seven layers.
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МОSCOW (MRC) -- Chinese Sinopec is reportedly in talks on a site for a potential liquefied natural gas export terminal in British Columbia, said Upstreamonline.

Rich Coleman, in a conference call with reporters, said the Chinese company had explored numerous sites in the province and had also entered partnership discussions with another company.

"All we know at this point in time is they've entered discussions on a site with another partner," Reuters cited Coleman as saying.

"We don't have the details of those discussions. We just know they are here seriously looking for an opportunity."

Coleman declined to name the partner or identify sites where the parties were looking. Sinopec owns significant natural gas properties in two of Canada's most prominent shale-gas fields that, once developed, could feed into Pacific Coast LNG plants, according to Reuters.

A Sinopec spokesperson based in Beijing was not immediately available for comment.

Asia's largest refiner joins a growing list of major global energy players, including Shell, C Chevron and Petronas, all racing to build the facilities to ship cheap Canadian gas to Asian markets.

Coleman also noted that talks with companies on the province's new natural gas export tax would continue for about month longer than previous expected, though he expects to have the details of the tax nailed down by year end.

As MRC wrote before, Apache Corporation and Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation has announced they have launched a global strategic partnership to pursue joint upstream oil and gas projects. As the first step in this partnership, Apache will receive USD3.1 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments, in exchange for Sinopec gaining a 33% minority participation in Apache's Egypt oil and gas business.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A static dissipative polymer blends specifically designed for medical devices and equipment has been introduced by Foster Ltd, as per Plastemart.

These blends use a non-migratory, polyether block amide (PEBA) polymer additive that retains continuous antistatic properties and cannot be wiped off with medical cleaning agents.

Dissipation of static electricity is critical to avoid damage to electronic circuitry and reduce particle build-up on medical devices and surrounding surfaces. New devices, such as vascular imaging catheters, utilize highly sensitive electronics for enhanced diagnosis and treatment.

As a leading provider of specialty compounds for medical devices, Foster recognizes the need for static dissipation in emerging devices and offers these USP Class VI complaint blends for use in regulated applications.

The PEBA polymer additive used in Foster’s static dissipative blends, disperses throughout the entire base polymer. This unique polymer additive can be compounded into other polymers with compatible melting temperatures, including thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

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.
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