Britain gives green light to shale gas fracking

(The Telegraph) -- The UK's Energy Secretary, Edward Davey, has lifted a ban on the drilling for shale gas in the country, thus, giving green light to gas "fracking", just days after David Cameron said the controversial technique could help bring down household energy bills.

We remind that the ban was put in place after the UK's first project near Lancashire caused tremors last year.

The Energy Secretary's decision will allow companies to explore for the new energy source across swathes of countryside in the south, north-west and north-east of England.

The first company to drill for Britain's shale gas - Cuadrilla Resources - will now be able to resume its operations near Blackpool, with new controls guarding against the risk of mini earthquakes.

Britain has trillions of cubic feet of shale gas covering up to 60% of the countryside but environmental groups and rural communities are concerned the landscape could be scarred and polluted. However, the Energy Secretary assured that there will be tight environmental controls on the drilling and Britain will not exploit the resource at the cost of the environment.

The push to extract shale gas is strongly supported by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Ministers believe it could provide a substantial economic boost.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, the latest technology of hydraulic fracturing, which provides access to recently inaccessible layers of natural gas, is widely used in the U.S. but not in Europe, where this process has just begun. Due to fracturing, the United States has almost fully met the country's needs with shale gas. Such petrochemical giants, as Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics and Chevron Phillips Chemical, has already announced their plans to increase production capacities in North America on the development of new shale gas resources in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York on attractive price of shale gas. In Europe, Poland has the most favorable geological conditions in Europe for the new technology. Some of the European countries are conducting research, but have not started to blow up coalbeds yet.
MRC

(ringier) -- Borouge, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has supported Volkswagen in China to successfully replace the use of polyamide (PA6-GF30) for air intake manifolds with GB306SAFC, a unique short glass fibre reinforced polypropylene (PP) produced at its compounding plant in Shanghai.

The air intake manifolds for the Volkswagen (VW) MPI 1.4L and MPI 1.6L engines of the Golf, Lavida, Jetta and Polo car models, in addition to Skoda Fabia, are made from Borouge’s PP GB306SAFC. This material is designed to completely fulfil the parts’ specification and to withstand temperatures of 120°C up to the maximum of 140°C. The parts are manufactured in China by Roechling, one of the leading international manufacturers of automotive parts.

Borouge’s GB306SAFC provides several advantages - a significantly lower cost in parts’ production, considerable weight reduction of at least 15% and a much better acoustic behaviour.

The joint collaboration between Borouge and Roechling serves as best practice for the automotive industry as it reinforces Borouge’s ongoing commitment and mission in enhancing value Creation through innovation to its valued partners.

As MRC wrote earlier this year, Borealis and Borouge, amongst the leading providers of innovative, value-creating plastics solutions, had introduced in the first half of the year a new grade of polypropylene (PP) specified for use in lightweight bumper applications for two new Renault automotive platforms.

Borouge is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria's Borealis. It has two complementary ventures: Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge) - a production company based in Abu Dhabi - and Borouge Pte Ltd based in Singapore. Borouge is a leading supplier of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). They focus on differentiated high end applications in the Middle East and Asia Pacific with Borstar Enhanced Polyethylene produced in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the full range of Borealis specialities.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Domestic sales are likely to be stable, but exports to other European countries, particularly in southern Europe, are likely to decline further in 2013. But there is no reason to be overly pessimistic, and there is no sign of a recession in Germany, according to VCI president Karl-Ludwig Kley.

German chemical industry association Verband der Chemischen Industrie eV said Wednesday it expects production in the sector to rise 1.5% next year and sales to grow 2%.

Domestic sales are likely to be stable, but exports to other European countries, particularly in southern Europe, are likely to decline further in 2013, it said.

"Hopes for a tangible recovery are still in the future," VCI president Karl-Ludwig Kley said at a press briefing.

But there is no reason to be overly pessimistic, and there is no sign of a recession in Germany, Mr. Kley added.

The association confirmed its 2012 outlook of a production decline of 3% and a 2.5% rise in producer prices. It forecasts a 0.5% increase in producer prices for 2013.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- The explosion of a NiSource 20-inch transmission line destroyed five homes and severely damaged others in Kanawha County, about 15 miles north of state capital Charleston. The pipeline has been shut off, allowing emergency crews to approach the scene for further investigation.

A natural-gas pipeline exploded near Charleston, W.Va, injuring two people and destroying several homes, a county government official said.

The explosion of a NiSource 20-inch transmission line destroyed five homes and severely damaged others in Kanawha County, about 15 miles north of state capital Charleston, said County Manager Jennifer Sayer.

The pipeline has been shut off, allowing emergency crews to approach the scene for further investigation, Ms. Sayer said.

Two people suffered minor injuries, with one suffering from smoke inhalation, Ms. Sayre said.

The explosion occurred after noon, shooting flames into the air. The fire eventually spread to Highway 77 in Sissonville, Kanahwa County commissioner Kent Carper told local radio WCHS.

NiSource employees were working with emergency officials to assess damages, company spokesman Mike Banas said. Natural-gas customers would not be affected by the accident, Mr. Banas added.

In 2010, a natural-gas pipeline operated by Pacific Gas & Electric exploded in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno, killing eight people.
MRC

(business-standard) -- A decision on whether the battle for shareholding in Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) would be dragged to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) is to be be taken this month, following a Supreme Court order directing the high court to dispose the case in December.

“The Supreme Court has asked the lower court to dispose the matter within this month,” confirmed HPL Managing Director Sumantra Chowdhury. A ruling in favour of The Chatterjee Group against another major shareholder, the West Bengal government, may drag the case to ICA, following a long legal battle in the Indian courts. The Supreme Court has also approved a petition by the TCG, challenging an interim stay by the Calcutta High Court on TCG approaching ICA.

However, the firm’s board is likely to take up a resolution on Wednesday for the conversion of a part of its long-term debt into equity. “When the battle for shareholding is before the court and supposed to come before the ICA soon, the board is not supposed to take this action. The firm’s financial woes are created by the government. It is not availed of tax credits worth Rs 775 crore in various categories,” an HPL source said.

Cases are filed under this body, if the parties are from different national, cultural and legal backgrounds and want to avoid litigation as they fear bias in a separate country. TCG had approached the court as it came as an NRI investor and the agreement is of international standard. Against this, HPL had approached the High Court seeking a stay on TCG’s move to take the company to ICA.

According to HPL’s financial statement, there is a massive increase in short-term financial borrowings to Rs 951.7 crore in 2011-12. “Moreover, the state government has forcibly kept on operation below 40 per cent of installed capacity, while it has incurred an accumulated cash loss of about Rs 900 crore in the current financial year,” the official added.

In 2011, the apex court had dismissed a petition by the TCG against a decision by the Calcutta High Court, that set aside a CLB directive asking the state government to exit the project by selling its stake to TCG.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is a modern naphtha based petrochemical complex at Haldia, West Bengal, India. Haldia has played the role of a catalyst in emergence of more than 500 downstream processing industries in West Bengal with a capacity to process more than 3,50,000 TPA of polymers, among which are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC