Pertamina allocates USD3.1 bn for 2013 upstream investment

(foxbusiness) -- Indonesia's state oil and gas company PT Pertamina said Thursday that it plans to allocate USD3.1 billion for upstream investments in 2013, equal to 46% of its total investments.

Pertamina didn't provide comparative figures for its 2012 investments.
Earlier this week, it said it has signed an agreement to buy ConocoPhillips's (COP) Algerian assets. The USD1.75 billion transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2013.

The acquisition would be the largest by announced value this year for Pertamina, which last month dropped a bid to buy Houston-based Coastal Energy Co. (CEN) after failing to agree on a price.

In June, it agreed to buy all of Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (HNR)’s interests in Venezuela for $725 million in cash. Pertamina may pump 127,889 barrels of oil a day this year, according to government data, making it Indonesia’s biggest oil producer after a unit of Chevron Corp.

The transaction, expected to close by mid-2013, is subject to approval from the Algerian government and ConocoPhillips’s partners in the fields. It would bring to about USD9 billion the proceeds from ConocoPhillips’s current asset sales program. The company has previously targeted USD8 billion to USD10 billion in asset sales this year and next to focus on investment in more profitable businesses.

Incorporated in late 2011 through a merger of PTT Chemical PCL and PTT Aromatics and Refining PCL, PTT Global Chemical has petrochemical capacity of 8.2 million tpy of olefins and aromatics and refining capacity of 280,000 bpd.
The Polymer product business produce a wide range of plastic products for use in various industries. Among the main products are HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PS.

MRC

Import of EPS to Russia dropped by 8% since early 2012

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In January-November, 2012, imports of EPS to Russia made 80,318 tonnes, down 8% year-on-year, according to MRC DataScope.


Imports of EPS to the Russian market increased by 15% in November and made 8,124 tonnes. Since the beginning of the year, market participants imported by 8% less EPS compared to the same period last year. Supply volumes of the material made 80,318 tonnes.

The structure of import supplies remains the same. About half of all the imported material is shipped from China, which makes 37,801 tonnes of the material. Since the beginning of the year, supplies from China have increased by 25% year-on-year.


The bulk of shipments accounts for Loyal material, the share of which makes 38% of the total import volumes and amounts to 30,529 tonnes. 16% of imports account for BASF’s EPS, which makes 13,029 thousand tonnes.

MRC

LG Chem expands its presence in the Russian market

MOSCOW (MRC) - South Korea's petrochemical and electrical engineering company, LG Chem, plans to strengthen its position in the Russian market, considering the possibility of joint investments along with Russian partners into various Russian companies, according to Neft Rossii with reference to the Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Russia.

Thus, during a working meeting of Vice-President and Chairman of LG Chem's Board of directors, Peter Ban-Suk Kim, and Vice-President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce, Georgii Petrov, the parties summed up the results of the company's activity in the Russian market, discussed plans for joint cooperation in the automotive industry, and the possibility of joint production and investment into Russian automobile, petrochemical and electrical enterprises. Production of batteries for various applications is one of the promising areas of cooperation, according to both parties. Republic of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Samara and Nizhny Novgorod region were named as promising areas for investment.

We remind that last year, LG Chem announced its plans to invest USD4 billion to build a petrochemical complex in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as MRC reported previously. It was planned that LG Chem's joint venture with the state-owned Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries (KPI) would build a plant for the production of ethylene and polyethylene (PE), with an annual capacity of 840,000 tonnes and 800,000 tonnes, respectively, and will start commercial production at its facilities in 2016.
MRC

November production of PP in Russia increased by 7%

MOSCOW (MRC) – Russia’s total production of polypropylene (PP) in November grew by 7%, from October and reached 58,400 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.

The total output of PP by Russian makers in November made 58,400 tonnes, up 7% from October. Some makers reduced the production of polypropylene, but some, on the contrary, increased.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced in November 17,600 tonnes of PP, down 2% from October. Tomskneftekhim cut production to 11,200 tonnes after record high 12,800 tonnes in October.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) in November loaded its capacity utilization by 100% after a three-weeks shutdown on turnaround in September-October. Last month, the company produced more than 9,000 tonnes of homopolymer of polypropylene.

Ufaorgsintez increased the capacity utilization in November by 3% to 11,300 tonnes. Stavrolen also increased the production of polypropylene to 9,300 tonnes, despite the resumption of the production of copolymers of propylene and expansion of grades types.

In general, the eleven months’ production of PP by Russian producers made approximately 600,000 tonnes, down 4% year on year.



MRC

Cracker of KPIC to undergo maintenance in 2014

(apic-online) -- Korea Petrochemical Industry Company (KPIC) is likely to shut operations at its cracker.

Located at Ulsan in South Korea, the cracker has ethylene production capacity of 470,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 230,000 mt/year.

The cracker will be taken off-stream for a maintenance turnaround in 2014 and will remain shut for around one month. The cracker is currently operating at 90% production capacity rates, according to a Polymerupdate source in South Korea.

KPIC is South Korean largest producer of HDPE with a capacity of 530,000 mt/year, accounting for 24% of the country's total production capacity. The company also has the capacity to produce 470,000 mt/year of ethylene and 350,000 mt/year of polypropylene.

MRC