Shell and partners receive Canadian LNG export license

MOSCOW (MRC) - Canada's National Energy Board on Monday approved a liquefied natural gas export license for Royal Dutch Shell Plc's planned LNG export plant on British Columbia's Pacific Coast, Reuters.

The regulator approved exports of up to 670 million tonnes of LNG over the 25-year period covered by the license, or 3.23 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

The license was given to LNG Canada Development Inc, a Shell-led consortium that includes Mitsubishi Corp, PetroChina and Korea Gas Corp.

While a number of LNG plants have been proposed for the northern British Columbia coastline, the license is only the third given out by the Canadian energy regulator.

Kitimat LNG, co-owned by Apache Corp and Chevron Corp was granted a license in 2011 while privately owned BC LNG Export Cooperative received one early last year.

LNG Canada is in the early stages of planning an LNG plant at Kitimat, British Columbia, to take gas from British Columbia's massive shale fields to lucrative Asian markets. The facility is expected to be complete by 2020.

As MRC wrote earlier, Ukraine chose Shell last May as a partner to develop the Yuzivska field in the east of the country and regional councils there approved the production-sharing deal last week. Ukrainian government cut 99% of fees for the shale gas deals for the world"s largest oil producer Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom.

It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue[3] and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is also one of the world's most valuable companies.


MRC

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) - In the first week of February, the major suppliers of PET granulate in CIS countries started to raise prices, citing rising cost of feedstock and growing PET prices in the Asian markets, according to a ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The prices of PET in the Asian markets will grow in February on rising cost of production due to price increase of terephthalic acid and monoethylene glycol. Despite the fact that this week buying activity in China is weak, the market players are sure that after the Chinese New Year, prices are likely to rise. Many Asian makers aim to raise prices after the holidays on growing PTA quotations.

This week price quotations of Chinese PET, with delivery to Central region of Russia, have increased by USD20/tonne and was at USD1,650-1,670/tonne, DAP Moscow, excluding VAT.

Mogilevkhimvolokno also increased February export prices for customers in Ukraine and Russia. Price quotations of Belarusian PET for Russian customers grow Rb53,500-54,000/tonne, DAP Moscow, excluding VAT.

Given the current rate of EUR / USD = 1.347, the price of Belarusian PET for the Ukrainian customers, with delivery to Ukraine rose to USD1 ,777-1, 783/tonne, DAP Kiev, excluding VAT.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A new rubber raw material Levapren produced by Lanxess, a leading specialty chemicals company, has helped to develop ininnovative and durable floor covering used in long-range airliners - an alternative to the silicone coverings, according to the company's press release.

Floor coverings used in long-range airliners must meet a wide range of strict requirements, including for safety reasons. This naturally applies in particular to products that need to be fitted in aircraft galleys.

With their new Duroflex and Durofloor floor coverings, engineers from the highly renowned rubber experts Metzeler Technical Rubber Systems GmbH, based in Edingen-Neckarhausen in Germany and a subsidiary of the North American automotive supplier Cooper Standard, Novi, United States, have developed innovative and durable alternatives to the silicone coverings often used up to now.

The new, easily bondable non-slip products are characterized, for example, by outstanding abrasion resistance and fire protection properties and are based, among other materials, on the halogen-free highly fillable rubber raw material Levapren from synthetic rubber pioneer LANXESS.

To date, the most important demands were frequently met by flexible coverings or rigid laminates with a top layer of silicone rubber. These often have the disadvantage of a low Shore hardness, however, which can find expression in comparatively rapid wear and can make the floor sensitive to the falling of sharp objects. And for many cost-conscious clients they were not always first choice for financial reasons.

"In 2002, therefore, we started looking for alternative materials and have put a lot of developmental effort into the project," says Joachim Bormuth, responsible for quality management at Metzeler among other duties. The material that finally convinced his company was a special grade of LANXESS' EVM synthetic rubber Levapren.

A good choice, according to Michael Herrmann, product expert from the LANXESS business unit High Performance Elastomers: "In many ways Levapren is an ideal material: the rubber does not contain any halogens and therefore does not liberate any corrosive acidic gases in the event of fire; rescue equipment then remains intact for longer and human life and materials are spared. On combustion, Levapren has a low smoke gas density, leaving escape routes free for longer should it come to the worst. To let it never get that far, Levapren can be supplemented with large quantities of flame-retardant inorganic fillers, but still remains easy to process."

Levapren has passed its first baptism by fire in Metzeler's Duroflex and Durofloor floor coverings: these have been in service in two aircrafts belonging to a top airline for around one and a half years.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR8.8 billion in 2011. The company is currently represented at 48 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. We remind that, as MRC reported previously, in September, 2012, Lanxess acquired German company Bond- Laminates GmbH to strengthen its portfolio of lightweight materials for the automotive industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marathon Petroleum has closed its transaction with BP to purchase several assets, including the 451,000 bpd refinery located in Texas City, Texas, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with the reference to the companies' announcement.

The refinery will be renamed and referred to in future Marathon communications as the Galveston Bay refinery.

The deal also includes a 1,040 megawatt cogeneration facility, four light product terminals located in the Southeast, retail marketing contract assignments for approximately 1,200 branded sites representing approximately 61,000 bpd of gasoline sales, three operating intrastate natural gas liquids pipelines originating at the refinery and a 50,000 bpd allocation of BP's Colonial Pipeline shipper history.

The transaction was first announced on October 8, 2012. The base purchase price is approximately USD598 million, plus inventories valued at approximately USD1.1 billion.

"This is a unique opportunity to acquire, at an attractive price, a world-scale refinery on the western Gulf Coast that is well positioned to benefit from the growing supply of North American crude oil," said Marathon Petroleum CEO Gary R. Heminger.

As MRC reported earlier, with this agreement, the total value of the divestments that BP has agreed since the beginning of 2010 is more than USD35 billion. BP expects this total to reach USD38 billion by the end of 2013. It will remain a significant retailer of fuels in the US, with 8,000 BP and ARCO-branded sites in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and along the East Coast.

BP is one of the world"s leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez announced an increase in contract prices of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) to be shipped in February for the domestic market. Other Russian producers also announced the need for a price increase of LDPE, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The second largest producer of low-density polyethylene in Russia Kazanorgsintez announced an increase of contract domestic prices for February. The prices for the material to be shipped in February grew by Rb300-500/tonne, excluding VAT. Other Russian producers also reported a necessity for the price increase of low-density polyethylene.

At the end of last week, Gazprom neftekhim Salavat raised its LDPE price by Rb1,000/tonne, price offers for PE 158 were voiced at the level of Rb 53,500/tonne, FCA Salavat, including VAT. In January, Angarsk polymer plant raised twice the price of polyethylene for the domestic market, citing its limited amounts of material for the domestic market.

Ufaorgsintez reported repeatedly the need for a price increase of LDPE for the domestic market.
MRC