South Korea imports natural gas liquids in April from Iran

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea imported natural gas liquids from Iran for the second straight month in April, reported Plastemart with reference to customs data.

Though a source with direct knowledge of the matter said it was part of a delayed shipment from an earlier contract.

Imports into South Korea of Iranian natural gas liquids were halted last July because of EU sanctions restricting insurance on tankers carrying Iranian oil, but South Korea's Samsung Total Petrochemicals (STC) concluded a spot deal earlier this year lured by cheap fuel.

South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude oil and second-largest liquefied natural gas importer, purchased a total of 136,604 tons of natural gas liquids last month, with 77,254 tons coming from Iran, the customs data showed. The shipment compared with 72,750 tons imported in March. There were no imports a year ago. South Korea bought 464,963 tons of natural gas liquids last year. Of the total, 372,203 tons came from Iran and the rest from the United Arab Emirates, according to customs data.

The resumption of Iranian imports of natural gas liquids had been expected after Samsung Total Petrochemicals in January revived a contract. The French half-owner of the joint venture, Total, later said it objected to the deal, and there was only one spot deal. The company took the full Iranian volumes for the two months, as per sources. The United States and the EU have imposed sanctions aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is being used to develop arms. Tehran says its program is only for peaceful purposes.

As MRC reported previously, Iran exported 14.53 million tons of gas condensates and petrochemicals, worth USD11.8 billion, from Pars Special Energy and Economic Zone (PSEEZ) in the southern province of Bushehr over the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012. The exported goods included polyethylene, gas condensate, propane, butane, benzene, and paraxylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian environmental regulators will join state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) in appealing an injunction that halted work on a major USD8 billion Comperj refinery project in Rio de Janeiro state, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Petrobras, Inea and federal environmental regulator Ibama will appeal the decision together, said Marilene Ramos, president of Rio state environmental regulator Inea.

Earlier Petrobras said it had been informed that a federal judge suspended environmental licenses granted by Inea for the refinery under construction in Rio de Janeiro state. According to Ms. Ramos, the judge ruled that Ibama had jurisdiction over licensing the project, forcing a halt in construction until Ibama issued new licenses.

The suspension stems from a case brought by federal prosecutors in 2008 that regulators thought had been resolved in 2009, Ms. Ramos said.

Petrobras said that it was evaluating all possible measures related to the halt, which would stop work on one of the company's largest projects.

The Comperj refinery will have installed capacity to process 165,000 barrels of crude oil per day when it enters operation in April 2015, according to the company. A second phase, expected to be completed by 2018, would double capacity.

When completed, the refinery would ease Petrobras's dependence on expensive fuel imports that have undercut the company's profits over the past two years.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Petrobras kept its five-year investment plan flat for the first time in years. Petrobras' new investment plan is a relief to those investors who'd feared another increase. Petrobras has one of the largest investment budgets of any firm in the world at USD236.7 billion for the next five years, as it seeks to develop some of the biggest oil discoveries the world has found in decades.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A consortium comprised of Itochu and foreign firms won an order from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to build Turkey's largest oil refinery in the western city of Izmir, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Itochu will procure equipment from Japanese plant manufacturers for the roughly USD3.4 billion project, while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will help SOCAR raise the necessary funds.

Other members of the consortium are Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem and GS Engineering and Construction. They will sign the design, procurement and construction contract.

Itochu's portion of the project is worth about USD34 million. Construction will begin in autumn, and the refinery is slated to begin operating in 2017.

The refinery will be owned and operated by SOCAR. It will have a refining capacity of 214,000 bpd, lifting Turkey's refining capacity by more than 30%.

The addition of the plant to the area will create Turkey's largest chemical complex.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Petkim together with its key owner, Socar plans to transform Aliaga into an industrial cluster. The transformation has several positive effects on Petkim. Besides, the construction of a new complex processing oil, gas and petrochemicals in Azerbaijan is the largest project to be implemented in the next few years, not only for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), but for the whole country.

SOCAR includes production association Azneft (companies producing oil and gas on land and sea) and Production Association Azerkimya (chemical industry), production association Azerigas (gas distribution).
The State Oil Company is the only producer of oil products in the country (it has two refineries on its balance sheet) and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania. SOCAR possesses a network of petrol stations in Switzerland and is the co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A consortium comprised of Itochu and foreign firms won an order from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to build Turkey's largest oil refinery in the western city of Izmir. Other members of the consortium are Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem and GS Engineering and Construction. They will sign the design, procurement and construction contract, said Hydracarbonprocessing.

Itochu will procure equipment from Japanese plant manufacturers for the roughly USD3.4 billion project, while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will help SOCAR raise the necessary funds.

Other members of the consortium are Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem and GS Engineering and Construction. They will sign the design, procurement and construction contract.

Itochu's portion of the project is worth about USD34 million. Construction will begin in autumn, and the refinery is slated to begin operating in 2017.

The refinery will be owned and operated by SOCAR. It will have a refining capacity of 214000 bopd, lifting Turkey's refining capacity by more than 30%.

As MRC wrote earlier, SOCAR is going to build a new complex processing oil, gas and petrochemicals in Azerbaijan in the next few years. Head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev spoke about projects implemented by the State Oil Company in Turkey, construction of a new shipyard and the Sumgayit plant for production of nitrogen fertilisers in Azerbaijan, construction of a new oil refinery in Turkey, expansion of the petrochemical complex Petkim's port, as well as a power plant to be built there.

SOCAR includes production association Azneft (companies producing oil and gas on land and sea) and Production Association Azerkimya (chemical industry), production association Azerigas (gas distribution).
The State Oil Company is the only producer of oil products in the country (it has two refineries on its balance sheet) and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania. SOCAR possesses a network of petrol stations in Switzerland and is the co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip was awarded by NOVA Chemicals Corporation the detail engineering, and procurement services contract for the Polyethylene 1 expansion project located at their Joffre site near Red Deer in Alberta, Canada, said Technip.

The project includes the installation of a world-scale 431-kiloton per annum (950 MM lbs/yr) single-train linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit. NOVA Chemicals will expand its total Joffre site polyethylene capacity by approximately 40% and will utilize existing site ethylene capacity.

Technip, in addition to detail engineering and procurement of the new reaction section, extrusion section, and railcar loading section, will modify the existing purifications systems. Technip will also design the plant off-sites, utilities, interconnections, and other supporting units for the facility.

Technip’s operating centers in Houston, Texas, Calgary, Canada and Chennai, India will execute the work under this contract. Work for this phase of the project began at the end of 2012, with completion of engineering in 2014, and systems start up in late 2015.

David Dickson, Technip’s Senior Vice President in North America, stated: "Technip welcomes this unique opportunity to continue its relationship with our key client NOVA Chemicals. We are delighted to have been awarded this contract after successfully completing the pre front-end engineering design (Pre-FEED) and FEED for this expansion project. This new contract solidifies the Group’s leadership in the execution of polyolefin projects as well as its privileged position as EPC contractor in North America and around the world."

As MRC wrote earlier, the last world-scale polyethylene plant in North America was built by Nova and that was in 2000. All the announcements of new projects and expansions means a 40% increase in PE production just by the end of this decade, CEO Randy Woelfel said.

NOVA Chemicals principal business is the production and selling of plastics and chemicals. Their Joffre facility near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada is one of the largest ethylene and polyethylene complexes in the world. The site consists of five manufacturing facilities owned by NOVA Chemicals; three for ethylene production and two for polyethylene production.
MRC