Petronas to invest USD20bn in British Columbia LNG export project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia's state oil and gas company Petronas plans to invest USD20 billion in its liquefied natural gas project in West Canada, one of the biggest investments aimed at capitalizing on cheap North American gas, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to a senior company official.

The company is planning two LNG trains of 6 million tpy each under the Pacific NorthWest LNG project by the end of 2019, Anuar Ahmad, head of Petronas' gas and power business, said in an email to Dow Jones Newswires.

The export terminal project in British Columbia was acquired by Petronas last year as part of its USD5.2 billion purchase of Canada's Progress Energy Resources. It is just one of several energy companies building LNG export terminals in Canada and the US to create outlets for surplus gas that has resulted from shale-drilling technology unlocking massive new reserves.

Royal Dutch Shell is spearheading one LNG venture at Kitimat, some 200 kilometers from the Petronas one, working with several Asian partners, including Japan's Mitsubishi. Another LNG project is a 50-50 joint venture between Chevron and Apache, also at Kitimat.

TransCanada was picked by Progress Energy to build, own and operate a 5 billion Canadian dollar (USD5.1 billion) pipeline that would transport natural gas to the terminal.

The project is crucial for Petronas as well as Malaysia, which has the third-largest oil-and-gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific region, but is struggling to maintain its status as a net exporter of fossil fuels.

Petronas aims to make a final investment decision on the West Canada project by the end of 2014 and start commercial operations by the end of 2018.

The Malaysian company is in talks to sell stakes in the project, Mr. Anuar said, after upstream energy company Japan Petroleum Exploration agreed in March to buy a 10% stake. Petronas is also looking for potential partners to be offtakers of the gas, he added.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries, the German specialty chemicals company, has launched its Composites Project House, based primarily in Marl, with a branch in Darmstadt, to develop new materials and system solutions for the lightweight construction sector, according to the company's press release.

This is Evonik’s tenth project house. Among the topics addressed will be automotive and aviation applications and applications in the domain of renewable energies. Having established the Composites Project House, the specialty chemicals company is intensifying its strategic research for resource-efficient, sustainable solutions, particularly in the field of mobility.

"Our aim in setting up the Composites Project House is to expand our expertise in the field of composites. Innovative composites will make it possible to improve resource efficiency significantly at the same time," says Dr. Dahai Yu, Evonik’s Executive Board member responsible for the Specialty Materials segment, who believes that composite materials for the lightweight construction sector are an attractive market for Evonik.

The research findings are then commercialized by Evonik’s operating units or an internal start-up.

Evonik has been offering composites for specific applications in the lightweight construction industry for some time now: ROHACELL as a structural foam in fiber-reinforced composite parts, VESTAMIN as a hardener component for thermoset matrix systems, and VESTAKEEP as a matrix for thermoplastic composites, to name just a few examples.

As MRC informed previously, last summer Evonik Industries developed and launched on the market a novel combination of bio-based high-performance polyamides and bio-based high-performance fibers. Reinforcing fibers are often mixed into a plastic to improve its mechanical properties. Polyamide grades of VESTAMID Terra with rayon fibers retain the high bio-content along with excellent reinforcing potential. The combination of viscose fibers and polymer matrix offers a significantly improved carbon balance.

In 2012, Evonik invested EUR393 million in research and development to be able to offer customers and partners innovative products, solutions, and methods.

Evonik, the industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2012 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around EUR13.6 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.6 billion. The international rating agency Moody's has upgraded the credit rating of Evonik Industries AG from Baa3 with a positive outlook to Baa2 with a positive outlook. The rating agency quotes, among other things, the robust operational performance.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- International Polymers Company (IPC), Sipchem's affiliate, has signed on 10 June 2013 a financing agreement of SR 704 million (USD 188 million) with Public Investment Fund (PIF), reported the company on its site.

The loan is repayable over 14 years in 26 semiannual and equal installments commencing December 2014. The loan is payable until 30 June 2027 and secured until project completion by order notes.

The purpose of this agreement is to support the project financing of a greenfield EVA/LDPE plant.

The plant will produce ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes in its industrial complex in Jubail Industrial City. Plant start-up is scheduled in the third quarter of 2013.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in December 2012, Sipchem launched the construction of its EVA films project in Hail Industrial City. The SR 120 million plant will manufacture 4,000 tpa of EVA films. The project will be financed by the company and other local backers and is expected to be operational by Q3-2013.

EVA is used as a feedstock in the production of heat soluble adhesives, resin products and high-quality sports bandages; while LDPE is used as a feedstock in the production of various types of containers, bottles and medical detergents.

IPC is jointly owned by Sipchem 75% and Hanwha Chemical Corporation 25%.

Established in 1999, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) manufactures and markets methanol, butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate monomer. Besides, it has launched several down-stream projects to manufacture ethylene vinyl acetate, low density polyethylene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cross linkable polyethylene, and semi conductive compound that are scheduled to start in 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion and fire killed at least one person and injured 73 at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, on Thursday, leading authorities to order people within two miles (3 km) to remain indoors, reported Chicago Tribune.

The blast at 8:37 a.m. (1337 GMT) sent a huge fireball and column of smoke into the air at the plant along the Mississippi River just south of Baton Rouge and about 60 miles (100 km) up river from New Orleans.

The fire, fueled by the petrochemical propylene, was still burning more than five hours later, though government monitors had yet to detect dangerous levels of emissions, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told a news conference near the scene.

"There are no early detections of dangerous levels of VOC - that's volatile organic compound - but out of an abundance of caution both the company and the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) are doing testing not only at the plant site but miles away from the plant site following the direction of the plume," Jindal said.

Some 300 workers from the plant were evacuated and all the employees were accounted for, among them 10 who stayed behind in a safe room inside the plant, Jindal said .

"Emergency shut-down valves have been closed. The unit is isolated," parent group Williams Cos. said in a statement.

The company's own emergency response crews were assisting at the scene, Williams said.

Authorities ordered people within a 2-mile (3-km) radius to remain in their homes, in part because of the toxic smoke, said Lester Kenyon, a spokesman for Ascension Parish.

That "shelter in place" order was later lifted for residents but remained in effect for four other plants in the area that scaled down their operations, Jindal said.

The plant produces approximately 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of polymer grade propylene, according to the Williams website. These are used in the petrochemical process to make plastics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Taiwan's largest private refiner, expects to produce more intermediate petrochemicals used in making rubber and other insulative materials on an expected gradual recovery in global demand and will seek new markets overseas amid rising domestic supply, reported Plastemart with reference to Dow Jones Business News.

Formosa Petrochemical expects to produce 2.8 mln tonnes of ethylene this year, up 8.7% from 2.6 mln tonnes in 2012, although global ethylene prices are unlikely to rise this year due to increasing supply from China and the Middle East.

The refiner also plans to produce 2.2 mln tonnes of propylene this year, up 7.6% from 2.0 mln tonnes last year, it said. The company said it may look for new overseas markets for propylene, as CPC Corp., a government-run refiner in Taiwan, is expanding propylene production domestically.

Chairman Chen Bao-lang said at the meeting that global petrochemical demand will likely recover gradually on the back of the U.S., Japan and China, whose economies are set to grow, albeit moderately, on policy driven stimulus measures.

Mr. Chen also said Formosa's 50-50 joint venture with Kraton Performance Polymers Inc. ( KRA ) is set to start operation in 2015. The facility, to be built in Mailiao in central Taiwan, will have an annual output of 30,000 tonnes of hydrogenated styrenic block coplymer, an intermediate petrochemical used in making adhesives and rubber coatings.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
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