GCC petrochemical output rises 5.5% in 2012: GPCA

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The petrochemical production by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprising of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman has risen by 5.5% in 2012, according to the Annual Report released by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), said Fibre2fashion.

According to the report, GCC’s petrochemical production increased from 121.1 million tons in 2011 to 127.8 million tons in 2012, showing a rise of 5.5%, despite a slowdown in global markets due to the recession in Europe.

The report said global petrochemical output grew by 2.6 percent year-on-year last year, which was lower than the 3.8% growth rate registered in 2011.

Saudi Arabia continues to be the largest petrochemical producer within the GCC. With a capacity of 86.4 million tons, the Kingdom contributes more than half of the GCC’s total petrochemical production.

In 2012, around six million tons of petrochemical production capacity was made operational in Saudi Arabia, the report said.

During the year, Qatar continued to perform and now accounts for 13.2% of the total with production capacity amounting to 15.8 million tons, while Oman’s petrochemical production capacity reached 8.5 million tons equivalent to 7.4% of the region’s total.

The UAE has production capacity of 6.1 million tons, which is 4.8% of the Middle East region’s total capacity. Kuwait with 7.6 million tons of production capacity accounts for 5.9 percent of the Gulf regional capacity, while Bahrain at 1.4 million tons represents 1.1% of the regional capacity, the report stated.

As MRC wrote before, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was formed in 1981 to create economic, scientific and business cooperation among its oil-exporting members. These Middle East countries share the common faith of Islam, an Arabian culture, and an economic interest separate from OPEC. On a per capita basis, they are among the richest countries in the world. The Gulf Cooperatoin Council headquarters is in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, its largest member. Together, they supply one third of U.S. oil and own up to USD225 billion of U.S. debt. These countries are seeking to diversify their rapidly growing economies away from oil.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP said on Monday it had wrapped up formal cleanup efforts from the Macondo spill in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama, closing over three years of rehabilitation work since the deadly blowout in 2010, said Upstreamonline.

The UK supermajor's efforts included filtering beach sand to 5 feet and remediation of marshes, as well as employing new technologies to search for oil mats and buried oil deposits.

Cleanup efforts are continuing in Louisiana, which took the brunt of the oiling from the blown-out deep-water well, an event that killed 11 workers and dumped about 4.9 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

Work has wrapped up on 4272 of the 4376 affected miles of shoreline, BP said.

The US Coast Guard will continue oversight and any additional oil identified as being from Mississippi Canyon block 252 will be flagged for cleanup by the company.

While BP said it is working to restore the shoreline to its "baseline" pre-spill condition, the long-term effects of the oil remain unclear and its liability for civil claims and environmental damage is still pending a government impact assessment.

A decision is also forthcoming from New Orleans district Judge Carl Barbier on responsibility for the spill between BP, rig owner Transocean and cement provider Halliburton, with additional phases of a trial scheduled for later this year.

The company also signed a USD4.5 billion agreement with the US Justice Department to settle criminal charges stemming from the spill.

As MRC wrote before, oil major BP PLC is seeking to sell its US. wind energy business as part of efforts to refocus on oil and gas and position the company for growth in the future. BP has built one of the largest wind businesses in the USA. As such, any subsequent divestment will be the subject to attractive offers being received, according to BP's statement.

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) -- Indonesian Pertamina, as a pre-marketing strategy for its planned joint venture with PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), has signed an agreement to purchase polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) from PTTGC for sale in Indonesia, according to Apic-online.

Pertamina and PTTGC by the end of this year expect to establish a joint venture to build an integrated petrochemical complex in Indonesia that will include a refinery, a world-scale olefins facility and downstream production of PE, PP and polyvinyl chloride.

Pertamina has agreed to purchase at least 5,000 tons of PE and PP from PTTGC each month, effective with the official launch of the venture.

As MRC wrote before, the partnership with PTT will center on the construction of a petrochemical plant with an annual production capacity of 250,000 tons of ethylene and 350,000 tons of polypropylene — materials key for producing plastic.

It will also produce each year 400,000 tons of polyethylene (plastic) and polyvinyl chloride, which is widely used as a construction material.

The petrochemical plant is expected to go on stream in 2017, with Pertamina aiming for a 30% market share at that time.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prime Evolue Singapore, a joint venture of Mitsui Chemical’s wholly-owned Prime Polymer subsidiary and Mitsui & Co., has broken ground for a new Evolue metallocene linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) production unit in Tembusu, Jurong Island, Singapore, according to GV.

Prime Evolue was established late last year for the sales and production of Mitsui Chemical’s Evolue LLDPE in Singapore. The venture, owned 80% by Prime Polymer and 20% by Mitsui, and with a capital of USD115-million, is building a 300,000-t/y Evolue production unit.

Construction is scheduled for completion in December 2014, with commercial operations expected during the second quarter of 2015.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil’s chemical plant in Singapore is now producing ethylene from the facility’s second world-scale steam cracker. The company started operations at this ethylene steam crackers in Singapore in early 2013. The expansion is integrated with the existing petrochemical plant. Over the next few weeks, the petrochemical complex, powered by a 375-megawatt cogeneration plant, will increase production at its three polyethylene plants, two polypropylene plants, a specialty metallocene elastomers unit and the expanded oxo-alcohol and aromatics units.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical has awarded a contract to Wood Group Mustang for construction of 140 miles of ethane, ethylene, propane and propylene pipelines between Dow's site in Freeport, Texas, and facilities at Mont Belvieu, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The pipelines and station upgrades are part of construction for a world-class ethylene unit, previously announced as part of Dow's plan to further connect its US operations with cost-advantaged feedstocks.

Wood Group Mustang will provide engineering, field services and construction management on the project through its Houston and Angleton, Texas offices.

Wood Group Mustang has previously provided a full spectrum of services for Dow's pipeline assets, including support for the company's Texas pipeline integrity program.

Following completion of front-end loading in 2012, detailed design for the project began in February 2013. Completion is scheduled for late 2016.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in March 2013, Dow Chemical signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that will allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise. The joint venture is being formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a Linear Alpha Olefins unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately USD57 billion. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
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