Sadara selects Metso to supply valves for Al Jubail chemical complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Metso has received significant orders for its Neles and Jamesbury valves from Sadara Chemical Co., a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The valves will be delivered for Sadara's fully integrated chemicals complex currently under construction in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Metso received these orders during the 2013 year, the company said in a news release on Friday.

Metso's delivery includes automated control and on/off valves, emergency shut-down valves, as well as ball and butterfly valves equipped with intelligent valve controllers Neles ND9000. Metso's valves will control process flow in several process areas in the complex, including the mixed feed cracker, downstream units and utilities.

The Neles metal seat as well as Jamesbury soft seat technologies provide dependable valve performance enabling reliable, safe and efficient plant operations in petrochemical industry applications. Neles ND9000 is a field-proven valve controller that guarantees end product quality in all operating conditions with its unique 3rd generation diagnostics and incomparable performance features.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in earlly Junly 2013, Sadara Chemical Company announced financial close for the funding of main financing of approximately USD10.5 billion project. This marks the completion of project financing for Sadara, which is a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and the Dow Chemical Company. The main financing supplements the USD2 billion raised through a sukuk issuance in April, bringing the total Sadara project financing raised to approximately USD12.5 billion, the "largest project financing ever in the Middle East."

Sadara Chemical Company is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical. The Sadara complex, which will have 26 manufacturing facilities, is claimed to be the world's largest petrochemical facility ever built in a single phase and will manufacture more than three million tonnes of chemical and plastics products.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay SA has bid to acquire for USD32.6 mln Plextronics Inc., a printed electronics maker that filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Jan. 16, as per Plastemart.

Brussels-based Solvay is part-owner of Pittsburgh-based Plextronics. Solvay invested USD15 mln in 2011 in Plextronics, which was a spin off of research done at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. According to the bankruptcy court filing, an attempt was made by Solvay to buy Plextronics in 2010, but was unsuccessful on lack of approval from Solvay’s board.

Plextronics filed for Chapter 11 protection in US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The firm claimed assets of USD3 mln vs. USD33 mln in debt. Products developed by Plextronics included light emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic cells for use in flat-panel screen displays and other applications.

As MRC wrote previously, Solvay has recently announced that it has won two rare earth mixed oxides patent cases against China-based HySci (Tianjin) Specialty Materials Co., Ltd. Solvay was awarded 5.6 million RMB (EUR0.67 million) in damages and HySci was ordered to immediately stop the production and the sale of certain rare earth mixed oxides used in automotive catalysts.

Solvay is an international chemicals and plastics company. In 2011, Solvay acquired Rhodia for approximately EUR 3.4 billion. Rhodia is one of the three sectors of activities of Solvay. Rhodia is a world leader in the development and production of specialty chemicals, and partner of major players in the automotive, electronics, flavors and fragrances, health, personal and home care markets, consumer goods and industrial markets.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell is looking to sell off some of its North Sea field interests as it targets asset divestments totalling USD15 billion over the next two years, according to Upstreamonline.

It follows the recent appointment of new chief executive Ben van Beurden who is expected to take a more investor-friendly approach than his predecessor Peter Voser, likely to involve generating cash from asset sales as Shell seeks to boost returns for shareholders while carrying out major investments.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor said in October that it would step up divestments "significantly" in 2014 and 2015 to keep cash flowing in, having made record capital expenditure last year of USD45 billion that was USD5 billion over guidance.

A source close to the company told the Financial Times it would divest mature upstream assets in the North Sea and elsewhere, more of its refining portfolio and some projects that have not yet reached final investment decisions and "make sense for others to develop".

Some analysts have suggested the supermajor could go even further, with JP Morgan Cazenove analyst Fred Lucas stating in a note the company could divest as much as USD30 billion in non-core assets.

Shell has insisted that it intends to meet its spending target of USD130 billion between 2012 and 2015, despite last year’s record outlay, but this is dependent on making asset disposals.

Major oil companies such as Shell and Statoil are facing increasing investor pressure to hold down spending as costs rise and prospects for oil prices wane.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2013, Ukraine took its first major step away from dependency on Russian gas imports when it signed a USD10 billion shale gas deal with Shell. The 50-year production sharing agreement marked the biggest contract yet to tap shale gas in Europe and the largest foreign investment in the former Soviet republic.

Royal Dutch Shell plc 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 and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkey's Petkim Petrochemical Holding, in which Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR owns equity shares, will increase its production capacity from 3.2 million tons to 3.6 million tons in 2014, said Azernews.

An increase in production capacity will be possible thanks to the improved capacity of ethylene and purified terephthalic acid production enterprises. In particular, the ethylene production enterprise's capacity will increase from current 520,000 tons to 587,000 tons by late 2014. The purified terephthalic acid production capacity will increase from 70,000 tons to 105,000 tons which will require investments worth USD25 million.

Petkim also said the first stage of construction of a wind power station will be completed in November 2014 in the petrochemical complex.

The technical evaluation process of the power station establishment project has already been completed. The implementation of the first phase is planned to be launched this year. The total capacity of the power station will reach 50 MW and the output will be 25 MW in the first phase.

As MRC wrote earlier, Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, Turkey's biggest petrochemicals maker, plans to invest as much as USD8 billion by 2016 on projects including a refinery, a new port and power plants.

Petkim Petrochemical Holding manufactures plastic packages, fabrics, PVC, detergents, and is the only Turkish producer of such products. A quarter of Petkim's products are exported to foreign markets. Petkim said earlier that its net profit amounted to 48.6 million Turkish liras in January - September 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals has held a ceremony to commemorate the first barrels of ethane sourced from the Marcellus Shale being utilized at its Canadian cracker in Corunna, Ontario, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

NOVA began consuming the new feedstock in late December 2013 as part of a project to revamp its Corunna cracker to utilize up to 100% natural gas liquid feedstock.

"The introduction of Marcellus Shale ethane into the feedstock diet at our Corunna cracker marks a tremendous milestone in our journey to utilize more cost-competitive feedstock in Ontario, which should result in stronger and more consistent financial performance for our Ontario-based assets," said NOVA Chemicals CEO Randy Woelfel.

"This is a critical component to our NOVA 2020 growth strategy of capitalizing on new feedstock sources to meet our current needs and expanding customer demands," he added.

The company says the move is in line with its strategy to ensure the long-term economic viability of its Ontario assets.

"We are excited to be the first petrochemical company to use this emerging feedstock source as we move toward the completion of our cracker revamp and increase the volumes of ethane consumed through the quarter," said Tom Thompson, manufacturing leader for NOVA Chemicals in Sarnia.

"Our cracker revamp coupled with the availability of new, cost-competitive feedstock sources creates a great foundation for our recently announced growth plans in the Sarnia, Ontario region," he added.

As MRC informed before, in early 2013 NOVA Chemicals decided build two polyethylene (PE) plants and expand its ethylene capacity. NOVA has taken several actions to secure additional ethane feedstock supply for its crackers in Corunna, Ontario, and Joffre, Alberta. The company remains on target for a late-2015 startup for its Polyethylene 1 expansion project in Alberta, expected to add at least 950 million lbs/year of linear low density (LLDPE) production the plant.

Nova Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products.
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