SIBUR approves Russia gas processing expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's SIBUR has approved the Vyngapurovsky gas processing plant (GPP) expansion project to launch processing of associated petroleum gas (APG) from Russneft's fields, the producer said in its press-release.

New facilities to be built at the GPP will increase the annual APG processing capacity from 2.8 to 4.2 bcm. A more than 100-km long pipeline will be laid to transport APG from Russneft's Varieganskaya compressor station to the Vyngapurovsky GPP. The compressor station will also undergo renovation.

Russneft is an existing APG supplier to SIBUR's Nizhnevartovskiy and Belozerniy gas processing plants.

In 2013, SIBUR and Russneft signed a new long-term agreement for associated petroleum gas supplies to 2025. Under the agreement, Russneft shall deliver APG from Varieganneft's fields to SIBUR, with SIBUR accepting and processing the volumes supplied.

"SIBUR continues to extend cooperation with oil and gas companies, reinforcing its positions in the gas processing industry," said Dmitry Konov, SIBUR's CEO. "The long-term agreement with Russneft is to bring about an increase in feedstock shipments, which will enable us to expand our processing capacities."

The Vyngapurovsky plant, with a designed capacity of 2.8 bcm/year of APG, was built by SIBUR in the grounds of the compressor station of the same name and commissioned in September 2012.

Currently, the major associated petroleum gas supplier to the Vyngapurovsky GPP is Gazprom Neft.

As MRC wrote before, SIBUR has sold its 100% stake in OJSC Plastik (Uzlovaya, Tula Region, Russia) to the group of private investors. The deal value totalled RUB 575 million. Production of geosynthetics (geogrids and nonwoven geotextiles), spinned off as OOO Plastik-Geosintetika (a joint venture between SIBUR and Leader Innovations Closed-End Venture Capital Fund) in 2010, was not included in the transaction and continues to operate as part of SIBUR Group.

SIBUR is a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --CompactGTL announced Monday that its chairman Tony Hayward and Uzakbay Karabalin, the oil and gas minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, have agreed to develop and implement gas processing technologies to build the world’s first commercially-deployed small-scale GTL plant, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In furtherance of the agreement, signed at the London Stock Exchange during the Caspian Corridor Conference, CompactGTL intends to build the world’s first commercially deployed small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Kazakhstan.

The proposed plant is expected to bring with it significant future commercial and environmental benefits, according to project officials. Up to 820,000 cubic meters of associated gas that might otherwise be wasted will be fed through the plant every day to produce approximately 3,000 bpd of synthetic diesel. In a year, the plant is expected to monetize over 300 million cubic meters of gas.

The new GTL plant will enable Kazakhstan to create a local high technology industry that processes associated gas to produce fuels for local consumption, according to government officials.

CompactGTL, together with investors from Kazakhstan, have agreed to finance, design and build the up to 3,000 bpd GTL plant, using CompactGTL’s proven technology and plant design.

"This is a significant step forward, not just for CompactGTL, but also for the small-scale gas-to-liquids industry," said Hayward. "Kazakhstan has clearly identified the significant economic benefits a small scale GTL plant can bring."

CompactGTL says it expects to have the fully-functioning small-scale GTL plant in operation in 2017. It is expected that initial engineering will take approximately 12 months, followed by a construction period.

We remind that the largest refiner in Kazakhstan has selected technology from Honeywell's UOP for the modernization of its facility. The Pavlodar Oil Chemical Refinery (POCR) of KazMunaiGas will use a range of UOP processes and services to upgrade its facility in Northeast Kazakhstan Province, allowing it to meet Euro-5 standards aimed at reducing motor vehicle pollution.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos ChlorVinyls, one of the major chlor-alkali producers in Europe, has announced an increase in list prices of caustic soda, reported the Switzerland-based producer on its site.

Thus, Ineos' caustic soda prices are to increase by EUR20 per dry metric tonne with effect from 1 April 2014.

As MRC informed previously, Ineos ChlorVinyls raised prices of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) from 1 February 2014. Prices of pipe grade suspension PVC delivered in bulk in Europe were raised to EUR1,195/tonne, while prices of pipe grade SPVC delivered in bulk in UK/Ireland rose to GBP1,065/tonne.

Ineos ChlorVinyls is one of the major chlor-alkali producers in Europe, a global leader in chlorine derivatives and Europe's largest PVC manufacturer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Polymers, a division of Wacker Chemie AG, has announced an increase in its prices for VINNAPAS vinyl acetate-ethylene (EVA) and VINNOL ethylene-vinyl chloride-based (EVCL) copolymer dispersions in the Americas, as per the company's statement.

Effective April 15, 2014, Wacker will implement a price increase of up to 5% per wet pound, or as customer contracts allow. This measure has been necessitated by the continued increase in raw-material cost.

The price adjustment enables Wacker Polymers to continue providing customers a wide-range of innovative quality products and comprehensive technical, sales and customer support services.

Dispersions of the VINNAPAS and VINNOL brand are applied in a broad variety of industries, ranging from adhesives, construction, nonwovens, paints and coatings to paper, carpet and textiles.

As MRC informed recently, Wacker Polymers has announced an increase in its prices for VINNAPAS EVA and VINNOL EVCL copolymer dispersions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Effective April 1, 2014, Wacker will implement a price increase of up to EUR70 per ton, or as customer contracts allow. This measure has been also necessitated by the continued increase in raw-material cost.

Wacker Polymers is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers. These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions. They are used in construction chemicals, paints, surface coatings, adhesives and nonwovens, and in fiber composites and polymeric materials based on renewable resources. Wacker Polymers has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and the USA, as well as a global sales network and technology centers in all major regions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, is making fire safety and sustainability a realistic and achievable goal for transportation applications with its cost-efficient, non-halogenated flame retardant solutions, reported the company on its site.

Clariant’s high-performance Exolit AP ammonium polyphosphate based and Exolit OP phosphinates based flame retardants for thermoset systems address the key challenges of modern vehicle manufacture, with its increasing trend toward lightweight structual parts.

Exolit flame retardants for unsaturated polyester and epoxy resins support the aviation, road, rail and shipping sectors in fulfilling today’s stricter flammability requirements, meeting environmental targets through the use of materials with corresponding health and environmental profiles, and in achieving greater cost-efficiency without compromising on fire protection and hazard levels. Their advantage lies in their effectiveness for composites and laminates, which enables very low concentrations to be used, while at the same time meeting stringent flammability requirements.

Available for sole use or as synergistic formulations with aluminium hydroxide (ATH), Exolit AP enables thermoset resins used in fiberglass reinforced composites to reach high flammability requirements and fire standards such as under the new EU wide railway standard EN 45545-2 for interiors.

In addition, Exolit grades can be used to formulate intumescent (gel)-coats which drastically improve the fire endurance of the whole composite part. Exolit flame retardants are suited to traditional hand lay-up process, as well as pultrusion and other advanced techniques.

For electrical markets, all Exolit products are fully compliant with current WEEE and RoHS regulations (European Directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances in Electric and Electronic Equipment). For thermoset systems, Exolit AP grades allow low smoke density and do not release corrosive gases.

As MRC wrote previously, last year, Clariant introduced AddWorks, its new brand for polymer additives solutions. It consists of: AddWorks, application oriented solutions specifically designed by segments of the plastics industry
AddWorks LXR, a new range of polymer additives designed to provide particular effects in a wide variety of applications.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC