Rosneft eying new projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian state oil producer Rosneft will shift its focus to new projects from acquisitions, at a time when the Russian economy is grappling with US and European sanctions, according to the company's chief financial officer, said Upstreamonline.

"We are number one by size, number one by growth, number one by reserve base, number one by efficiency: we don't have to buy more", the Financial times quoted Svyatoslav Slavinsky as saying. The company was looking at developing new oil resources, from east Siberia to the Arctic Sea, and intended to start drilling along with US major ExxonMobil this summer as it looked to shore up its plans of posting a 30% jump in production by 2020, the paper quoted the chief financial officer as saying.

The drilling by the two companies in the Arctic Kara Sea had been scheduled to begin in mid-August, but it could be moved forward depending on the weather, Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin told Reuters last month. Slavinsky told the FT that Rosneft was aiming to double its total oil and gas output to 10 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the next 20 years.

Slavinsky's optimistic comments come at a time when Russia has been hit by sanctions from the United States and European Union imposed over Ukraine, that have prompted investors to pull out of a country where leaders have used the punitive measures to call for a more self-sufficient course for the economy. Rosneft had seen "no impact whatsoever" from western sanctions, Slavinsky told the FT, adding that a safety net of cash on its balance sheet, which stood at USD20 billion as of 31 March, would allow it to overcome any volatility in the financial markets due to the sanctions. The company could not be reached for a comment outside of regular business hours.

As MRC wrote before, the head of Russia's top oil producer Rosneft asked the government to intervene and help it get access to a Gazprom's trunk gas pipeline, vital for the liquefied natural gas project it is planning with ExxonMobil. Igor Sechin, at a government meeting, said both Gazprom and Shell, which operate a gas project in the Pacific island of Sakhalin, were denying access to a trunk pipeline for its LNG project.

Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oxea has declared force majeure for n-butanol, n-butyl acetate, n-propanol and n-propyl acetate following a malfunction in the production process at its site in Bay City, Texas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Oxea Corp. has encountered a significant production issue at its facility in Bay City, Texas, the company announced on Monday. Due to a malfunction in the production process that could not be avoided, Oxea said it has been unable to resume full production.

As a result, Oxea has been forced to make a declaration of force majeure, effective immediately, for the following products: n/i Butanol, n/i Butyl Acetate, n-Propanol, n-Propyl Acetate.

Oxea says it is currently evaluating the effects of this event on its production capability and ability to supply. All inventories of oxo and ester products are extremely low throughout the supply chain, according to company officials.Customer orders are being carefully monitored in an attempt to keep delays to a minimum.

As MRC wrote before, Oxea, part of Oman Oil Group, says it is planning to increase its European capacity for its Oxsoft GPO dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) by 50,000 metric tons by the end of 2015. DOTP is a general-purpose plasticizer used in a wide range of applications such as construction, automotive and flooring.

Oxea is a global manufacturer of Oxo intermediates and Oxo derivatives, such as alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters, and amines. These products are used for the production of high-quality coatings, lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, flavorings and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. Oxea, based in Oberhausen, Germany, 1,400 people worldwide and had annual sales of 1.5 billion euros (USD2.06 billion) last year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The government wants to ban hydraulic fracturing in shale rocks and coal beds at depths less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) and prohibit all types of fracking in water protection areas, according to Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The government will start drafting legislation and seek to adopt it in the second half, Hendricks told reporters in Berlin. The rules will be re-evaluated in 2021.

Fracking is unpopular in Germany even as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is keen to develop domestic energy sources as it closes nuclear plants by 2022. While companies including ExxonMobil have drilled test wells into unconventional gas reservoirs in Germany to emulate the US shale-gas boom, little headway has been made because of public opposition.

The new rules, if adopted, would be "the strictest that ever existed in this respect,” the ministers said in a joint letter to the Social Democrats. “Fracking for shale and coal bed gas for economic reasons won’t be possible in Germany for the foreseeable future."

Fracking for tight gas, which has been done in Germany since the 1960s, will remain allowed under stricter conditions for frack fluids, the ministers said. Fracking will be allowed for scientific purposes if the fluids aren’t harmful to water supplies, it said.

Europe is divided into different camps on fracking, which involves drilling hundreds of wells and cracking rocks with a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to unlock gas or oil from impermeable stone. It’s backed by nations including the UK, Poland and Spain and opposed in countries such as France and Germany.

The oil and gas industry says fracking should be at least tested to keep the door open to a technology that may redraw the energy map across Europe by reducing reliance on Russia. Germany has shale gas reserves for about 10 years of full supply and "maybe much more than that," Kurt Bock, the CEO of the world’s biggest chemical maker BASF, said at a conference in Berlin.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The 3,90,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) project, which is co-located on the BP Aromatics site, was executed through JBF Global Europe BVBA, wholly owned step subsidiary of JBF Industries Limited, said Plastemart.

PET is one of the most commonly used food grade packaging polymer due to its chemical inertness and appealing physical properties.

Film project set up through JBF Bahrain SPC is already running satisfactorily. With this, two out of three projects which JBF Industries was implementing, have started commercial production.

The third project to manufacture purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at SEZ Mangalore is progressing as per plan and production is expected by last quarter of 2015. The PTA plant will have 1.25 million metric tonnes per annum capacity, which JBF Industries claims to be among the largest in India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) announced the successful commissioning and start-up of the world’s largest on-purpose 1-hexene plant, said Plastemart.

With worldwide supply capabilities, the 1-hexene unit is capable of producing 250,000 metric tons (551,000,000 lbs.) per year and will enjoy significant advantages in infrastructure, feedstock availability and operational knowledge by its placement in the existing Cedar Bayou Chemical Complex in Baytown, Texas.

"Chevron Phillips is committed to being a consistent and reliable supplier for our customers," said Mitch Eichelberger, general manager of Normal Alpha Olefins and Polyalphaolefins for Chevron Phillips Chemical. "With the start-up of this plant, we will enable our customers to expand their businesses and meet the growing worldwide demand for 1-hexene comonomers." "Our investment to expand 1-hexene production is due in part to Texas’ growth as a major international hub for the petrochemical industry and the increased supply of competitive feedstocks in the U.S. from the development of shale resources,” said Pete Cella, CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical. "Only five years ago, the expectation was that the U.S. would become a significant net importer of ethylene derivatives. Now the U.S. is expecting to become a major exporter of ethylene derivatives, including 1-hexene, able to compete with any producing region in the world."

The new plant is the third plant to utilize Chevron Phillips Chemical’s proprietary selective on-purpose 1-hexene technology, which produces comonomer grade 1-hexene from ethylene with exceptional product purity. 1-hexene is a critical component used in the manufacture of polyethylene, a plastic resin commonly converted into film, plastic pipe, detergent bottles, and food and beverage containers.

The proven technology is already successfully used at Qatar Chemical Company Ltd.’s (Q-Chem) facility in Mesaieed, Qatar, and at the Saudi Polymers Company plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Both of these facilities are joint ventures of wholly-owned subsidiaries of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC.

As MRC wrote before, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) is expanding its Tessenderlo facility in Belgium. The expansion includes an on-purpose hydrogen sulfide (H2S) unit and additional sulfur-based products capacity to better serve customers and meet their growing demands.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
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