Formosa wins permits for Texas olefins expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued three final GHG Prevention of Significant Deterioration construction permits for the Formosa Plastics facility in Point Comfort, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Formosa is expanding its chemical complex, located near Victoria, and taking three actions with its turbines unit, olefins unit and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit.

According to the olefins GHG permit, a new ethane cracker and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit will have a combined capacity of 1.75 million tpy of "high-purity ethylene product".

Meanwhile, the LDPE unit will have a a capacity of 625,500 tpy and be able to produce resin at different grades.

The expansion alone will bring over USD2 billion in capital investments, create 1800 construction jobs and 225 long-term operations jobs in the local area, according to the EPA.

Formosa will add two new gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbines to the existing chemical utility unit. Each turbine will have a capacity to generate 80 megawatts of electrical power.

The existing utility plant will consist of the six existing General Electric 7EA gas-fired turbines plus the two new GE 7EA gas-fired turbines with duct burners.

As MRC reported earlier, Taipei- Formosa Plastics is considering construction of a plant in Louisiana to produce 1.2-million t/y of ethylene from shale gas.

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).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical will transfer ownership of a planned 32 billion riyal (USD8.5 bln) petrochemical facility to their joint venture PetroRabigh, as per Plastemart.

The new facility, known as Rabigh II, is to be built as an expansion of PetroRabigh's existing petrochemical plant, increasing output and introducing higher-margin products.

Rabigh II will produce ethylene propylene rubber, thermoplastic polyolefin, methyl methacrylate monomer and polymethyl methacrylate among other products.

The project, located on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, received a formal go-ahead from the parent firms in 2012; PetroRabigh has said previously it is due to come online in 2016, despite a string of maintenance problems at the existing facility.

Ownership of the planned new facility will be transferred from Aramco and Sumitomo to PetroRabigh in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said. However, it added that both Aramco and Sumitomo would continue to guarantee finance needed to build the project. The two firms will each put in around 100 billion yen (USD975 million), with the rest coming from project financing, Sumitomo President Masakazu Tokura said last November.

As MRC reported previously, Petro Rabigh had signed an agreement with Tasnee and Saudi Advanced Industries (SAIC) for the supply of propylene oxide to the joint venture for the production of polyether polyol. The plant is located in Rabiga, in the west of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. The production launch was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonsne of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a 33% increase in quarterly earnings, beating analyst forecasts despite impairments of almost USD2 billion after producing more liquids and selling at higher prices, said Reuters.

The Anglo-Dutch oil company also raised its quarterly dividend and said the value of its share buybacks and dividends for 2014 and 2015 would exceed USD30 billion. The stock rose 3% in early trade. Shell's second-quarter earnings on a current cost of supplies basis excluding one-time items were USD6.1 billion, up 33% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected earnings of USD5.46 billion.

The quarter's earnings included a net charge of USD1 billion after tax with impairments of USD1.943 billion related mainly to gas assets in the United States. The company joins rival BP Plc in reporting better-than-expected earnings.

Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is aiming to improve returns through selling assets and more selective project choices after a rare profit warning issued in January. Shell announced a second-quarter 2014 dividend of USD0.47 per ordinary share, up 4 percent year on year and in line with analyst forecasts.

Global oil companies including Shell have struggled to boost their production in recent years, due in part to declines at existing fields and delays with new projects. Shell's oil and gas output in the quarter equalled 3.077 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up from 3.062 million a year earlier. Some analysts had expected a decline.

Van Beurden, in a statement, said there was room for further improvement. "Our financial performance for the second quarter of 2014 was more robust than year-ago levels," he said. "But I want to see stronger, more competitive results right across the company, particularly in Oil Products and North America resources plays."

As MRC informed previously, last year, Royal Dutch Shell took a final investment decision tol increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols -- industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams -- by more than 100,000 metric tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project is expected to be completed in 2014.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP reported that the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Environment, has approved the Tangguh Expansion Project Integrated AMDAL environmental and social impact assessment and issued the project an environmental permit, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The AMDAL includes Tangguh’s environmental and social commitments. It also outlines the role of the local administration and central government. Approval is required for project activities to begin at the Tangguh site.

"This is a significant milestone for the Tangguh Expansion Project, and I would like to give my highest appreciation to the Ministry of Environment, along with the Papua Barat, Teluk Bintuni and Fakfak Administrations for their efforts and cooperation in reaching this achievement. We look forward to receiving the remaining approvals from the Government to realize the project, which will bring significant benefit to Indonesia," said Christina Verchere, BP Regional President Asia Pacific.

Tangguh LNG, located in Teluk Bintuni, Papua Barat province, is the third largest LNG supply facility in Indonesia and the first fully combined upstream and downstream LNG operation in the country. The current operations comprise two identical LNG trains (Trains 1 and 2) with production capacity of 7.6 Mtpa. Tangguh Expansion Project will build on the established operations with a third LNG processing train (Train 3), bringing total project capacity to 11.4 Mtpa.

The USD12 billion Tangguh Expansion Project will deliver significant value to the Indonesian government and will help meet the growing energy demand in Indonesia. As part of the expansion project, BP and its partners will supply 40% of the LNG output from Train 3 (1.5 Mtpa) to Indonesia’s state electricity company PT. PLN (Persero) for the Indonesian domestic market.

Other key government approvals that are still in process are required to continue with the planning, design and procurement of the expansion project.

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. BP Plc. reported that its profit before taxation for the second quarter of 2014 increased to USD5.15 billion from USD4.12 billion in the year ago quarter. Quarterly profit attributable to shareholders grew to USD3.37 billion from last year's USD2.04 billion, with earnings per ADS improving to USD1.09 from USD0.64 in the previous year.
MRC

Moscow (MRC) - Although August ethylene prices in Europe were reduced, European producers are going to keep August high density polyethylene (HDPE) prices at the rollover from July for the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

August contract price for ethylene in Europe was agreed down by EUR15/tonne compared with the July level.
Despite the decline in feedstock prices, most European producers are going to keep August HDPE price for CIS markets at the level of July. Only a few producers decided to reduced HDPE prices, but not more than EUR10/tonne.

This week the prices for August delivery of HDPE (film, blow moulding and injection moulding) were discussed in the range of EUR1,200-1,260/tonne FCA. Deals for coloured PE100 were discussed in the range EUR1,300-1,360/tonne, FCA.

Some market participants said that European producers continued to limit their supply. Tight supply of pipe HDPE continued to be felt in the market.
MRC