Sabic gets cracking on US shale gas imports

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. is modifying its cracker at Teesside, England, to handle shale gas imported from the United States, said Plasticsnews.

The cracker upgrade to use shale gas-based feedstock is scheduled to be completed during 2016. Yousef Al-Benyan, Sabic executive vice-president, chemicals, said: "This project reflects Sabic’s strong determination to take advantage of cutting edge technology in creating new sources of competitive feedstock and energy that will allow the company to continue to build a sustainable business and deliver on its long-term vision.

"Our long-term focus is to have a business that stays profitable not only in the European region, but across our global markets."

The cracker conversion will allow Sabic to use its existing facilities to produce olefins and their derivatives more competitively, said the company.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Sabic declined to give details of the investment involved in the modification.

As MRC wrote before, SABIC UK, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's petrochemical major, plans to cut costs and improve competitiveness in Europe. SABIC UK Petrochemicals, which has operations on Teesside including the olefins cracker and LDPE (low density polyethylene) plant at Wilton, wants to build a large storage tank at its North Tees site for new feedstocks.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. Court of appeals affirmed the Delaware U.S. District Court’s judgment that M&G indirectly infringed Invista ’s U.S. Patent No. 7,943,216, and that the patent is valid, said the producer in its press release.

The court also affirmed the District Court’s entry of the permanent injunction against the manufacture, use, and sale of M&G’s PoliProtect APB and PoliProtect JB products in the United States, or the exportation of M&G’s PoliProtectproducts from the United States. The injunction covers the manufacture, use and sale of M&G's PoliProtect APB and PoliProtect JB products in the US and the export of PoliProtect products from the US.

As MRC wrote before, M&G Chemicals, part of the Mossi Ghisolfi Group (M&G), announces that the Court of Milan has confirmed its ruling against Invista Technologies declaring in a first instance the nullity of the Italian counterpart of Invista’s patent relevant to barrier resin products.

Invista is committed to enforcing its strong patent portfolio and protecting its intellectual property assets and the interests of its customers and licensees.

Invista is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers. The company’s advantaged technologies for nylon, spandex and polyester are used to produce clothing, carpet, car parts and countless other everyday products. Headquartered in the United States, INVISTA operates in more than 20 countries and has about 10,000 employees.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is expanding its Gastonia, North Carolina, compounding facility for high-tech plastics by adding a second production line, reported the company on its site.

The expansion represents an investment volume of about USD 15 million and will double the existing capacity from 20,000 to 40,000 metric tons annually. Construction for the second line is expected to commence in the second half of 2014 with production scheduled to begin in early 2016.

The Lanxess Gastonia facility produces the high-tech plastics Durethan (polyamide) and Pocan (polybutylene terephthalate), which allow automotive engineers to design lighter-weight plastic components to replace metal parts in cars, contributing to fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

"The United States is the leading market for high-tech plastics, with the automotive industry at the forefront," said Lanxess Corporation President and CEO Flemming B. Bjoernslev. "Automotive industry sales are at their highest level in almost ten years and by adding the second line in Gastonia, we are underlining our ongoing commitment to our customers."

The investment in North Carolina not only strengthens Lanxess’ global high-tech plastics network but also further improves the balance of the company’s overall polyamide value chain through using more caprolactam for captive use.

As MRC informed previously, in July 2014, a high-tech polymerization plant in Antwerp, Belgium, started up. The world-scale facility is designed for an annual capacity of around 90,000 metric tons and represents an investment volume of roughly USD 100 million.

In addition, Lanxess recently opened a 20,000 metric ton per year high-tech plastics plant in Porto Feliz, Brazil. Other compounding plants are in operation in Dormagen, Germany, Wuxi, China, and Jhagadia, India.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,300 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc sold two natural gas assets in Wyoming and Louisiana for USD2.1 billion plus shale acreage in Pennsylvania, continuing a USD15 billion divestiture plan, said Bloomberg.

Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, sold its Pinedale acreage in Wyoming to Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL) for USD925 million and 155,000 acres in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus and Utica shales, the Hague-based company said in a statement today. In a second deal, Vine Oil & Gas LP and its partner Blackstone Group LP (BX) will buy Shell’s properties in the Haynesville area of Louisiana for USD1.2 billion.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden, who took over from Peter Voser at the start of the year, is accelerating disposals to win investor support. He returned Shell’s operations to profit in the Americas this year, where the company has about USD61 billion deployed in onshore tight and shale gas and oil projects.

"Perhaps the most surprising feature of the recovery in Shell’s earnings has been the performance of the North American business – a cause of much consternation 12 months ago," Lydia Rainforth, a London-based analyst at Barclays Plc, wrote in a report today before Shell announced the sale.

Van Beurden has already completed about USD8 billion in asset sales this year after announcing plans to dispose of about USD15 billion through 2015. Rex Energy Corp. USD120 million shale acquisition from Shell this week was the latest in a series of deals since the Anglo-Dutch company started divesting North America acreage last year.

"We continue to restructure and focus our North America shale oil and gas portfolio," Marvin Odum, Shell’s Upstream Americas Director, said in the statement. "We are adding highly attractive exploration acreage, where we have impressive well results in the Utica, and divesting our more mature, Pinedale and Haynesville dry gas positions."

As MRC wrote before, Royal Dutch Shell has taken 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.

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) - Gazprom neftekhim Salavat has resumed high density polyethylene (HDPE) production following the scheduled maintenance works, as per ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Yesterday, on 14, August, Gazprom neftekhim Salavat started commissioning works for the resumption of HDPE production following a month long turnaround, which began on 15, July.

The producer resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production earlier, on 1, August following scheduled maintenances.

JSC Gazprom neftekhim Salavat is one of Russia's major petrochemical complexes. The history of the Company dated back to 1948 when the construction of Industrial Complex №18 began in the area of the village of Bolshoi Allaguvat (Sterlitamak Region). Initially it was designed as gasoline and diesel fuel production by hydrogenation of coal and fuel oil.

The first batches of high density polyethylene were produced by the company in March 2010. Production of high density polyethylene by suspension method is one of the priority projects of the company. The estimated capacity of HDPE production at the plant is 120,000 tonnes/year, with the possibility to expand to 200,000 tonnes/year.
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