Alberta petrochemical projects get USD378 MM royalty credits

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Canadian oil-producing province of Alberta will offer USD377.84 million in royalty credits to Pembina Pipeline Corp and Inter Pipeline Ltd for their petrochemical projects, the government said on Monday as it seeks to diversify its ailing economy, reported Reuters.

The provincial government said the companies were the approved applicants of its Petrochemicals Diversification Program, which supports construction of facilities that use propane or methane, components of natural gas, as feedstock to produce materials for products including plastics, detergents and textiles.

Pembina's project is a joint venture with Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and has been approved to receive up to CD300 million in royalty credits to build a propylene-polypropylene facility, the government said in a statement.

The project by Inter Pipeline has been approved to receive up to USD200 million in royalty credits, according to the government.

As MRC informed before, in April 2016, PICt and Pembina Pipeline announced that they were evaluating the feasibility of a combined, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) production facility in Alberta, Canada. Pembina and PIC then expected to complete the study in six months. If the project continues into front-end engineering and design (FEED), the partners would make a final investment decision by mid-2017, with startup expected by 2020.

The Project could consume approximately 35,000 barrels per day of propane and produce up to 800,000 metric tonnes per year of PP. The polypropylene would be transported in a pellet form to markets across North America and internationally.

Polypropylene is one of the world's most commonly used polymers, traditional uses include automobile plastics, medical supplies, home appliances, transparent containers as well as numerous other applications.

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation is a leading transportation and midstream service provider that has been serving North America's energy industry for over 60 years. Pembina owns and operates an integrated system of pipelines that transport various products derived from natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids produced in Western Canada and North Dakota. The Company also owns and operates gas gathering and processing facilities and an oil and natural gas liquids infrastructure and logistics business.

PIC is a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and a producer of ammonia, urea fertilizer and polypropylene in Kuwait. In addition PIC is a joint venture partner with others in Kuwait involved in the production of Ethylene, Polyethylene , Ethylene Glycol , Styrene Monomer, Para-xylene, Benzene. PIC is a joint venture partner with others outside of Kuwait involved in the production of Ammonia, Methanol, Ethylene Glycol, and Polyethylene Terephthalate .
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas and the Sarawak state government are currently working on the Sarawak Petrochemical Master Plan study, which covers the coastal areas of Sarawak in Malaysia, according to the Borneo Post, reported Apic-online.

The study will look into the technical, commercial and economic feasibility of developing the petrochemical industry in Sarawak, said the report citing Datuk Julaihi Narawi, Sarawak's assistant minister of industrial development (investment and promotion).

"Gas-based petrochemical industry is being pursued by the state," he said. "In view of the gas composition, which is high in methane content, therefore ammonia (and its derivatives) or methanol (and its derivatives) are the most viable options for the state's petchem industry," he noted, adding that "one petchem project has been approved, while the other is under consideration."

Last month, Petronas signed a memorandum of understanding with Yayasan Hartanah Bumiputera Sarawak, an entity of the Sarawak state government, to jointly conduct a pre-feasibility study for a methanol plant in Bintulu, Sarawak.

The parties will assess the overall technical and commercial viability and feasibility of building a methanol and methanol derivatives complex at the Samalaju Industrial Park.

As MRC informed before, Petronas was seeking to raise USD7.2 bln (RM29.5 bln) for its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in one of the largest project financings from Asia in recent years. The state-owned oil company asked banks for underwriting commitments of at least USD500 mln (RM2 bln) in June 2016. The project in the southern state of Johor is set to be Malaysia’s largest liquid-based green-field downstream development. It will consist of a 300,000-bpd refinery and petrochemical complex, with a combined chemical output capacity of 7.7 mln tpa.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials solutions provider and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, has announced that its Board of Directors authorized the company to distribute a quarterly repayment of equity of USD0.30 per share, as per the company's press release.

The repayment of equity will be a cash distribution payable on January 25, 2017, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on January 11, 2017.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) grades. Effective as of 1 December 2016, or as existing contract terms allow, the December contract and spot prices for the product listed below increased as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR170 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR100 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR100 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.0 billion in revenue in 2015, with 18 manufacturing sites around the world, and more than 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) grades, said the producer on its site.

Effective as of 1 December 2016, or as existing contract terms allow, the December contract and spot prices for the product listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR170 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR100 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR100 per metric ton.

As MRC informed previously, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe last announced price increases for all PS, ABS and SAN grades in November 2016, as follows:

- STYRON GPPS - by EUR50/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR50/tonne;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR45/tonne.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.0 billion in revenue in 2015, with 18 manufacturing sites around the world, and more than 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- World leading companies in the field of gas processing, petrochemicals and chemicals join efforts to promote the innovative development of the industry, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

Chemical engineering startups can apply until March 1, 2017 for the IQ-CHem contest supported by SIBUR, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Solvay, 3M, AkzoNobel, BASF, LG Chem, Henkel, Linde, Skolkovo, Technip and Honeywell UOP.

The project aims to identify and encourage promising innovative ideas in production and application of plastics technologies, which will lead to further development and modernization of the industry, and improved energy efficiency resulting in the development of related industries and the improvement of life quality in the society.

"Society has relied on crude oil to provide fuels for more than a century, but now countless other chemical products can be made from hydrocarbons, demanding exceptional scientific innovation and technological development", James Rekoske, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Honeywell UOP, says.

According to Dr. Joost Waeterloos, Scouting & Exploration Network, Ventures & Business Development of The Dow Chemical Company, "The petrochemical industry produces synthetic materials that are essential to modern life. Petrochemicals are used to create everyday and even high-tech materials found in the sports, automotive and space industries. Development and modernization of the industry truly has the potential to improve the quality of life for all of humanity."

"The petrochemicals industry can and must rely on the potential of open innovations to facilitate further inventions and implementation of new solutions in all major application areas, from construction and medicine to packaging and 3D printing. Thanks to the participation of international partners, IQ-CHem is now the largest global project within the industry which attracts innovative solutions and provides for their implementation into practice," Vasily Nomokonov, Executive Director of SIBUR notes.

IQ-CHem contest is open for the projects focused on innovations in gas processing and transportation, production and application of plastics, elastomers, basic monomers and specialty chemicals, and cutting-edge equipment and technological solutions for boosting the operational efficiency of chemical and technical processes.

The jury of the contest will include more than 30 international experts representing partner companies, scientific institutions, and investors. The best startups will be offered an opportunity to cooperate with global chemical leaders and will also get monetary prizes. The total prize fund amounts to USD 55,000.
MRC