INEOS buys up UK shale licences from Total

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Shale has acquired Total’s entire 40% interest in PEDLs 139 & 140, and a 30% interest in PEDL 273, 305 & 316 (being 60% of Total’s current 50% holding), said the company on its website.

Ron Coyle, CEO of INEOS Shale, said: "Our acquisition of these assets represents an important development for INEOS Shale and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to this important new industry which we believe can bring much needed jobs and investment to the economy."

INEOS Shale, the onshore division of INEOS upstream, has completed the acquisition of Total E&P Limited’s onshore exploratory licence portfolio, less a 20% stake in three 14th Round licence awards that Total will retain. The transaction includes 100% of Total’s participating interest in PEDLs 139 and 140, and 60% of its interest in in PEDLs 273, 305 and 316. Increasing the total acreage held by INEOS under licence to more than 1.325macres. Total has also transferred to INEOS its option to farm-in to PEDL 209.

Ron Coyle, CEO at INEOS Shale, said: "Our acquisition of these assets represents an important development for INEOS Shale and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to this important industry. Shale gas represents an exciting opportunity for the UK, and has the real potential to bring much needed jobs and investment to local communities. The continuing growth of INEOS’s portfolio of licences means we will be at the very forefront of this transformational industry".
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (Saudi Kayan), an affiliate of the country's major Sabic, is likely to commence maintenance at its cracker at Al-Jubail, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the company has schedule turnaround at the cracker in mid-November 2017. The cracker is slated to remain under maintenance until end-December 2017.

Located at Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia, the cracker has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2016, Saudi Kayan awarded the construction of an additional cracking furnace at its steamcracker complex at Jubail Industrial City to Taiwan's CTCI. The award is for CTCI to provide preliminary engineering, procurement and construction work to add another furnace to the gas cracker, then with an ethylene capacity of 1.48 million mt/year. The additional furnace was expected to increase Saudi Kayan's ethylene production by 93,000 mt/year by 2017.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
MRC

MOSCOW (Market Report) - Peak prices for low density polyethylene (LDPE) in the Russian market was seen in September, while in October prices began gardually go down. The largest price decrease was recorded for PE 108, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Prices for LDPE have been decreasing dynamically since the second half of April in Russia under the pressure of low demand. The price trend changed in August due to preventive shutdowns of several producers. But the growth in prices of LDPE was short-lived, and from the second half of October, the decline in demand was the main reason for the smooth roll-back of prices. Traditionally, PE 108 has fallen in price most of all.

The scheduled shutdown of Ufaorgsintez capacities for prevention and limited capacity utilisation of Kazanorgsintez in line with strong demand continued to put pressure on prices in September. Kazanorgsintez kept restrictions on the production of LDPE in October, but the supply of polyethylene from other producers improved, while demand began to decline.

The decline in consumer activity was particularly seen in the second half of the month. Most of the converters closed their deals for October supplies and waited, anticipating further price cuts in November.

Prices for PE 108 in the early November decreased to Rb82,000 - 85,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. Prices for PE 158 in the early November were at Rb88,000 - 90,500/tonne FCA, including VAT.

Prices for low-density polyethylene for shrinkable films in the early November decreased to Rb91,000 - 93,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel’s Specialty Chemicals business has entered the design phase of a further capacity expansion in Germany for the production of chloromethanes - a key ingredient in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and electronics, said the producer on its site.

Production was recently expanded when the company converted its mercury-based chlor-alkali plant in Frankfurt to modern membrane technology, which increased the availability of chlorine raw material.

"The next logical next step is to debottleneck the chloromethanes facilities to enable capacity to be increased even further," explains Jurgen Baune, AkzoNobel’s General Manager for Chlor-Alkali and Chloromethanes.

"Working together with our customers, we’re confident we can successfully accelerate growing our chloromethanes business by stretching the current asset base to the maximum. It aligns with our strategy to accommodate the growing demand of our key customers, while further increasing the integrity of our assets."

Commenting on the plans, Werner Fuhrmann, member of AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee responsible for Specialty Chemicals, adds: "Expanding our chloromethanes capacity will improve the productivity of our Frankfurt cluster while also providing important supply chain benefits for our customers to accompany their growth ambitions." He added that the expansion plans also highlight the company’s strategy of growing with its customers as a reliable supplier.

Chloromethanes are used as intermediates in the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, refrigerants, silicone polymers and fluoropolymers, and are important raw materials for the construction and automotive industries, water treatment, cookware and electronics.

AkzoNobel has leading positions in chloromethanes, holding number one market positions for most of its products and applications in Europe.

As MRC informed earlier, in December 2016, AkzoNobel finalized the acquisition of BASF’s global Industrial Coatings business, which supplies a range of products for industries including construction, domestic appliances, wind energy and commercial transport, strengthening its position as the global number one supplier in coil coatings.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced that its new Clariant Healthcare Packaging production facility in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India is now operational, as per the company's press release.

The new site is capable of producing Clariant’s line of Sorb-it, Tri-Sorb, 2-in-1 Can, and Getter Can sorbent canisters for the growing Indian and Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical packaging markets.

“The new site has been validated as scheduled, and we look forward to serving customers with Clariant desiccants directly from Cuddalore,” says Matthias Brommer, Head - Clariant Healthcare Packaging business line. "By manufacturing regionally, we will be able to provide improved supply and service to our significant customer base in India while further addressing important and emerging markets in Greater China, the rest of Asia and Australia."

The Cuddalore site is already certified ISO 9001, with ISO 14001, 18001, and 15378 certifications intended to be obtained by the end of the year, the latter of which will add Cuddalore to Clariant Healthcare Packaging’s network of GMP-certified production facilities. Cuddalore is equipped with an ISO Class 8 clean room, and products produced at the site meet the relevant US FDA, USP and EU standards for use in pharmaceutical applications.

"Clariant canisters are among the most widely used pharmaceutical desiccants by generic manufacturers in India," says Ketan Premani, Head - Healthcare Packaging India. "Thanks to the latest manufacturing equipment and product design, customers can expect the highest level of quality, and now with improved customer service."

Not only does the new Cuddalore site augment Clariant’s production capacity for desiccant canisters, it also adds to Clariant’s ability to meet BCP (Business Continuity Planning) requirements of global customers by producing identical products at multiple sites worldwide. Furthermore, Clariant continues to offer the Indian market a full range of controlled atmosphere packaging solutions from its global production sites, and it can help customers determine the ideal packaging configuration via its Stablus program.

As MRC wrote previously, in March 2017, Clariant was awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The project includes the license and engineering design of the unit, which is to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China.

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. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.

MRC