NOVA Chemicals appoints Greg DeKunder as new PE Marketing Vice President

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation, a leading supplier of polyethylene in the Americas, has announced that Greg DeKunder has joined the polyethylene (PE) business as its new vice president of marketing, effective 9 July 2018, as per the company's press release.

DeKunder will be responsible for accelerating customers’ success through a dedicated focus on their needs and ambitions. He will also help the team leverage business opportunities that guide the company’s strategic growth into new markets and expand existing target markets.

"We are thrilled to have Greg join the NOVA Chemicals polyethylene team," said John Thayer, senior vice president, polyethylene business. "Greg’s deep leadership experience in the petrochemicals industry will be a key asset as we continue to grow our footprint and enable our customers to deliver products that make everyday life healthier, easier and safer."

DeKunder previously worked for more than two decades at Total S.A. (Total), and brings expertise gained from serving in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as senior general manager, base chemicals for the Americas in Total’s refining & chemicals business.

"I couldn’t be more pleased to join NOVA Chemicals at this exciting time in the company’s journey," said DeKunder. "The company’s focus on supply chain collaboration and customer-driven innovation will be more important than ever as both NOVA Chemicals and North American polyethylene capacity continue to grow."

As MRC reported earlier, in January 2017, NOVA Chemicals Corporation, a leading supplier of polyethylene in the Americas, announced the start up of its new world-scale linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) gas phase reactor at its Joffre, Alberta site.

NOVA Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products. NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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New Cryogenmash station delivers the first batch of industrial gases to ZapSibNeftekhim

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR has celebrated the first supply of industrial gases from Cryogenmash's new station to ZapSibNeftekhim, Russia's largest petrochemical facility under construction in Tobolsk, as per the company's press release.

The opening ceremony was attended by Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the SIBUR Holding's Management Board, and Dmitry Zauers, Deputy Chairman of Gazprombank's Management Board.

The construction of the new industrial gas station with a capacity of up to 37,000 m3/h of nitrogen and up to 28,000 m3/h of compressed air kicked off in 2017. The station comprises two large cryogenic air separation units, a storage system for liquid cryogenic products, compression and air drying unit, dual circuit cooling system, and dry compressed air and nitrogen receivers. The key equipment was designed and produced by Cryogenmash.

Powering ZapSibNeftekhim with dry compressed air and nitrogen is critical for the construction process as it allows to launch pre-commissioning operations at all production lines and facilities.

Cryogenmash-Gas-Tobolsk, a subsidiary of Cryogenmash, acted as the designer, equipment supplier and contractor during the construction of the dry air and nitrogen production station at ZapSibNeftekhim. Once the facility is commissioned, Cryogenmash-Gas-Tobolsk will be its operator providing an on-site supply of industrial gases to ZapSibNeftekhim until 2039. In its turn, ZapSibNeftekhim undertakes to purchase a certain volume of industrial gases under off-take contracts featuring a pre-approved price formula. The project has been implemented within a very short time frame – 28 months from the design stage to the first industrial gas delivery, which is in line with the best international practices for constructing industrial gas facilities.

ZapSibNeftekhim is set to become the largest modern petrochemical facility in Russia. The project incorporates a steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa of ethylene, around 500 ktpa of propylene and 100 ktpa of butane-butylene fraction (BBF), along with units to produce various grades of polyethylene and polypropylene with a total capacity of 2 mtpa.

It will provide for the deep conversion of a substantial portion of oil and gas extraction by-products in West Siberia, including associated petroleum gas, and import substitution for polymers that enjoy the strongest domestic demand and are applied in construction, healthcare, utilities, automotive and other industries.

As MRC wrote before, on 17 February 2015, SIBUR launched construction of ZapSibNeftekhim,a facility for deep hydrocarbon to polyolefin processing.

SIBUR is a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. SIBUR operates 26 production sites in various regions of Russia. The Group employs 26,000 people. The Company sells its products to over 1,400 major customers engaged in the energy, automotive, construction, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemical and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide.
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BP starts-up landmark Shah Deniz 2 development in Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP and its partners in the Shah Deniz consortium have announced the start-up of the landmark Shah Deniz 2 gas development in Azerbaijan, including its first commercial gas delivery to Turkey, as per BP's press release.

The BP-operated USD28 billion project is the first subsea development in the Caspian Sea and the largest subsea infrastructure operated by BP worldwide. It is also the starting point for the Southern Gas Corridor series of pipelines that will for the first time deliver natural gas from the Caspian Sea direct to European markets.

BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said: "Shah Deniz 2 is one of the biggest and most complex new energy projects anywhere in the world, comprising major offshore, onshore and pipeline developments. BP and our partners have safely and successfully delivered this multi-dimensional project as designed, on time and on budget. The new pipeline provides a gateway for new supplies of energy into Europe".

Together with the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline system, Shah Deniz 2 will deliver significant new energy supplies to Europe, further diversifying its sources of energy and providing new supplies of natural gas which will be essential in the energy transition.

Offshore, the Shah Deniz 2 project includes 26 subsea wells, 500km of subsea pipelines and flowlines and two new bridge-linked platforms. Gas is transported onshore through a 85 km pipeline to the Sangachal terminal near Baku, which underwent a major expansion to accommodate the new increased gas output. The project also includes the new South Caucasus pipeline expansion - 428km of new pipeline in Azerbaijan and 59km in Georgia, including two new compressor stations - carrying Shah Deniz gas to Turkey.

Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive, Upstream, said: "Bringing this huge project online within the schedule and budget we set out at sanction 4? years ago is further evidence of our focus on efficient and disciplined project execution. As our largest start-up for the year, Shah Deniz 2 is also a very important milestone in delivering our plans for growth, including from our pipeline of new higher-margin projects."

"As can be seen from our recent agreements, we expect to be operating in Azerbaijan for decades to come and we continue to see opportunities to work with the country to further explore and develop its significant resources," he added.

The development is a major milestone in the creation of the new Southern Gas Corridor which, once completed, will transport Caspian gas directly into the heart of European markets for the first time. From the South Caucasus pipeline, gas is transported across Turkey through the new Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), which was inaugurated earlier this month, and, when complete, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will then supply gas as far as Greece, Albania and Italy. Commercial deliveries to Europe are expected to commence in 2020.

As MRC wrote before, in April 2018, BP announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to explore areas of cooperation with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras). Through this strategic alliance, Petrobras and BP have committed to exploring potential joint commercial agreements in areas of mutual interest in upstream, downstream, trading and across low carbon initiatives, inside and outside Brazil. The alliance is also expected to include the transfer of technology, as well as joint training and research.
MRC

Huajin Chemical resumes HDPE production in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huajin Chemical has brought on-stream its high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on July 9, 2018. The unit was taken off-line for maintenance on June 10, 2018.

Located in Liaoning province, China, the HDPE unit has a production capacity of 330,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, on 14 August 2017, Liaoning Huajin Chemical restarted its polypropylene (PP) unit following an unplanned outage. The unit was shut in end-July 2017 owing to shortage of feedstock. Located in Liaoning province, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 50,000 mt/year.

Liaoning Huajin Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. was founded in 2003 and is based in China. Liaoning Huajin Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of North Huajin Chemical Industries Co.,Ltd.
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AkzoNobel breaks ground on EUR90-million organic peroxide site in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals officially broke ground for construction of a state-of-the-art organic peroxide production facility in Tianjin, China, as per CoatingsWorld.

Organic peroxides are essential in the manufacture of a wide range of polymers including PVC and thermoset resins.

The EUR90-million facility, located in the Tianjin Nangang Industrial Zone, will replace the company's existing organic peroxides plant in Tianjin, and supports efforts being made by Chinese authorities to optimize urban planning and produce an industrial upgrade in the country's chemical industry.

Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2020, it will also provide capacity expansions of between 30 and 70 percent depending on product line, allowing the company to support the growth of its customers.

"Demand for organic peroxide continues to increase in Asia and around the world," said Jack Li, regional sales director, Polymer Chemistry.

Li says end use markets for organic peroxides are growing annually between five and six percent in China, outpacing growth in the rest of the world.

Johan Landfors, executive committee member responsible for Polymer Chemistry, said the company is focusing on improving sustainability at the new site to meet the Chinese government's stringent requirements.

"We are installing an innovative technology to minimize discharge of waste water. New equipment will also streamline our production processes, helping us to reduce our water and energy consumption while removing volatile organic compounds," he added.

Said AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals CEO Werner Fuhrmann: "We have partnered closely with the Tianjin Economic - Technological Development Area to construct a site that not ony meets the needs of the city, but also those of our business, customers and employees. Our company is committed to China and has received strong support from its government agencies to ensure success on this project."

AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals has invested more than EUR180 million over the last three years to better serve its customers in the polymer industry, upgrading technologies, increasing capacity, and repositioning its global manufacturing footprint at sites in Mexico, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Italy, Brazil and the U.S.

As MRC wrote before, 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.
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