Russian first deputy PM urges Kazakhstan to continue coordinating collective actions within OPEC+

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is co-chair of OPEC+'s ministerial monitoring committee, called on Kazakhstan to maintain coordination within the organization during a meeting with Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, the Russian government's press service said, as per Interfax.

Novak praised cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan within OPEC+, which he said plays a decisive role in ensuring stability and predictability in global oil markets. "The deputy prime minister urged continued coordination of collective actions within OPEC+, as they serve long-term national interests and strengthen participating countries' economies," the press service said.

Kazakhstan has been among OPEC+ members violating production cut commitments. Earlier this year, the country launched new production capacity at the Tengiz field and has since exceeded its quota by 300,000-400,000 barrels per day each month. Energy Ministry officials said that they would not curb output as they cannot influence foreign field operators.

However, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov denied any plans to leave OPEC+. "Where did this idea that Kazakhstan is considering a withdrawal from OPEC+ come from? This issue isn't on our agenda," he said.

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The implementation of the largest capacity expansion project for bulk chemicals in European Russia since Soviet times by PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK, part of SIBUR) will provide the company with over 60% EBITDA growth by 2030, NKNK General Director Marat Falyakhov told shareholders at their annual meeting held on June 21, as per Interfax.

Investment in the project is planned at 500 billion rubles, Falyakhov said. It was previously reported that NKNK's EBITDA to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) grew 2.2% to 71.3 billion rubles in 2024.

As part of the capacity expansion project, NKNK completed construction of the EP-600 ethylene unit worth around 200 billion rubles in late 2024 and intends to bring it to full capacity in the coming weeks. The EP-600 will process 1.8 million tonnes of straight-run gasoline annually to produce 600,000 tonnes of ethylene and target products - propylene (over 270,000 tonnes), benzene (245,000 tonnes) and butadiene (88,000 tonnes).

In conjunction with EP-600, NKNK is creating production capacities for 300,000 tonnes per year of premium metallocene polyethylene (through deep reconstruction of an existing polyethylene unit with a 1.5-fold increase in capacity), hexene (50,000 tonnes) and styrene chain products - ethylbenzene (350,000 tonnes), styrene (400,000 tonnes) and polystyrene (250,000 tonnes).

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the world's largest synthetic rubber producers and Russia's leading plastics manufacturer, having been part of SIBUR since October 2021.

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CEO of Gazprom Alexei Miller and Vice Premier of the Chinese State Council Ding Xuexiang discussed key issues around their strategic gas partnership at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025), as per Interfax.

Gazprom said that the parties' cooperation in the project to supply gas to China via the "Eastern" route had been commended during the meeting, with a total of more than 100 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas exported to date.

The participants of the meeting also discussed steps for implementing the gas project along the "Far East" route. Gazprom said that the first exports were planned for 2027.

"Alexei Miller and Ding Xuexiang also discussed prospective projects in the gas industry. The parties expressed their intention of reinforcing a mutually beneficial partnership which is aimed at developing both countries' economies and prosperity among their citizens," the company said.

Miller is quoted by Gazprom as saying that "global gas consumption hit a record of 4.17 trillion cubic meters in 2024, an increase of 100 billion cubic meters". From now until 2050, worldwide demand for gas is expected to grow at rates 1.5 times faster than the growth in overall energy consumption. As such, Russian gas companies predict that global gas consumption will have grown almost a third by 2050.

"Countries from the Asia-Pacific region will play a key role in this growth. In 2024, they made up almost half of world GDP growth. In order to sustain a high rate of economic growth, the region needs to be supplied with substantial amounts of natural gas," Miller said.

The Power of Siberia pipeline began supplying gas to China in 2019 as part of a long-term sale and purchase agreement between Gazprom and the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Each year since 2020, supplies by Gazprom have exceeded annual contractual obligations. Daily supply via the Power of Siberia pipeline reached the maximum contractual level on December 1, 2024, one month ahead of the initial schedule.

A long-term sale and purchase agreement for the supply of natural gas along the Far East route was signed in February 2022. After the full ramp-up was complete, Russia's pipeline gas exports to China increased by 10 bcm to 48 bcm per year.

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Ascend Performance Materials, a leading global producer of polyamide 6/6 (PA 6/6), is closing its plant in Lianyungang, China, which produces hexamethylene diamine (HMD), a raw material for the production of polyamide (nylon), the company said in a statement.

The decision follows a comprehensive assessment of the long-term viability of the facility amid changing market dynamics and the regulatory environment.

The plant opened less than two years ago and produced HMD for the production of polyamide, as well as other specialty chemicals to supply the global market and serve regional customers.

The decision to close the plant comes two months after Ascend filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court. At the time, officials said the "process will allow operations to continue as normal while we work in the background to adjust our financial structure." According to the statement, Ascend has assets of between $1 billion and $10 billion and liabilities of the same amount, and plans to emerge from bankruptcy this fall.

Ascend Performance Materials President and CEO Phil McDivitt added that the decision to close the Lianyungang plant "is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the teams. Ascend remains steadfast in its commitment to safety, the environment, and regulatory compliance throughout the wind-down process."

Ascend's other Chinese assets, including its polyamide (PA) compounding plant in Suzhou, will continue to operate as usual.

Ascend Performance Materials, a U.S. nylon maker, was previously reported to close its remaining ACN production facility in Greenwood, South Carolina, in 2025. The three lines have a combined capacity of 590,000 tons of acrylonitrile per year.

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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to reassess a Biden Administration regulation prohibiting the use of chrysotile asbestos, the last form of asbestos currently used in or imported to the United States, as per Chemweek.

The Biden-era rule would have phased out use of asbestos diaphragms at six of the eight chlor-alkali plants still using the technology within five years, with longer timelines provided for companies with multiple plants.

In a filing dated June 16, 2025, EPA asked for a six-month abeyance in a United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in which petitioners, including Olin Corporation and American Chemistry Council (ACC), had challenged the Biden rule. During abeyance, EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention intends to reconsider the rule in light of workplace protection requirements in the use of asbestos-containing sheet gaskets in nontitanium dioxide chemical production. “Additionally, OCSPP will consider all reasonably available information and assess whether, consistent with the best available science and its risk management authority… [the prohibitions] went beyond what is necessary to eliminate the unreasonable risk and whether alternative measures—such as requiring permanent workplace protection measures—would eliminate the unreasonable risk,” according to the filing.

The move is the latest in Trump’s efforts to reassess, revoke, or rewrite Biden- and Obama-era regulations he views as costly and burdensome to US businesses. Several are relevant to the chemical industry, including a two-year delay in legally enforceable limits on two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water; a review of 2024 amendments to the procedural framework for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); and revisions to Clean Air Act rules requiring chemical plants to institute stronger measures for accident prevention, natural disaster preparedness, and public transparency.

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