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• Filled Up With Faith

  Only in America, surely. If I had made this up you wouldn't have believed me. Rocky Twyman (see picture above), Founder of the Pray For The Pump Movement, and his pals have been touring the US asking the big guy in the sky to intervene and bring down... Posted Aug 15 2008, 10:15 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: US, Environment, Business, Oil & Gas, gasoline, sustainability, divine intervention, upsize, the power of prayer

• China's growth conundrum

  I couldn't let today pass without including a picture of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing where the opening ceremony is about to take place. The purpose of this redefined blog is not to look at the short term, though. For expert commentaey on the effects... Posted Aug 08 2008, 05:51 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, Environment, BASF, Business, Oil & Gas, climate change, global warming, Company Strategy, water crisis, China growth

• BASF seeks "decisive" change

  Now this is old but not widely publicised - Jurgen Hambrecht's comments during the BASF Segment Day Chemicals event which took place in London on 8 July. Navigate down, click on the webcast, and listen to the Q&A session after Dr Hambrecht's... Posted Aug 07 2008, 12:06 PM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Environment, Oil, aromatics, Olefins, Business, Oil & Gas, Naphtha & other feedstocks, Company Strategy, alternative energy, Fischer Tropsch, catalysts

• Does the 'truth' ever matter?

  The momentum of opinion might be about to shift in favour of the belief that this year's crude-oil price surge is more to do with speculation than fundamentals. No less than 15 bills targeting speculators are circulating around Washington at the moment... Posted Jul 25 2008, 07:53 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, Oil & Gas, Naphtha & other feedstocks

• Crazy money breeds new thinking

  This article from The New Scientist suggests we might have to develop a whole new way of asssesing what drives all commodity markets. Intuitively, everyone knows that the herd instinct matters. But to measure this mathematically, or statistically, seems... Posted Jul 24 2008, 10:00 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, Olefins, Polyolefins, Oil & Gas, Markets, Naphtha & other feedstocks, sub-prime misery, forecasting, Don't Panic!

• It's a whole new ball game

  First of all, apologies to readers for my complete neglect of this blog over the last six weeks. I can only plead overwork and being too stunned by the collapse of the global economy to think about the blogosphere. I promise regular posts from now on... Posted Jul 21 2008, 09:37 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, India, Admin, aromatics, Olefins, Oil & Gas, Markets

• Shell plans for the long-term

  See below for an extended interview with Shell Chemicals vice president, Ben van Beurden, who talks of the search for new feedstock sources. He raises the possiblity of using syngas from the Pearl GTL project in Qatar to make methanol and then olefins... Posted Jun 03 2008, 10:38 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: China, technology, Middle East, Olefins, Projects, Oil & Gas, Methanol & Derivatives, Naphtha & other feedstocks, Singapore, methanol-to-olefins, Shell, Gas-to-liquids

• This is unsustainable- crude correction soon

  I am beginning to come to the view that something has to give in the medium-term. There is no way that the global economy can support crude prices at current levels, and you can argue, as Lehman Bros does, that speculation is behind a fair slice of the... Posted May 23 2008, 10:29 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, Business, Oil & Gas, Naphtha & other feedstocks, supply & demand fallacy, Collapsing crude, don't follow the herd

• The search for more basic petrochemicals

  Very interesting speech from Alan Kirkley, Vice President of Strategy and Portfolio for Shell Chemicals, which first of all goes over the predictable ground of where we are in the cycle and the threat from the Middle East. However, he then makes the valid... Posted Apr 10 2008, 08:26 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, technology, Middle East, Olefins, Polyolefins, Projects, Oil & Gas, Markets, Naphtha & other feedstocks, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, LNG

• History will surely repeat itself

  The mood at the recent NPRA International Petrochemical Conference in San Antonio, Texas, was mixed, despite all the economic gloom. Some producers said they were still making money - especially those selling into manufacturing sectors benefiting from... Posted Apr 08 2008, 08:05 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, technology, aromatics, Japan, oil prices, Polyolefins, Projects, Business, Oil & Gas, Markets, US recession, gasoline, US housing

• Is the last margin grab over?

  Shortly after I wrote this article (see below) on the doom and gloom surrounding China polyolefins markets, hey presto, prices rallied and I was wondering whether I needed to be wiping egg off my face. But shortly after the slight rally occurred, a polyolefins... Posted Mar 24 2008, 05:05 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, Olefins, Polyolefins, Projects, Oil & Gas, China slowdown, Markets, US recession, China pollution

• Balancing economics with the environment

  Recent comments by An Qiyuan, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee for Shaanxi, warned of the environment and social catastrophe facing the northwestern province of China because of a shortage of water. He was referring... Posted Mar 05 2008, 08:23 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: China, Environment, Dow Chemical, Olefins, Polyolefins, Oil & Gas, coal-to-chemicals, Naphtha & other feedstocks

• China growth under severe threat

  I could easily be accused of ceaseless pessimism, but growth in China is moderating - regardless of what your view is of the extended article below on the impact of the bad-weather crisis. Slowing exports were already eating into estimates of GDP growth... Posted Feb 05 2008, 09:26 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, inflation, Polyolefins, Business, Oil & Gas, China slowdown, more blue-eared pig problems, Markets

• Life gets more complicated for methanol

  In the good or maybe the bad old days depending on your standpoint, methanol was a fairly straightforward product. You had chemicals demand and that was more or less it. But as the extended analysis below explains, chemical producers who use methanol... Posted Jan 31 2008, 05:01 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: China, Environment, technology, Projects, Oil & Gas, coal-to-chemicals, Methanol & Derivatives, coal, coal-to-liquids

• Here we go again - 1997 is back.....

  I sincerely hope not, but all the signs are there because of: *A financial crisis which nobody again saw coming, this time with global implications *What could prove to be too much spending on new equipment and capacity. This time high equity prices have... Posted Jan 22 2008, 05:41 AM by Asian Chemical Connections Filed under: Economics, China, Indonesia, Japan, Middle East, Olefins, Polyolefins, Styrenics, Projects, Business, Oil & Gas, Markets, I wish I was more cash-rich, Malaysia, Philippines, Fibre Intermediates, Naphtha & other feedstocks, Thailand, New economic crisis, Singapore