By John Richardson WHEN has a European cracker gone beyond its useful life? Forty or 50 years? Or maybe if you spend the right amount of money, it can last for a great deal longer. Devoting enough ingenuity and capital on boosting your cracker’s energy efficiency and feedstock flexibility can also secure the future of […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Rising US Oil Supply And How Innovation Never Stands Still
By John Richardson NECESSITY is the mother of new inventions, and also of innovations that make improvements on old inventions. When, for example, oil and gas prices were sky-high in the US, this prompted the late and great George Mitchell (see right) to persist with research that led to modern hydraulic fracturing techniques. Now we […]
Why Getting It Wrong Really, Really Matters Today
By John Richardson It is never easy to admit you are wrong because of the loss of “face” (and for me “face” is just as much an issue in the West as it is in Asia. It just presents itself in different forms in different countries and regions). Everyone worries that their standing with their peers […]
Just “Black Swans” That We Can’t Predict? Nonsense
By John Richardson HERE is a list of just a few recent what were are told were “Black Swan” events: The Lehman Bros-triggered global financial crisis. China’s 2008-2013 economic stimulus package. Last year’s collapse in oil prices. China’s economic and environmental about turn. We are also told because these were Black Swans – freak events […]
Petrochemicals And The End Of The Commodities Supercyle
By John Richardson YESTERDAY I suggested that a “permanent study group” should be established by the US petrochemicals industry, and very probably industries in other regions, that would focus solely on all the evolving implications of the New Normal. So what should be this study group’s first topic for consideration? How about the implications of […]
Oil Price Chaos: What It Means For The Planning Process
By John Richardson FIRST of all, we were told that $100 a barrel, or thereabouts, was the natural price for oil. And then we were told this after the price collapse: “Not to worry, this is just a temporary supply glut. Output cuts will soon be sufficient to restore the price back to the region […]
US Petchems: Victim Of A Black Swan? What Black Swan?
By John Richardson JIM Gallogly, the former CEO of LyondellBasell, has advised US petrochemicals companies to “think very, very hard” about new investments. “Some of you simply are going to be too late. And you need to recognise where you are at,” he told delegates that this week’s 40th American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers […]
Oil Supply Rising On Efficiency Gains, Govt Policy
By John Richardson FOR most of the time from 2009 until the end of H1 2014, understanding what was going on in petrochemicals markets was pretty easy. The price of oil was stable in the region of $100 a barrel and so upstream costs were very predictable. This meant that you only really had to […]
US Fed Cannot Solve Deflationary Crisis It Has Created
By John Richardson ALL eyes will be on the precise detail of the statement the US Fed issues after its latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which takes place today and tomorrow (March 17-18). Many analysts think that the ideal outcome for emerging market governments and companies, and those who have gone “long” […]
China’s Polyolefins Recovery On Shaky Ground
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyolefins markets were in a muddle last week as a result of resilient offer prices for imported material versus a fall in pricing for domestic cargoes. Domestic polyethylene (PE) prices were largely softer, but local distributors were unwilling to significantly cut their offer prices for imported because of tight supply across […]