By Malini Hariharan A few weeks back the blog had highlighted the problems related to the disposal of ethane at the Marcellus Shale in northeast US. Shale gas producers in the region are in a fix as ethane needs to be removed to meet pipeline specifications for transporting gas. However, there is no infrastructure or […]
Asian Chemical Connections
US Polyethylene Competitiveness To Surge in 2012
George Mitchell of Devon Energy – The “Father of Shale Gas” By John Richardson US polyethylene (PE) input costs will be 50% less than those in Europe and Asia beyond 2012, says a new report by Morgan Stanley. The extraordinary gap in competitiveness is the result of the shale gas revolution that has sharply reduced […]
Looking for ethane? Head West
By Malini Hariharan A problem of plenty is building up in the US where the rise of shale gas production could create problems in disposal of ethane. This may sound hard to believe but a new report by Bentek Energy concludes that a big challenge for Marcellus Shale gas producers, located in Northeast US, is […]
When Does Consolidation Become A Strategic Problem?
All our yesterdays… the ICI Runcorn site in its heyday Source of picture: Chesterchronicle.co.uk By John Richardson Yesterday’s blog post on Petronas illustrates once again how the state-owned giants, albeit in this case one that is about to undergo a partial IPO, are increasingly dominating the global petrochemicals industry. The history of the […]
Advantage US?
By Malini Hariharan The advent of shale gas and a fall in natural gas prices has already altered the fortunes of US ethane-based petrochemical producers. And now a new report says that the advantage is here to stay. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates that the US has 1,744 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of technically […]
Propylene And the Law Of Unintended Consequences
Will this year’s K-Fair see some major announcements to take advantage of the relative fall in ethylene costs? Source of picture; http://www.k-online.de/ By John Richardson THE rise in the price of propylene relative to ethylene is exercising the minds of senior executives in the polypropylene (PP) industry. As fellow blogger Paul Hodges highlighted earlier […]
US Needs A Serious, Informed Energy Debate
Will he back raising fuel prices to European levels? Source of picture: sociologycompass.wordpress.com By John Richardson IN the midst of the continuing BP oil-spill saga, here’s an important question for our American readers: Once the story is forgotten, meaning when it drops out of the 24-hour-news cycle, will you be willing to back tougher […]
Shale Gas Confronts BP Oil Disaster Threat
Deepwater disaster expected to impact shale gas Source of picture: Minnpost.com By John Richardson THE booming shale-gas industry could either benefit or suffer from the BP Gulf of Mexico oil-well disaster, with the end-result determined by the effect on energy prices of any long-term clampdown on deepwater and Arctic drilling. Those for and […]
Changing expectations
By Malini Hariharan A turnaround in petrochemical fortunes in the US, as a result of falling gas prices, means that Dow Chemical is willing to wait to get the best value for its basic chemicals business. At an earnings call last week, the company’s ceo, Andrew Liveris, was clear that while Dow was committed to […]
The changing world of gas
By Malini Hariharan The blog has recently written about gas availability in the Middle East and upcoming changes to pricing which have big implications for the petrochemicals business. But the global gas market is seeing wider changes and these have been excellently summarised by The Economist. The key development has been the rise of shale […]
Jump to page: