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Petronas mulls cracker at Kerteh

By Malini Hariharan There is finally some movement at Petronas. After last month’s joint announcement with BASF on a study for a Euro1bn investment in speciality chemicals, news has emerged that the Malaysian major is also exploring the feasibility of a new petrochemical complex at Kerteh. The complex would have a 1m tonnes/year ethane cracker […]

Finding a home for Marcellus ethane

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 […]

Saudi ethane price revision to be delayed?

By Malini Hariharan The much talked about revision in Saudi ethane prices may not take place in 2012. In a recent report on the Middle East petrochemical sector analysts from Nomura expected the current price of $0.75/mmbtu to continue until 2015. They pointed out that there has been no official update from the Ministry of […]

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 […]

Adapting to a new environment

By Malini Hariharan The blog has been regularly highlighting the changes to the Middle East petrochemical environment where feedstock issues have been clouding prospects for new cracker projects and also affecting operations at existing plants. “We are trying to figure out at what price to offer gas or naphtha to ensure a project is viable […]

Map Ta Phut issue drags on

By Malini Hariharan The Thai government is doing all it can to quickly resolve the Map Ta Phut crisis but full operations at PTT Chem’s new cracker is likely only in early 2011. Feedstock ethane for the 1m tonnes/year cracker will be supplied from PTT’s No6 gas separation plant commissioning of which has been held […]

Qatar Petroleum in Algerian cracker jv

By Malini Hariharan Qatar Petroleum’s (QP) ambition to extend its global reach has taken the company to Algeria. QP is reported to have picked up a 10% stake in the Total-Sonatrach joint-venture petrochemicals project at Arzew, Algeria. The entry of QP would result in a dilution of Total’s stake in the project to 41% with […]

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 […]

Yansab results reflect Saudi gas problems

By Malini Hariharan Yansab posted a net profit Saudi Riyal (SR)502.4m ($134.0m) in the second quarter, its first full quarter of commercial operations. However, results could have been better if its plants had run at full capacity. Analysts at NCB Capital estimate that average utilization rate was below their expectation of 93% for the quarter. […]

Qatar eyes cracker capacity hike and propane cracking

By Malini Hariharan Ras Laffan Olefins Co (RLOC) is studying an expansion of its new cracker by using propane as a feedstock. At a recent news conference, Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, general manager of Qatofin, the Qatar Petroleum-Total joint venture downstream of the 1.3m tonnes/year cracker, said that while the cracker was currently running at […]

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