BP are aiming for their new joint venture in China to provide drivers with a fresh, fully-charged battery in less than a minute – and save 2 million tonnes of CO2
Chemicals and the Economy
Iran highlights OPEC’s dilemma on output cuts
Saying you “won’t do something” may stop you digging a bigger hole for yourself. But it doesn’t help in deciding what you should do instead. That’s OPEC’s dilemma today on raising oil output. Everything seemed simple enough a year ago, as the pandemic took hold: Saudi Arabia’s first reaction was to assume it would have […]
China’s plastic ban and recycling launch marks end of ‘business as usual’ for plastics industry
Paradigm shifts start slowly at first, and it is easy to miss them. But then one day, they suddenly become obvious, and it becomes a scramble to catch up. That’s what happened on the waste plastic issue last week, when China decided to take action. As official news agency, Xinhua, reported: “The policy measures proposed […]
Oil prices under pressure as US oil and gas output rises
Just 10 years ago, then BP CEO John Browne shocked the oil industry by suggesting that oil prices might “temporarily” rise to $40/bbl due to an imbalance of supply and demand, before falling back below $35/bbl again. Of course, prices in fact moved much higher, as policymaker stimulus in first the US and then the […]
Deepwater Horizon raises ‘licence to operate’ issues
The chemical industry can be very proud of what it has achieved with the Responsible Care programme since 1985. But it may need to consider how this develops, in the light of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. One key question emerged from this week’s US Congressional hearing with the heads of ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell. It […]
Obama’s BP attack will impact chemicals
For the past 20 years, the chemical industry has been making steady progress in improving its environmental, health and safety performance. More recently, security has been added to the list of key items covered by the voluntary Responsible Care initiative, which covers c90% of chemical production. Now, however, this enormously important activity has moved into […]
CEOs remain cautious over 2010 Outlook
The blog’s quarterly survey of company Outlook statements shows CEOs remain very cautious. There has been a rebound after the destocking disaster of Q4 2008 – Q1 2009. But there seems little confidence that we will quickly return to the levels of demand and margin seen in the 2003-7 Boom period. China’s stimulus and loan […]
Volt to use ethanol as well as electricity
The blog has been following the development of GM’s new all-electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, with interest, ever since Pedro Spohr of Galp in Portugal highlighted its potential to impact naphtha balances. Of course, it won’t do this on its own – but GM’s adoption of the technology makes it essential for other manufacturers to […]
Companies remain cautious on the outlook
The good news is that the stabilisation seen in Q2 has been maintained. But companies remain cautious on the outlook, to judge from Q3 reports. CEOs are sceptical about the impact of government stimulus efforts in the West, and fear demand will fall back as these end. The only optimists are in China and India. […]
No sign of any upturn
This week’s company results have been keenly awaited, as the industry seeks to form a view on what happens next to demand and profits. My new IeC colleague Paul Satchell reviews them, from the point of view of a highly-experienced financial analyst, in his ‘Chemicals Viewpoint’. But the blog thought it would also be interesting […]
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