Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 26 May 2017:

US’ Huntsman, Swiss Clariant to merge via all-stock deal
US’ Huntsman and Swiss Clariant have agreed to combine their businesses via an all-stock “merger of equals”, the specialty chemical companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

US 2018 budget proposes to sell crude oil reserves, lease drilling in arctic
US President Donald Trump’s 2018 fiscalb udget, released on Tuesday, proposes selling approximately 270m bbl of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) crude oil, as well as leasing oil and gas drilling in a portion of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Activist investor proposes new structure for DowDuPont spinoffs
Activist investor Dan Loeb recommended that DowDuPont should adopt a different structure for the subsequent spinoffs of the merger company, according to documents available on Wednesday.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers extend supply pact agreement into 2018 – delegates
OPEC will extend its production-curbing agreement into 2018, according to reports, citing delegates at a meeting of the cartel in Vienna on Thursday.

US Targa to build NGL pipeline from Permian Basin to Mont Belvieu hub
Targa Resources plans to construct a new common carrier natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from the Permian Basin to Mont Belveiu, Texas, the US-based midstream company said on Thursday

US May PP contracts decrease further on lower feedstock costs
US May polypropylene (PP) contracts dropped by 7.5 cents/lb following upstream propylene, marking the 10th straight month that the polymer has followed the feedstock.

US May PE contracts decline on ample supply, global downtrend
US May polyethylene (PE) contracts settled down 3 cents/lb on Friday, marking the first monthly decline this year on a combination of higher inventories and weaker global markets.