Europe
Germany boosts chemical sales as US buys more
Total German chemical industry sales went up because of foreign business. In particular, trading with overseas customers developed positively, led by vigorous growth in sales to the US.
Unipetrol picks Technip for engineering on new Czech polyethylene plant
Based on INEOS technology, the new unit will have a capacity of 270.000 tpy of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The contract is worth between €100 to €250 million, according to Technip officials.
Accident at Eni’s ethylene plant in Sicily kills two
The two workers, employed by a third-party contractor, had been carrying out inspection work at the Versalis ethylene plant in Priolo. Eni says an investigation is still ongoing.
Determine fouling margins in tubular heat exchanger design
Fouling, which is caused mainly by the deposition and accumulation of an undesired layer of solids on a heat transfer surface, is very common in tubular heat exchangers.
HP Business Trends
To satisfy its growing refined fuel demand, Latin America has relied heavily on imports from the US. Major refinery projects have been announced to curb this reliance, but the drop in crude oil prices has limited capacity expansions.
New projects decline, but backlog holds strong
Even after the recent downturn in oil and natural gas pricing, our analysis shows why downstream E&C companies can depend on a strong backlog to last through the decade.
BioAmber starts up Canadian succinic acid project
BioAmber Sarnia makes renewable chemicals from sugar instead of petroleum. The new plant uses innovative biotechnology and will produce biobased succinic acid from glucose.
HP News
Russian blending facility utilizes advanced control technologyLUKOIL’s Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez gasoline blending facility in Kstovo, Russia, will integrate Honeywell software, which is designed ..
High margins lift Chevron’s downstream earnings
Both US and international downstream earnings improved at Chevron, led by higher margins on the sales of refined products. Overall earnings fell alongside weaker upstream results.
Eni’s Versalis to commercialize styrene-butadiene from India’s Reliance
The SBR sales agreement follows the license agreement that the two partners entered into in 2011 when Versalis seized upon Reliance's plan to expand its activities in the market of synthetic rubber by offering a technology license and know-how for the construction of a new unit.
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