Europe
AkzoNobel plans €140mn expansion, upgrade to German chlorine plant
AkzoNobel will invest €140 million to convert its chlorine plant in Frankfurt, Germany, to state-of-the-art membrane electrolysis technology, the company said on Monday.
IEA sees increasing natgas use, warns of high oil prices curbing demand
Annual growth in oil demand could average 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) between now and 2016, while natural gas demand could grow by around 500 billion cubic meters – around 2.5 times Russia’s current gas exports – during the same time, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) medium-term oil and gas market outlook.
Foster Wheeler wins engineering design deals for Preem refinery in Sweden
Foster Wheeler won a contract from Preem AB (Publ) Preemraff Lysekil (Preem) to perform the basic engineering design (BED) and front-end engineering design (FEED) for a 2013 turnaround at the Preemraff Lysekil oil refinery, located north of Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden.
Tessenderlo to sell Europe PVC, chlor-alkali units to INEOS for €110mn
Tessenderlo will sell its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and chlor-alkali businesses to INEOS subsidiary Kerling for €110mn, the companies said on Tuesday.
LNG consortium to build France regasification plant
Engineering firms SENER and Techint have signed a contract with EDF to develop a regasification plant in Dunkerque, France. The firms were awarded the EPC contract as part of the TS LNG consortium made up of SENER and Techint. Specific figures were not disclosed.
BASF raises compounding capacity for engineering plastics in Europe
BASF is increasing its compounding capacities for the engineering plastics Ultramid (polyamide) and Ultradur (PBT: polybutylene terephthalate) at its Schwarzheide site in eastern Germany by 10,000 metric tons/year, the company said on Tuesday.
Shell, Sandvik to collaborate on sulfur technology at refinery projects
Shell Global Solutions and AB Sandvik Process Systems have agreed to collaborate on total sulfur technology solutions to their respective clients, particularly in refinery-wide projects, the companies said on Monday.
Dow opens water technology R&D center in Spain
Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of Dow Chemical, celebrated the grand opening of its Global Water Technology Development Center in a ceremony at the Dow facilities in Tarragona, Spain.
Crude oil costs rise as OPEC meeting concludes without production increase
OPEC talks broke down on Wednesday as government officials were unable to convince the cartel to raise production rates.
Capstone receives order for microturbines from Russian oil firm Tatneft
Capstone Turbine Corp. said it received another follow-on order from the oil and gas industry for its microturbines. The new order is for C600 and C800 power packages from Tatneft, one of the largest Russian oil companies.
- UPM unlocks new bio-based markets as Leuna biorefinery produces its first commercial product 12/19
- Stamicarbon awarded technology licensing contract for new urea plant in Eastern China 12/19
- Ford takes $19.5-B writedown on EV business 12/19
- Babcock & Wilcox awarded $40-MM contract for advanced wet gas scrubbing technology at Canadian petroleum refinery 12/19
- Aarti Industries secures methanol and toluene feedstock supply through multiple long-term contracts 12/19
- bp picks first outsider CEO Meg O'Neill after abrupt Auchincloss exit 12/19

