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Petrochemicals

Neste Oil to sell Belgium polyalphaolefin plant to Chevron Phillips Chemical

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) has agreed to acquire a polyalphaolefin (PAO) plant located in Beringen, Belgium, from Neste Oil.

Berkshire Hathaway closes on $9.7bn Lubrizol deal

Berkshire Hathaway has officially completed its acquisition of US-based specialty chemicals firm Lubrizol for $135/ share in an all-cash transaction. The transaction, having been overwhelmingly approved by Lubrizol shareholders and having met all US and non-US regulatory filing requirements, is valued at approximately $9.7 billion, including approximately $0.7 billion in net debt.

Technip to engineer Gabon ammonia-urea project

Gabon Fertilizers awarded France-based Technip with a strategic engineering contract for a world class grassroots ammonia-urea fertilizer project to be developed at Port Gentil, Gabon.

Huntsman plots expansion for US epoxy resins

US-based chemicals major Huntsman has begun initial plans to expand its epoxy resins product lines by launching a multi-million dollar engineering study at its facility in McIntosh, Alabama.

Chevron Phillips, Sumitomo venture to shut down Texas polypropylene unit

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) has reached an agreement with partner Sumitomo Chemical Co. to permanently shut down polypropylene assets jointly owned by the Phillips Sumika Polypropylene Co. (PSPC) venture in Pasadena, Texas.

Dow to use AspenTech engineering software on petrochemical projects

US software and services provider Aspen Technology (AspenTech) said that Dow Chemical is using its aspenOne engineering software to guide capital-cost decisions on large-scale petrochemicals projects.

INEOS licenses technology for China PP project

INEOS Technologies has licensed its Innovene PP process technology for the manufacture of polypropylene homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers to the Ningxia Baofeng Energy in Ningxia, China. The 300,000 tpy Innovene PP plant will produce a wide range of polypropylene products to serve the growing market in China.

US refiners note security upgrades as 9/11 nears

American fuel and petrochemical manufacturers have made major improvements in security to protect their facilities against possible terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) president Charles T. Drevna said on Friday.

NPRA blasts Obama on jobs, seeks less regulation

The US-based National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) sharply criticized Thursday’s speech from President Barack Obama on creating jobs in the US, asking for relief from “unwarranted regulatory burdens”.

Momentive expands R&D technical center in Texas

Momentive Specialty Chemicals hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony this week for its expanded technical center in Stafford, Texas, that will house a new technology group focused on product innovations.