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Petrochemicals

Dow executive sees natural gas as ‘game changer’ for US manufacturing

George Biltz, Dow Chemical’s vice president of energy and climate change, testified before a US Senate committee about the future of natural gas and the opportunity for a US manufacturing renaissance fueled by competitively-priced natural gas.

Dow Chemical, Mitsui form biopolymers JV in Brazil

US-based Dow Chemical and Japan-based Mitsui & Co. have formed a new joint venture aimed at providing sustainable product solutions to the global high-performance flexible packaging, hygiene and medical markets. This represents the world’s largest biopolymers play and is Dow’s largest investment in Brazil, a country in which Dow has operated successfully for more than 50 years, officials said.

Tyco to acquire US specialty firm Chemguard

Tyco International has reached an agreement to acquire privately-held Chemguard, a leading US provider of firefighting foam concentrates and equipment, foam systems, services and specialty chemicals.

High electronics demand prompts Air Products to build Korea nitrogen plant, expand pipeline

Air Products will raise production of gaseous nitrogen and expand its nitrogen pipeline in the Gumi National Industrial Complex in Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province to serve increasing demand from electronics customers, the US-based industrial gases firm said on Monday.

Dow Chemical CEO pushes for US debt ceiling deal

Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris is calling on US politicians to reach a “unified action” on the nation’s debt ceiling crisis. Worries about the impasse between Republicans and Democrats over the debt ceiling have risen as prospects seem to be fading for a deal to cut the federal government's massive debt.

American Chemistry Council chief seeks overhaul of EPA risk assessment system

In testimony this week before the US House Subcommittee on Investigations, American Chemistry Council CEO Cal Dooley called for an overhaul of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

Foster Wheeler, SOCAR form JV to build Azerbaijan oil, petchem complex

Foster Wheeler has agreed to form a jointly-owned company with the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in the Republic of Azerbaijan. SOCAR is a state-owned company engaged in the fields of oil and gas exploration, production, transportation and marketing. It intends to build an oil, gas processing and petrochemical complex in Garadag, Republic of Azerbaijan.

BASF picks Fluor as engineering partner for Asia, Europe chemicals projects

Germany-based BASF has chosen Fluor as an engineering partner for chemicals and petrochemicals projects across Asia and Europe, the companies announced on Thursday. The partnering agreements will cover capital investment projects with separate service orders throughout Asia and Europe.

Praxair signs nitrogen, oxygen supply deal with Brazil petchem major Braskem

White Martins, the Brazil-based subsidiary of Praxair, has signed a 15-year agreement to supply nitrogen and oxygen to Braskem, the largest Americas petrochemical company by capacity and the world’s largest producer of biopolymers.

TPC Group to restart Texas dehydrogenation unit

TPC Group says it has received the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air permit necessary for the planned refurbishment, upgrade to air emission controls, and restart of one of its idle dehydrogenation units in Houston. Construction of the required new components for the system, along with refurbishment of the existing unit, began promptly following receipt of the permit, the company said.