Nitrogen & Methanol articles from March 2002

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from March 2002

"Houston, we have a problem". (Editorial).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Now that we are a couple of months on from the December 2001 collapse and bankruptcy of US energy giant Enron, the outlines of a post-Enron world are finally becoming a little clearer. From the ranks of stony faces in Congressional inquiries...

EC confirms definitive anti-dumping duties. (Nitrogen Industry News).(European Council )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Following a 15 month investigation, the European Council has confirmed definitive anti-dumping measures against eight of the original 10 exporters. Only Egypt and Poland, included in the original investigation, are not subjected to anti-dumping...

EU to move on accident hazard directive. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Another of the consequences of the accident at the Grande Paroisse ammonium nitrate plant at Toulouse has been the initiation of a review of the EU's regulations on sites which produce, store or process hazardous chemical substances; the...

Grande Paroisse to reduce capital. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Stricken French fertilizer producer Grande Paroisse, still reeling from the ammonium nitrate explosion at its Toulouse plant last September which killed 31 people, has reduced its shareholders' capital to pay for the [euro]1.8bn damages that it...

Companies told to pay back subsidies. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Indian fertilizer companies have reacted with shock and anger to a government notification in November proposing a reduction in the 'retention' price allowed to 13 urea units which have the highest energy consumption. Although the government...

New urea plant for central China. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The huge West-East gas pipeline project, which aims to connect the gas-bearing region of western China to the cities of the coast by 2010 has started driving downstream projects in the country. The Ningxia Fengyou Chemical co has announced...

Green light for Oswal Burrup plant. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Indian fertilizer producer OSWAL Chemicals and Fertilizers has been given the go-ahead by the Australian government to build its planned 760,000 t/a ammonia plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The A$700m (US$365m) facility --...

Bids in for Sohar urea complex. (Nitrogen Industry News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Three bids were received to build the SOHAR ammonia-urea complex after the developing company Bahwan extended the deadline for bids until December 22nd. The three consortia are: TEC, Krupp Uhde, and a joint Snamprogetti/MHI bid. The project,...

Linde achieved record sales in 2001. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... German engineering group Linde achieved sales of [euro]9.1 bn in 2001, up 7.4% on the previous year's results. The Gas and Engineering Business Segment increased sales by 10.3 % to [euro]5.0 bn. Earnings figures will not be released until...

PIC to increase urea loading capacity. (News in Brief).(Petrochemical Industries Company)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) is to upgrade its urea handling and export facilities to raise loading rates from 5,000 t/d to 15,000 t/d. The work will include new conveyors, loading scrapers shiploaders and electrical...

NPC IV urea unit delayed. (News in Brief).(National Petrochemical Company )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NPC IV urea unit delayed. Three companies who are part of the bidding for the 1.1m t/a National Petrochemical Company (NPC) IV ammonia-urea plant at Bandar Imam Khomeni have held talks to clarify technical issues. Krupp Uhde, Snamprogetti and...

Fertiberia to cut 270 jobs. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Spanish fertilizer producer Feriberia has announced the loss of 270 jobs - around 17% of its workforce - spread between the company's eight plants and its Madrid head office. The cost-cutting move follows losses of [euro]17.4m for 2001. Most of...

Methanol off-take agreement inked. (Gas and Methonal News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... London-based GTL Resources is moving forward with what will be yet another methanol development for the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The company is proposing a 1.0m t/a development on 35ha of land next to the Woodside Petroleum LPG...

Mitsubishi still pursuing DME (Dimethyl Ether) plans. (Gas and Methonal News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Western Australia's development as a gas-based petrochemical hub is also taking another step with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical's proposed construction of a 1.65m t/a dimethyl ether (DME) plant. MGC is now seeking to tie-up Australian and Japanese...

Gazprom finally moving to TPA? (Gas and Methonal News).(pipeline third party access)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Gazprom has given its clearest indications yet that it finally intends to move towards full third party access (TPA) for its gas pipeline system, with oil major Rosneft, developing gas fields at Sakhalin island off Russia's Pacific coast,...

Methanol plans on back burner. (Gas and Methonal News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... PetroVietnam has decided not to proceed for the time being with plans for a 660,000 t/a methanol plant in the country. The plans to build a methanol plant in southern Vietnam based on gas imported from offshore fields alongside the planned...

Bids expected soon for GTL plant. (Gas and Methonal News).(Ras Laffan Qatar)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Qatar Petroleum and Sasol Chevron are expected to invite prequalified bidders to tender for the construction of a $900m 34,000 bbl/day GTL facility at Ras Laffan in the next few weeks. The prequalifled companies include Krupp Uhde, Mitsubishi...

Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn considering methanol co-production. (Gas and Methonal News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Polish ammonia producer Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn is considering adding a methanol synthesis loop to its Kiedzerzyn ammonia plant to produce methanol for other onsite chemical production, including maleic anhydride and oxo-alcohols. The...

Peter Gossas. (People).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sandvik has announced the appointment of Peter Gossas (pictured) as president of the Sandvik Steel business sector. Mr Gossas, 52, was previously executive vice president of the company's tube and pipe division.

The global market for ammonia. (Ammonia Trade).
March 1, 2002... Relatively small volumes of ammonia are traded compared to the amount produced, and high transport and storage costs make for a series of regional markets rather than a unified global market such as exists for urea. Nitrogen & Methanol presents...

The future of United States' gas: The US nitrogen industry was decimated by the natural gas price spike of winter 2000/2001. This article takes a look at the state of the US market and where it may be heading. (The US Gas Market).
March 1, 2002... According to BP Amoco's 2001 Statistical Review of World Energy, the United States of America consumed 654 bcm of natural gas in 2000, making it by far the largest consumer of natural gas in the world. Gas consumption has increased 20% over the...

Problems, world records and honours in Montreal. (Meeting Report).
March 1, 2002... AIChE's deferred Ammonia Safety Symposium took place in Montreal in January. During the conference the Committee awarded a lifetime achievement award to Dr Max Appl. The audience also heard of a world ammonia production record. Originally...

Managing steam reformer tubes: Reformer tubes are expensive, but so are the consequences when they fail unexpectedly. John Brightling, of Synetix, considers how to get long service while minimising the risk of failure. (Operations and Maintenance).
March 1, 2002... The steam reformer is the largest and most expensive piece of equipment in ammonia, methanol and hydrogen plants. On account of the arduous operating conditions the tubes run close to their metallurgical limits and suffer so-called "creep...

Yuzhnyy prices drop further - reach bottom? (Ammonia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The start of 2002 showed no let-up in the slump in ammonia prices. Continuing low demand, especially from industrial users, and quiet markets meant that Yuzhnyy prices that began the year in the range $76-Slit f.o.b. dropped to $74-76/t by the...

Urea prices slump. (Urea).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The start of January saw the continuation of a gradual rise in urea prices that started back in March last year, with Yuzhnyy rates peaking at $110/t f.o.b. from their low of below $8O/t in 2001. But sluggish buying and restarts in Romania,...

Prices stable in quiet trading. (Methanol).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The February contract natural gas prices for the US Gulf Coast were settled early in the month, with the calculated average for Texas and Louisiana at $2.135/mmBtu, a decrease of $0.56/mmBtu from the January contract settlement price. The...

John McLaren. (People).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DSM has appointed John McLaren vice president of corporate communications. DSM says that it further emphasises the rapidly growing international character of the company.

Are Ostby. (People).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Are Ostby, formerly managing director of Ceres Global partner -- a partner to Duke Energy -- has joined Aquila, a Kansas-based trading and risk management subsidiary of Utilicorp. Ostby will manage Aquila's sales of fertilizer and ammonia.

Gary Myers. (People).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Gary Myers, president of The Fertilizer Institute, has announced his retirement from the position as soon as a successor can be found, and allowing for a hand-over period.