Nitrogen & Methanol articles from September 2001

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from September 2001

Is cogeneration the answer?(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Last winter s gas price shock in North America and associated shutdowns of ammonia and methanol plants has prompted a degree of soul searching among US producers. Faced with the prospect of higher gas prices for the longer term, the economic...

Slack demand and low US gas prices drag market down.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Ammonia prices strengthened slightly during June in most regions. This season traditionally sees northern hemisphere ammonia demand at a minimum, but in general slack demand in western Europe was counterbalanced by declining availability from...

Prices rebound slightly due to production cuts.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Low demand continued to drag prices lower at the start of June. Yuzhnyy was suffering from high availability and low demand, with Yuzhnyy loadings for June at just 197,OOOt. Prices fell from $87/t to as low as $80/t f.o.b. However, Profertil in...

Market slumps on falling US gas prices.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... June contract natural gas prices for the US Gulf Coast were at a calculated average for Texas and Louisiana of $3.85/mmBtu, representing a huge drop of $1.12 from May's price of $4.97/mmBtu, to levels not seen since May last year. For a typical...

Price indications.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Price indications Cash equivalent mid-July mid-May mid-Mar mid-Feb Ammonia ($/t) fob Caribbean 116-120 115-125 180-185 210-215 fob Middle East 120-126 115-120 170-175...

Krupp Uhde wins Qafco IV contract.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... The Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco), a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (with a 75% share) and Norsk Hydro (with a 25% stake), has awarded the $420m turnkey construction contract for its new Qafco IV plant to Krupp Uhde GmbH. The scope of...

Bids invited for urea complex.(Oman urea, ammonia plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... On 14th July the Bahwan Trading Company issued invitations to bid to the five pre-qualified EPC contractors: Kellogg Brown & Root; Krupp Uhde; MHI; TEC; and Snamprogetti. The bid submission date is 11th November, 2001, with two contractors to...

Toyo wins ammonia/urea contract.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... A Japanese-led consortium has been awarded a $205m basic and detailed contract for a 675,000 t/a ammonia and 1,070,000 t/a urea plant at Bandar Assaluyeh. The consortium, led by Toyo Engineering Corp (TEC), also consists of Chiyoda Corp and...

Granulation contract awarded.(Tecnimont to build unit for Petrochemical Industries)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... PIC has awarded an $87m engineering, procurement and construction contract for a new 578,000 t/a urea granulation unit to Italy's Tecnimont with local contractor Kharafi National. The granulation unit, using Hydro Agri technology, will be fed...

Pulawy privatisation cancelled.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Poland's treasury ministry has cancelled the proposed IPO of 35% of nitrogen fertilizer producer Zaklady Azotowe Pulawy after bids were received for only 500,000 of the 4.75m shares on offer. The offer may be relaunched later in the year if...

Bolivian AN plant proposal.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Plans have been floated for domestic fertilizer production within Bolivia to reduce the country's dependence upon imports. A proposal for a 66,000 t/a AN manufacturing facility by joint venture company Petroquimicia Boliviana has joined earlier...

Cytec to close ammonia unit.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Cytec Industries has said it will mothball its 440,000st/a Avondale ammonia plant in Louisiana. The plant has been shut down since April because of market conditions.

Hydro to revamp Ferrara.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hydro Agri has announced a revamp of its Ferrara ammonia/urea plant in northern Italy. The $17m project will be aimed primarily at the 500,000t/a ammonia plant, which it is hoped will boost urea output as well as CAN output at nearby Ravenna....

China moving closer to WTO membership.(World Trade Organization)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... China has resolved many of the outstanding issues with the US that were blocking entry to the World Trade Organisation. However, it is not anticipated that a full multilateral agreement will be reached this year.

Togliatti loan may unblock export plans.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... TogliattiAzot, Russia's largest ammonia producer, has secured $55m worth of loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Greek-based Black Sea Trade Development Bank. The loans are related to raw materials, energy,...

NAFCON plans restart.(ammonia, urea plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) is aiming to restart its shut-down ammonia/urea units, which have not produced any product since July 1999, when they were closed by maintenance and cash flow problems. A refit of...

New steel for urea production.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Swedish alloy manufacturer Sandvik has developed a special stainless steel specifically for the production for urea, in cooperation with Dutch urea technology company Stamicarbon. Safurex has improved resistance to corrosive carbamate solutions...

Urea anti-dumping measures imposed.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The EU has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on eight exporters of urea, for actions during the period 1/7/99 - 30/6/00. Although exports from Poland and Egypt were found not to have materially injured the European fertilizer industry,...

More urea/AN capacity planned.(Turkmenistan plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The government of Turkmenistan has signed a $240m contract with Turkish contractor GAP Insaat Yatyrym to build an AN/urea complex at Tedzhen in the south of the country. The plant will have a capacity of 350,000 t/a of urea and 150,000 t/a of...

Offtake agreement for Oswal.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The planned 660,000 t/a Burrup Fertilizers joint venture ammonia plant is moving ahead, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Indian partner Oswal Chemicals and Fertilziers and Norsk Hydro which could see Hydro taking all of...

Degussa to sell [dmc.sup.2].(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Degussa is to sell its precious metals and catalysts division, [dmc.sup.2] to the US-based OM Group for [euro]1.2bn, including debts of [euro]600m. The move is part of a Degussa divestment strategy aimed at a sole focus on speciality chemicals....

MG sells off Lurgi.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Financially troubled German industrial combine Metalgesselleschafr has agreed to sell its Lurgi Metallurgie business to Finnish company Outokumpu Technology for [euro]52m, subject to approval from national regulatory agencies. Outokumpu...

Rumours of MTBE's death may have been greatly exaggerated.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... In a boost for the methanol industry, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied California the right to waive the 2% w/w federal oxygen mandate for reformulated gasoline (RFG). California, the largest consumer of MTBE, has since...

US gas prices on their way back down again.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... US natural gas prices have once again confounded industry pundits, this time by moving down faster than anticipated after last winter's peak. Demand for natural gas has turned out to be more price sensitive than was previously believed, and...

Coal prices rising.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... After gas, now coal prices have leapt in the US. Stocks are at record low levels, and spot shortages are expected soon. It is believed that utilities desperate to avoid buying expensive gas may have caused the shortage. Low margins had forced...

GTL demonstrator plant for Oklahoma.(gas-to-liquid)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Conoco is to build a $75m gas to liquids (GTL) demonstrator plant at Ponca City in Oklahoma. The company has a proprietary process producing a high syngas yield with low carbon dioxide that suits the Fischer-Tropsch process. The demonstrator...

DMFC technology agreement.(direct methanol fuel cell)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Energy Ventures and the Alberta Research Council have agreed to jointly develop fuel cells using Energy Ventures' direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology. The Alberta Research Council will provide C$3m (US$l.9m) in research facilities,...

Yet more gas reserves discovered.(Atlantic LNG Co.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The Trinidad and Tobagan Energy Ministry has revised its estimates for non-associated gas reserves to a possible 940 bcm, of which 650 bcm is proven. This figure is 60 bcm up on the previous year, and provides ample supplies for Trinidad's...

GTL proposal under study.(Qatar gas to liquids plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... ExxonMobil is carrying out a feasibility study into the construction of a gas to liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar in conjunction with the Qatar General Petroleum Co (QGPC). The $3bn proposal, using ExxonMobil's Advanced Gas Conversion (AGC)-21...

GECF is not a new OPEC, say producers.(Gas Exporting Countries' Forum)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Representatives of major gas producing and exporting countries met in Tehran in May to launch the Gas Exporting Countries' Forum (GECF), while insisting that it did not represent a gas-based OPEC-style cartel. Present were Iran, Algeria,...

Peace talks revive pipeline plans.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The talks between India and Pakistan over the future of the disputed territory of Kashmir, have raised hopes that the Iran-India pipeline scheme may be resurrected. The scheme has always foundered on Indian fears that Pakistani terrorists might...

BP to build DME plant.(British Petroleum Co. methanol/dimethyl ether facility)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... BP is currently looking for a location to build a new 1.8m t/a methanol/dimethyl ether (DME) plant, to export the chemical onwards to India for use in power generation. DME is considered to be a cleaner fuel than LNG and can also be used in...

Floating GTL venture.(gas to liquids platform)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Syntroleum and Norwegian company Petroleum Geoservices are to form a joint venture to produce floating GTL platforms, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Syntroleum has been working with UK engineering firm AMEC to develop floating production...

MoUs signed on major gas development projects.(memorandum of understanding)
September 1, 2001... The opening up of Saudi Arabia's gas sector to western countries has begun with memoranda of understanding signed between the Saudi government and western oil majors. ExxonMobil will lead and operate the $15bn Core Venture 1 at South Gawar,...

Atlantic Methanol starts production.(Equatorial Guinea plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The Atlantic Methanol Production Co (AMPCO) has begun producing methanol at its plant in Equatorial Guniea. The first lifting, of 41,000 tonnes, was on May 24th, in one of two 45,000dwt tankers chartered by AMPCO from Mitsui OSK Lines. AMPGO is...

Kvaerner will take stake in MTO facility.(Kvaerner ASA)(methanol to olefins plant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Kvaerner has agreed to take an initial 25% stake in the $1.3bn, 400,000 t/a methanol to olefins (MTO) plant projected for the Egyptian Arab Trading Company (EATC) at Damietta. Originally slated for Suez, the project location has been moved to...

Pressure mounts to end flaring.(natural gas)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The Nigerian government has set a deadline of 2010 to end flaring of natural gas from the country's oilfields, with escalating penalties for companies thereafter if they continue. Nigeria flares the most natural gas of any country in the world...

Syntroleum sign access agreements.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Syntroleum has signed a 30-year lease on port facilities at Dampier for its Sweetwater gas to liquids (GTL) project. The $500m plant, to be sited on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, will use 133 mmBtu of gas per day to produce 10,000...

DME plant feasibility study for Karratha.(methanol/dimethyl ether plant in Australia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... As well as the Syntroleum and other projects progressing at the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, including ammonia/urea (Plenty River) and ammonia (Oswal) plants, a consortium of Japanese companies including Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals,...

People.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... John Archer has been elected president of the International Fertilizer Society for the 2001/02 season. An independent consultant, he has worked for the UK Ministry of Agriculture and has been vice-president of the Society for the past year. Dr...

Nitric Acid Producers' Conference - report.
September 1, 2001... The Nitric Acid Producers' meeting, which was organised by DuPont, was held at the Plaza San Antonio Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, from June 11th - 13th, 2001 As a direct result of the conditions in the North American nitrogen industry, the...

Taking a global approach.(CFPI-Nufarm/Lobeco Products Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Granulation aids and anti-caking agents for fertilizers - particularly ammonium nitrate - are one of the specialities of CEPI-Nufarm, of France, and its US-based partner company Lobeco Products, Inc. Originally founded in 1928 as Compagnie...

Methanol forum comes to London.(Synetix ICI Methanol Technology Operators' Forum )
September 1, 2001... Synetix's sixth methanol technology operators' forum was held at the Thistle Hotel, Marble Arch, London, from June 24th-27th. The biennial Synetix ICI Methanol Technology Operators' Forum (IMTOF) aims "to provide a focal point for every...

Building big.(large size urea plants)
September 1, 2001... For grassroots urea projects, substantially increasing the production capacity from a single line is the main preoccupation at the moment. We look at the approach of two process licensors to aspects of large-scale urea production. The...

A new process for large-capacity ammonia plants.
September 1, 2001... J Larsen [*] D Lippmann [*] C W Hooper [**] The capacity of a single-train ammonia plant can be extended well above today's largest whilst still using proven contemporary equipment by conducting the final synthesis in two stages...