A roundtable discussion centered on the problems of the gas chemical industry has been held in Russia. The topics of discussion were the “shale revolution in the US”, the opportunities for developing new projects in Russia, feedstock transportation problems, project funding issues and scientific developments in the field. Rafinat Yarullin, General Director of Tatneftekhiminvest-holding, has pointed out in his speech the willingness on part of gas-producing companies to develop gas-processing projects: “We used to have a perennial shortage of gas supply. It was always a huge task to have one’s plant supplied with gas, but nowadays it’s a no-problem thing. Gazprom’s chief managers all speak in the same breath: let’s develop our industry, take our gas, use our gas. People have started to talk about natural gas as car fuel, about its pollution-free nature. Both buses and private vehicles may use it, with reduced engine emissions: the reduction is from […]

Import deliveries of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to the Russian market shrunk by 23% y/y in the Jan-May period, writes Market Report. The country imported a total of 98.1 thousand tonnes of HDPE in the first 5 months of the year, vs. 128.2 thousand tonnes a year earlier. At the same time, the seasonal increase in demand, coupled with the idling of the Stavrolen plant, pushed the April and May imports up to the respective levels of 23.2 and 22 thousand tonnes of HDPE. Russia’s Jan-to-May imports of HDPE for extrusion coating declined by 14% from their previous-year level, with May deliveries shrinking to 3.2 thousand tonnes from 5.3 thousand tonnes in April. The customs duty on the imports of this type of polyethylene, currently set at 9.1%, has been suspended in a relatively recent decision, so we may yet see the imports rising in the months ahead. Pipe-grade HDPE imports […]

В случае, если в течение 3-5 лет Россия не осуществит переход с нефти на газ при производстве базовых продуктов нефтехимии, страна потеряет ценовую конкурентоспособность по всей линейке химической продукции. Уже сегодня Российская Федерация самостоятельно обеспечивает себя в этом стратегическом направлении лишь на 50 %.Благодаря переходу с нефти на газ при первичной переработке Соединенные Штаты и страны Ближнего Востока достигли себестоимости этилена в 200-300 долларов на тонну против 1000 долларов на тонну в Российской Федерации.Под ударом оказалось существование всего российского сектора переработки. Это более 200 градообразующих и бюджетообразующих предприятий страны, за которыми стоят тысячи предприятий среднего и малого бизнеса, обеспечивающих дальнейшие переделы.Перед нашей страной стоит стратегическая задача – развитие в течение коротких сроков системы газопереработки, создание газохимической отрасли.  Для этого имеются:  ресурсы, доступные технологии, квалифицированные кадры. Основными регионами, участвующими в реализации проектов, должны стать Западная Сибирь и Приволжский федеральный округ.

Alexey Ivanov, Head of Lukoil’s Production, Optimization and Coordination Department, has said that according to the company’s plans its polypropylene facilities at the Stavrolen plant, standing idle since a fire broke out in February 2014, should resume production in Q1 2015. The exact date will be determined nearer to the end of the year. Mr. Ivanov provided no detail regarding the cost of the repair effort at the plant. In a previous voicing of its plans, Lukoil said production should resume as early as in January 2015. The plant has been technologically prepared to produce polypropylene from (propylene) feedstock brought from outside since June 2014.

Создание новой отрасли промышленности по добыче, переработке и транспорта нетрадиционной нефти и газа в США и других регионах мира может привести к снижению мировых цен на нефть и природный газ  в ближайшие годы. Через секторальные санкции США и ЕС намерены ограничить экспорт в РФ новейших технологий добычи  нефти и газа.  В данный момент Россия не имеет экономических, технологических и других рычагов по влиянию на мировые цены на нефть и природный газ. Необходимо осуществить пересчет всех нефтегазовых проектов и бюджета России для негативного сценария – при падении цены на нефть на 30 и 50 долларов за баррель. Создавая новую отрасль энергетики на основе нетрадиционных нефти и газа, США создают 15 млн новых рабочих мест, приобретают энергетическую независимость от других регионов мира, приступают к экспорту углеводородов и создают базу для старта водородной энергетики. В то же время, в планах российских нефтяных компаний нет четких целей по переходу ТЭКа на новые виды энергоносителей, […]

LLC Baltic Gas Chemical Company (BGCC) has completed a preliminary geological survey of a Leningrad Oblast site where it supposes to build a methanol production complex. The proposed construction site will take up an area of 55 hectares in the eastern part of the Ust-Luga industrial zone. Selection of this particular site is favored by its nearness to federal and regional highways and its convenient location relative to power supply facilities. Leningrad Oblast Government has already granted its preliminary approval to the project. Gazprom and Novatek have in their turn confirmed their readiness to allocate requisite portions of their gas outputs to it. The future facilities will have an estimated production capacity of 1.7 mn tonnes of methanol per year, their annual natural gas consumption estimated at 1.5 bn cubic meters. The company plans to launch the complex in Q1 2018. The project also calls for the construction of a […]

A joint meeting, the latest in a series, has taken place at the grounds of OJSC Gazprom. Presiding at the event were Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller and the Chairman of the Executive Board of LLC MC Rusnano Anatoly Chubais. The parties discussed the adoption and use of innovative products at Gazprom’s facilities. The participants have agreed to build two pilot sections of pipeline out of composite materials.  The first will be a 90-km reserve branch supplying gas to the towns of Salekhard, Labytnangi and the settlement of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to the plan, the stretch will be constructed using 300, 700 and 1000 mm diameter pipes designed to operate at a pressure of 7.5 MPa. The second is a 14-km reserve underwater branch crossing the river Ob at a location in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug and serving as a part of the Yamburg-Tula-2 trunk […]

In the first 7 months of 2014 (January through July), sales of foreign-made polyethylene terephthalate (PET) on the Russian market grew by 35% y/y. A total of 143 thousand tonnes of PET was imported during the period, writes Market Report. The increase is seen as the result of competitive price pressure from China. PET producers of the People’s Republic managed to sell 98 thousand tonnes to Russia in H1, virtually doubling the previous-year figure. In the month of July, sales of China-made reached 21% of Russia’s total foreign PET intake, leading to a decline of PET shipments from South Korea. In the current situation, the weakening of the ruble against the US dollar is making foreign products more expensive. With this fact in mind, Russian producers have grounds to expect the lowering of demand for foreign-made competitively-priced feedstock in the second half of the year. To cite one example, in […]

n the nearest future, a contract may be signed by Russia and China that would provide for the construction of a western pipeline branch running across the territory of the Siberian Federal District, Russia’s presidential administration chief Sergei Ivanov told journalists. “Considering the pace of China’s economic growth – a factor mentioned by the president – and the fact that the parties have come to terms regarding the price formula, chances are high that in the nearest future they would follow that up with the signing of a contract to build a western pipeline route whose path will lie entirely within the territory of the Siberian Federal District. This (deal) may be not as capital-intensive, but nobody doubts that its cost would run into tens of billions of dollars,” said he. Mr. Ivanov reminded that a portion of the eastern branch of the Power of Siberia pipeline will run through […]