Asia/Pacific
Singapore shifts energy focus from refining to specialty chemicals
These days, attracting new refinery projects isn't a "specific aim" of the EDB, a government agency that promotes Singapore as an investment destination. They instead want new investment in specialty chemicals, which they say isn't as crowded with competitors.
UOP licenses coal-to-olefins process to China plant
It is the fourth licensing win for UOP's advanced MTO process technology. The technology allows petrochemical producers in China and elsewhere to tap cheaper coal and natural gas feedstocks, rather than liquefied petroleum gas or oil, to produce olefins to meet growing demand for petrochemicals.
Honeywell to upgrade automation for Idemitsu at Japan refining complex
Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan's largest refining and petrochemical companies, said it hopes to modernize its control systems at Tokuyama while adopting global best practices and applications that can be added onto the Experion architecture quickly and with minimal disruption to operations.
Executives predict shale boom in Russia and China, but Europe lags behind
Torbjorn Tornqvist, chief executive of trading house Gunvor, said Wednesday it was clear that shale production on a scale similar to that in the US is possible in several of the world's biggest current energy producers and consumers -- but that Europe is unlikely to be transformed by it.
IEA warns of no progress on clean energy goals
The IEA estimates that a cut in the carbon emissions per unit of energy of more than 60% is needed to prevent global average temperatures rising by more than two degrees Celsius in the long term, and maintaining current levels would yield a temperature increase of six degrees Celsius.
Shell to expand Singapore petrochemical complex
Shell said the expansion will increase the plant's production capacity of alcohol ethoxylate. The investment comes at a time when the traditionally strong Asian petrochemical industry is seeing margins squeezed by a resurgence in investment in US petrochemical plants based on cheaper shale.
UOP technology to remove acid gases for Petronas floating LNG in Malaysia
The PFLNG 1 facility, designed to extract natural gas from offshore wells and liquefy and store it for later transport, will use UOP's Amine Guard FS process to remove carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) feed streams. The FLNG unit is scheduled to start up by the end of 2015.
Air Products to supply LNG heat exchangers for Petronas expansion project
Air Products' SplitMR liquefaction process and technology was selected and will be supplied to the Petronas LNG Train 9 Project. This project will produce 3.6 million tpy of LNG and is an expansion of the existing Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Australia's Woodside shelves Browse LNG project
Gas from the Browse development, which also counts Shell, BP and Asian companies as shareholders, will no longer be piped to a processing facility at James Price Point on the Western Australia state coast. The development offers a sign that Australia's energy construction boom may be peaking.
BASF taps Toyo as Asia-Pacific engineering partner for petrochemicals work
The three-year agreement covers basic engineering, detailed engineering, procurement, construction management, and other project-related services in the region's petrochemical and chemical sectors.

- CNOOC completes construction on $2.9-B, 1.8-MMtpy integrated complex in east China 8/22
- bp's Whiting refinery (U.S.) continues to flare days after severe thunderstorm 8/22
- Bachmann introduces latest version M-Target for Simulink 8/22
- U.S. to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait 8/22
- Chinese independent refiner Hongrun buys Canadian, Brazilian crude 8/22
- Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia 8/22