Iran is Expecting New Petchem Plants

Hamidreza Seyyed Jafari, the corporate planning director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), is quoted to have mentioned that new petrochemical plants, targeting to produce propylene-chain will be launched at the refineries of Imam Khomeini, Shazand and Isfahan.

Iran is expecting to churn out as much as $14 Billion of petrochemical export revenue by 2012.

Most of the products are second level derivatives such as polyethylene, methanol, benzene, ammonia, sulphur and PVC.

It would be interesting to note that United States is currently fighting for a sanction and trying to get Europe on table on Iran.

Dim Outlook on Iran's Petrochemical Sector

Iran's Petrochemical sector is expected to be badly affected by the recent announcement by the US Government to impose yet another sanction. This time it is specifically targeting Iran's petrochemical industry.

The sanction can be as soon as next Monday.

Iran has responded that it is largely a political motive by the IAEA and the United States in accusing Iran of having nuclear power. European countries are expected to follow suit, but not immediately, especially during these times as the bloc is fighting its own economic turmoil and companies with roots in Europe are feeling nervous.

Further sanctions will hurt the companies having business deals on the petrochemical industry with Iran.

Introduction to Production Engineering for Undergraduates

This is a new section, to share our experience in the petrochemical industry. This is like chemical engineering 101 but only difference is, this is the stuff that they do not teach you at university, more of practices in the petrochemical industry and rule of thumbs for design, in order to accelerate anyone who just enters the industry.

In broader sense, petrochemical or oil and gas is not that far of difference, talking from design and

Kuwait to Build Two Petchem Plants

Kuwait's Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company will be expanding its presence in the petrochemical business with two upcoming plants producing purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with combined cost of US$ 700 million.

It will be a joint venture with United Industries Co with the new JV company to be called United Petrochemical Company.

Oil & Gas Engineering Market to be Severely Uptight

With demands of new oil and gas related plants, especially petrochemicals projects coming up with the world economic demand, it is highly forecasted that the engineering market will be severely impacted.

This is coupled with the highly skilled engineers are now reaching their retirement age within the next decade. Engineering professionals will be highly sought after beginning of 2012 onwards, a source familiar with the arena told.

Malaysia Announced New Refinery-Petchem Complex

Prime Minister of Malaysia has announced a new Refinery-Petrochemical Complex known as RAPID Project to be developed by the country's national oil company, PETRONAS in the southern part of Johor.

The complex which estimated to cost US$ 20 Billion will be decided by 2012. Currently it is under Detailed Feasibility Study and PETRONAS is finalizing the partners for the project.

It is estimated to spur domestic growth and attract foreign investment into the country. PETRONAS officials mentioned that the project will focus on high value addition products to move away from commodities.

Berkshire Hathaway Acquired Lubrizol

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has acquired Lubrizol for $9.7 Billion or $135/share in an all-cash transaction. The transaction includes $700 million in debt of the lubricant business company. There is only four well-known detergent companies globally with the recent fifth coming from China. The move is seen as Warren's new agenda towards the energy market.