petrochemical

Dow announces 6% workforce cuts; U.S. chemical capex to shrink 18% in 2020; Pemex chemical production drops

Aug 18, 2020

News Briefs

Covid-19 impact to hike turnaround contractor costs in 2021, 2022

Aug 4, 2020

Availability became plentiful immediately after the pandemic hit in 2020 due to multiple turnaround and construction postponement turning the contractor business into a buyer’s market. Yet the delays may lead to a bottleneck into the coming years.

Covid-19 brought sudden productivity hikes to chemical operations

Jul 7, 2020

While Covid-19 has been mostly associated with negative impacts, particularly on decreased product demand as well as project deferments, the productivity increase is an unexpected positive side.

Tight margins to speed up need for digitalization after Covid-19 proved value

Jun 22, 2020

The need for savings to face shrinking margins should speed up digitalization efforts by oil and petrochemical companies after Covid-19 helped prove the value of past investment.

Shell controls Covid-19 after restarting Pennsylvania construction but other risks loom

Jun 9, 2020

Shell interrupted on March 18 the construction of this complex where it has a 100% interest and begun a restart in stages on May 4. Once built, it will crack ethane from Northeast shale basins into ethylene to polymerize into 1.6 million tonnes of...

PTTGC sets FID deadline by Q1 2021, Dow Canada PE expansion timeline unchanged, Braskem losses deepen

Jun 9, 2020

News Briefs

Covid-19 seen slowing efforts to reduce single-use plastics and recycling

May 12, 2020

After decade-long efforts to curb down on single-use plastics resulted this year in a wave of plastic bag bans, it took only weeks for Covid-19 to change that course. Now oil prices could slow recycling efforts at a time when environment concerns are set to...

Petrochemical companies work to overcome imbalances caused by Covid-19

Apr 21, 2020

Before Covid-19 petrochemical plants could depend on co-production of multiple chemical intermediates with predictable demand for each but producers now struggle to find new balances, executives participating on a Petrochemical Update webinar on April 16,...

Chemical companies preserve cash and cut exposure amid uncertainty

Apr 7, 2020

Companies in Canada, Latin America, and the United States opted for risk-reduction decisions as the timeline for resolving the Covid-19 crisis appeared indefinite.

Petrochemicals used to make medical devices see price hikes as coronavirus spreads

Mar 23, 2020

Demand for these intermediate chemicals is pulled by companies that produce finished products, which in turn face such a high number of orders that distributors were told they would remain unattended due to the urgent need to directly supply the healthcare...

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