Acquisition

The PetroCarabobo JV will develop reserves in Venezuela’s Orinoco oil belt. The Orinoco belt holds up to 513 billion barrels of oil. Under the agreement, Repsol will coordinate an international consortium developing the project alongside PDVSA. Partners include Repsol, India ONGC and Petronas, each with 11% stake, PDVSA with 60% stake and Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd., each with 3.5% stake.

Maintenance

Statoil plans a short production stop at the Hammerfest LNG plant to inspect the sub-cooling unit in the LNG process. The stop will not influence the annual production at the plant.

Expansion

BASF is investing in methanesulfonic acid (MSA) production and plans to expand its existing plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. After finalization in 2012, BASF will have an annual MSA capacity of 30,000 tons. Expansion of the MSA plant will create 12 new jobs at the site.

Logistics Hub

CWT has opened its logistics complex in Singapore. The company will reportedly handle up to 330,000 tons of value-added polyolefins from Borouge per year, including packing, repacking and distribution to Borouge’s customers throughout Southeast Asia. Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis.

Petrochemicals Complex

Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corp. is planning to build a new petrochemicals complex in the emirate. The company is already in talks with partners on the project.

$20 Billion Investment

Samsung Group has announced its plant to spend $20.6 billion on health and green energy businesses by 2020. Samsung Group chose five areas as its new growth engines – solar cells, rechargeable cells for hybrid electric vehicles, light-emitting diode technologies, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Nitrile Plant

To meet the growing Chinese demand for nitrile rubber, Lanxess and TSRC are forming a 50/50 joint venture to build a $50 million plant in Nantong, China. The companies plan to begin construction on the 30,000 metric-ton/year plant in September, with startup planned for the first half of 2012.