Chexpress - April 21, 2011

North America

Capacity Expansion

Westlake Chemical Corp. is planning an expansion program to include increasing the ethane-based ethylene capacity at its Lake Charles, Louisiana facility and the evaluation of expansion options and the upgrade of ethylene production facilities at its Calvert City, Kentucky facility. As part of this program, each of the company’s two light feedstock ethylene crackers in Lake Charles will be expanded. It is expected this project would be completed by late 2012 and a second expansion completed by the end of 2014. In Calvert City, Westlake is evaluating converting from propane to ethane feedstock. Additionally, expansion options are being evaluated for the site.

Mining Services Lab

Clariant Corp. has added a laboratory to its oil mining services headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. The lab allows North American customers to send oil samples to The Woodlands rather than send them overseas to Clariant’s other laboratories in Europe an d Latin America. Initially, the laboratory can handle three or four samples per week.

$1M Gift

Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation gave a $1 million gift to Hope College in West Michigan. The funding will create an endowment for students working on research with biochemistry, chemistry and molecular biology faculty.

New Site

3M will locate a new manufacturing facility in Nashville. The company has purchased DuPont’s advanced composite technology facility there. About 40 people will be hired at the Nashville facility during the next three years. The facility will use 3M’s background in coating, film and non-woven technologies for the healthcare and homecare markets.

World

Capacity Expansion

Reliance Industries Limited is implementing a capacity expansion in India across its polyester chain. The planned capacity expansion will take place in phases during the next few years.

Selection Made

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Albemarle Netherlands’ joint venture, Saudi Organometallic Chemicals Co., has selected Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. to construct an aluminum alkyls manufacturing facility in Jubail. The project is expected to be mechanically complete in the third quarter of next year.

Oil Services Contract

Halliburton Co. has been contracted by Exxon Mobil Corp. to use three drilling rigs to provide oil drilling services at a large field under development in southern Iraq. The contract from ExxonMobil Ltd. covers services for 15 wells at the 8.6 billion-barrel West Qurna Phase I oil filed. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.