Sohar Saudi to halt gasoline imports with low-octane fuel Posted: Trade Arabia, 11 October 2006
Saudi Arabia, where high crude prices have caused oil demand to soar, may be able to temporarily stop importing over 500,000 barrels a month of gasoline when it starts selling a lower-octane grade at retail pumps from January.
State oil firm Saudi Aramco this summer announced plans to begin offering 91-octane gasoline at domestic pumps for 20 percent less than 95-RON, its current staple, since most modern cars can run normally on the lower-quality grade.
One industry source said the kingdom expected more than half its drivers to switch fuels immediately, changing the balance for a country that consumes about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the motor fuel.
"If there are no refinery outages, Saudi will be sufficient to meet domestic demand," an industry source familiar with the move told Reuters. "It will go from net short to balanced."
The 91-RON fuel is easier to produce and requires fewer octane-boosting components, which are difficult to make with Saudi Arabia's mainly heavier, sour crudes. The industry source said 60-70 percent of drivers are expected to use the cheaper grade.
Analysts say production may increase by 5-10 percent, or up to 30,000 bpd, thanks in part to blending some of the kingdom's massive naphtha surplus into the gasoline pool.
Output already got a fillip earlier this year after Aramco revamped its 35,000-bpd platformer at its Yanbu refinery into a 40,000-bpd-plus continuous catalyst regeneration unit (CCR).
That upgrade caused months-long hitches at the facility, forcing Aramco into a summer spate of gasoline imports that boosted prices and reinforced the view of the Middle East as an increasingly key piece of the global oil product trading puzzle.
Although it is the world's biggest exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has struggled to keep up with rising domestic demand for certain fuels amid a petrodollar-driven economic boom and a young, wealthy car-addicted citizenry used to cheap gasoline.
From next year, Aramco will sell 91-RON gasoline at 0.60 halalas ($0.16) per litre, while continuing to offer its existing 95-octane grade at 75 halalas. It says on its Web site (www.9195.com.sa) that about 85 percent of cars in the kingdom should be able to run on the lower-octane fuel.
But its self-sufficiency may be short lived if demand grows at 15,000 bpd or more a year, at least until nearly 1 million bpd of new refining capacity comes online around 2010.
"The reduction of product prices, notably gasoline at the retail level, should keep demand growth this year for mogas at 6 percent or perhaps higher," said Al Troner of Houston-based consultancy Asia Pacific Energy Consulting.- Reuters
New gas solution launched Posted: Trade Arabia, 14 October 2006
Honeywell Analytics has added the new XP Mineral Acid Chemcassette to its MDA Scientific's Chemcassette range, the world's leading continuous monitoring gas solution. The new XP Mineral Acid Chemcassette provides up to three months of continuous monitoring for the mineral acid, hydrides and other industrial gases, said a spokesman.
The launch of XP Mineral Acid coincides with the new ACGIH reduced toxic level threshold (TLV) value for hydrofluoric acid (HF) in 2005 that has been reduced for additional safety precaution.
The new TLV is even harder to detect by other established sensing technologies, such as electrochemical sensor and infrared spectroscopy, but is still well within the sensitivity range of the field proven paper tape technology available exclusively from MDA Scientific.
Now in production for more than 25 years, MDA Scientific Chemcassette technology remains the world leader in continuous gas monitoring. Using an optical scanning system to detect the presence of gas by a colour change on the specially chemically impregnated paper tape, Chemcassette technology is highly specific and reacts extremely fast to the presence of parts per billion (ppb) levels of many hazardous gases.
Benefiting from years of development and refinement by Honeywell Analytics' chemists, and supported by the highest technical developments and innovations, Chemcassette technology supports more than 200,000 points of gas detection around the globe, including as part of MDA Scientific's acclaimed Vertex 72-point gas detection system.
XP Mineral Acid Chemcassette is now available worldwide.
Palm Deira project contract Posted: Trade Arabia, 25 September 2006
The Dubai based property developer Nakheel has awarded a dredging and reclamation for Palm Deira to Van Oord Gulf, Netherlands. The value of the contact is estimated as Usd 2,900 Million.
The scope of the project involves dredging of 1000 Million cubic meters of sand and placing of 40 Million tonnes of rock over a period of eight years. It is stated that the project would require about half of the world's current dredging fleet to complete the works within schedule. The contractor Van Oord has placed about 50 Million cubic meters out of total of 250 Million cubic meters for the Deira Corniche, under the scope of an earlier contract awarded in the year 2003.
As per plans Palm Deira will have an area of more than 80 sqare kilometers and will be 14 kilometers long and 8.5 meters wide. The crescent will run for 21 kilometers and consists of districts and six water inlets. The Palm Deira will comprise of 41 fronds varying in length compared with 17 fronds of other palms. The project on completion will add an extra shore line of 400 kilometers to Dubai.
Jebel Ali port capacity to increase 10-fold Posted: Trade Arabia, 26 October 2006
The container capacity at Dubai's Jebel Ali Port will increase nearly 10-fold to 67 million twenty foot-equivalent-units (TEUs) by 2030 from the current 7-8 million, a report said.
There are over 5,500 companies registered with the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza), including 140 Fortune 500 firms and dozens of internationally renowned brands. Latest figures show a huge 41 per cent jump in exports, said the Gulf News report quoting a statement.
The figures were revealed during a visit to the zone by a 64-member delegation of business leaders from the West African state of Ghana.
They were given a detailed presentation of Jafza's achievements and future plans, including the synergy that will be created when the Jebel Ali Airport is completed.
