More than two weeks ago, Platts reported the startup based on confirmations from market sources and a notice from ExxonMobil on a community service hotline that said intermittent flaring was occurring "as a result of our scheduled startup efforts."

ExxonMobil's new linear low density PE plant is among 13 newbuild PE plants starting up between 2017 and 2019 in Texas and Louisiana. Of those, eight had started up, and ExxonMobil's unit was one of the remaining five to start up through the end of 2019.  Read more...

Tass.com, July 23, 2019: Lukoil made an investment decision to create a polypropylene plant at the Nizhny Novgorod Refinery, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian oil major Vagit Alekperov told reporters on Tuesday.

"The investment decision has already been made to build a polypropylene plant with the provisional capacity of 500,000 tonnes. We have our own feedstock, and this [production] will be intended for exports in particular," the top manager said.    Read more...

Finance.yahoo.com, July 24, 2019: Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Baker Hughes (BHGE) reports results for the quarter ended June 2019. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 31, 2019, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.   Read more...

Forbes.com, July 23, 2019: The missing link of the " New Silk Highway" is set to finally be completed. Construction has begun on a new highway that will stretch from Russia's border with Kazakhstan to Belarus, serving as a critical part of the  China-Western Europe transport corridor-an infrastructure mega-project that has  been described as the "construction of the century."

Once completed, the China-Western Europe transport corridor is meant to be the primary nervous system of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the overland portion of China's Belt and Road initiative.    Read more...

Justauto.com, July 22, 2019: Sibur and Gazprom Neft have consolidated 100% of the authorised capital in Poliom, a polypropylene plant in Omsk.

Launched in 2013, Poliom is one of Russia's largest polypropylene facilities. In 2014, Poliom became the basis for a JV of Gazprom Neft (25%) Sibur (25%) and the Titan Group (50%). Its annual capacity is 218 kt of advanced products with a mix of some 100 grades.  Read more...

Tass.com, July 23, 2019: Saudi Aramco has taken interest in joining two Lukoil projects in Uzbekistan, Kandym and Hissar, but companies have not held negotiations on this issue so far, Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov told reporters on Tuesday.

"They show interest but no negotiations have been held as yet. They have not made any proposals for the time being," the top manager said.

Saudi Aramco expressed desire to join Kandym and Hissar projects in Uzbekistan eighteen months ago, Alekperov noted. "No activities so far," he added.   Read more...

Chron.com, July 23, 2019: The liquefied natural gas arm of oilfield service company TechnipFMC has been awarded a $7.6 million contract to build an LNG export terminal in the Russian part of the Arctic Circle.

In a Monday afternoon statement, TechnipFMC announced that Russian natural gas company Novatek awarded the oilfield service company an engineering, procurement construction contract to build the Arctic 2 LNG export terminal on the Gydan Peninsula of Siberia.

The project includes three production units that will each make 6.6 million tons of LNG per year for a total of 24.6 million tons per year. TechnipFMC previously built Novatek's Arctic LNG export terminal on the nearby Yamal Peninsula.   Read more...

Rusaviainsider.com, July 24, 2019: Aeroflot is planning to acquire long-range wide-body aircraft with a capacity of more than 400 seats. According to documents posted on a procurement portal, Russia's prime carrier will, on a competitive basis, select a consultant tasked with determining the optimal type of future wide-bodied airliners for Russia's flagship airline.

Currently, the only aircraft types operated by Aeroflot that satisfy the 400-plus seats category are its Boeing 777-300ERs, all of which are configured in a three-class layout and which can carry a maximum of 402 people - 324 in economy class, 48 in premium economy and 30 in business. Potentially, more than 400 passengers can be uplifted by the new re-engined B777-9 modification version that can accommodate between 400 and 425 passengers in standard layout - as well as the Airbus A350-1000 and the Airbus A330neo family.   Read more...

Aviationpros.com, July 25, 2019: Air Astana and S7 Airlines, Russia's biggest private airline, have strengthened their cooperation by signing a codeshare agreement for flights between Russia and Kazakhstan. Effective for flights operated from 15th July 2019, Air Astana flights from its hubs at Nur-Sultan and Almaty, to Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg now carry the code of S7 Airlines. Similarly, S7 Airlines services from Nur-Sultan and Almaty to Novosibirsk now carry the code of Air Astana.

The agreement enables passengers of both airlines to purchase tickets and travel across the combined network seamlessly. S7 Airlines passengers from across Russia will now have access to ten weekly flights connecting the S7 Airlines hub in Novosibirsk to and from the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan.    Read more...

Rusaviainsider.com, July 24, 2019: Aeroflot subsidiary  Pobeda Airlines, Russia's only low-cost carrier (LCC), has launched its own online tour operator called PobedaTravel to offer tour package holidays across the carrier's entire destination network.

It includes flights combined with hotel accommodation and other packaged items such as transfers and insurance etc according to customer demand. Services will be sold under the Pobeda brand, which is now in the list of Russian tour operators.

"Our team has launched PobedaTravel, a stand-alone service with its own website, promotion and social networks, which will aggregate the best accommodation and ticket options in the airline's entire network. Customers will be able to find offers with saving of up to 15 per cent," enthuses Andrey Kalmykov, the airline's chief executive.   Read more...

Emerging-europe.com, July 24, 2019: Azerbaijan's state energy firm SOCAR has opened its first petrol station in Austria, in the city of Graz, the Azeri press has reported.

According to SOCAR Energy Holdings, the company's subsidiary in Switzerland, the company will launch another petrol station in the Austrian city in late July.

SOCAR entered the Austrian market after it purchased British energy firm A1. The company is expected to rebrand all 82 gas stations formerly belonging to A1 over the next few years.

"SOCAR has become one of the leading energy companies in Switzerland since entering the market of this country in 2012. We want to use this experience in Austria," Edgar Bachmann, head of SOCAR Energy Holdings said on July 24.   Read more...

Menaftn.com, July 24, 2019: At a meeting with the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Vice-President of China CAMCE Engineering Wang Yuhang told about projects that the company will be implementing in Azerbaijan ,Trendreports referring to the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan.

The creation of an agrarian-industrial park in Azerbaijan and a joint enterprise with the Chinese company for processing agricultural products, the activities of the Chinese partner in industrial parks and neighborhoods, and setting up enterprises for the production of agricultural and household appliances were discussed during the meeting.

"Trade and economic relations between the two countries are developing, and Chinese companies are working and implementing joint projects due to the creation of a favorable business environment in Azerbaijan," said the Minister of Economy.   Read more...

Ria.ru, 24 июля, 2019: Продовольственное агентство Сингапура разрешило экспорт замороженной птицы из России, говорится в сообщении Россельхознадзора.

«Это даже выше целевых показателей, установленных в федеральном проекте «Экспорт продукции АПК», который является частью национального проекта по международной кооперации и экспорту», - отметил премьер.

Он сообщил, что Россия вошла в число стран-лидеров по экспорту зерна.

«Расширяется и география экспорта, включая наших крупных партнёров в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе (Китай, другие страны). Есть интерес к нашей сельхозпродукции и в Африке, и в странах Ближнего Востока. И конечно, всем этим мы должны обязательно воспользоваться», - сказал Дмитрий Медведев.  Читать далее...

Trt.net, 25 июля, 2019: Шестнадцатое заседание смешанной российско-турецкой межправительственной комиссии по торгово-экономическому сотрудничеству пройдет 26 июля в Анталье, сообщает Министерство торговли Турции.

Председательствовать на заседании будут министр торговли Турции Рухсар Пекджан и министр энергетики России Александр Новак.

Темами заседания станут ликвидация препятствий на пути развития торговых и экономических связей Турции и России и возможности многостороннего сотрудничества для развития торговых связей.   Читать далее...