Differentiated chemicals manufacturer Huntsman Corp. said it will increase capacity at its Geismar, LA, worldscale methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) facilities. Capacity will be increased by 50,000 tons to 500,000 tons using improved process technology developed by Huntsman and will enable the company to support growth of its key customers and leverage the advantages of the Geismar site and its access to U.S. shale gas, strong logistics base and excellent integration, Huntsman said. “The benefits of U.S. shale gas have significantly improved the economics of investing in U.S. facilities, and Huntsman has a number of other investments planned which will take advantage of lower-cost natural gas,” said Anthony Hankins, president of Huntsman polyurethanes. The new capacity is expected to come on-stream in 2014 and will further consolidate Huntsman’s position as the leading MDI producer in the Americas region, the company said. Huntsman also said it will upgrade its downstream specialties production capability at its Rotterdam, the Netherlands site. The cost of the two projects is $135 million.
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House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) reintroduced legislation (H.R. 5429) this week that would open 2,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling. “There is no logical reason to oppose safe energy exploration and production on ANWR’s northern coastal plain,” Pombo said, adding that President Jimmy Carter created the 20 million-acre area in 1980, setting aside 1.5 million acres on the northern coastal plain for the specific purpose of future energy exploration and development. The 2,000 acres requested to be opened to drilling in ANWR’s 1002 area would be a small fraction of that total, yet it could provide 10.4 billion bbl of recoverable oil, which is more than double the proven reserves in the state of Texas, Pombo said. He predicted that peak oil production from the area being set aside could total 1.5 million bbl/d, which is nearly equal to what the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia every day.
