Chemically-treated sawdust and some micro-organisms can efficiently clear oil spills and treat petroleum refinery effluents, say Nagpur-based scientists who are ready to transfer the technology to industry. Researchers at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) have developed a two-step process that can recover about 90-95 per cent of spilled oil, says a report. In the first step, sawdust is treated with alkali under high pressure and temperature. This gives very small pore sizes ranging between 10 and 20 micrometres (a micrometer is one-thousandth of a millimeter), which doubles the surface area of sawdust from 42 square metres per gram to 96 square metres per gram, enhancing adsorption of oil. In the next step, a group of micro-organisms selectively degrades oil or petroleum refinery effluents.

Offshore drilling index falls

Global Marine Inc said last week that its Score index of worldwide day rates for offshore oil drilling rigs fell for a third consecutive month in July. The index fell one per cent to 71.4 in July from 72.1 in June but was up 9.8 per cent from July 1997 and up 105.9 per cent from its level of five years ago. The regional Score index for day rates in the US Gulf of Mexico fell 4.7 per cent -- its sharpest month-on-month decline since February 1995 -- to 57.1 in July from 60.0 in June. The July index value for the Gulf of Mexico was down 3.8 per cent from July 1997, but up 46.2 per cent from five years ago. Global Marine president and chief executive Bob Rose said weakness in worldwide oil prices had continued to depress offshore drilling activity, particularly in the US Gulf. US Gulf dayrates for some jack-ups -- rigs that operate in relatively shallow waters -- had fallen from $50,000 earlier this year to less than $25,000, he said.

Plastic Omnium, Solvay venture

France's Plastic Omnium and Belgian group Solvay said last week that they created a 50-50 joint venture in Brazil for the production and marketing of fuel systems consisting of plastic fuel tanks and filling tubes. The new company called Plastauto Ltd will be jointly managed by Solvay Automotive and by Plastic Omnium's Fuel Systems. "The common goal is to supply the major car companies in Brazil. The parent companies have already received orders from Daimler-Chrysler, General Motors, Isuzu, and Renault," the statement said. Plastauto will manufacture and market its products from two sites one in the Curitiba area (State of Panama) from 1998 onwards and the other in the Taubate region (State of Sao Paulo)from the year 2000.

Japan oil firms to undergo revamp

Japan's oil companies are likely to undergo substantial restructuring amid a severe business environment and intensifying competition, Moody's Investors Service said in a report released last week."There is a strong need for the industry to restructure and consolidate in order to allow the surviving companies to boost their returns on assets," the ratings agency said. Moody's said the combination of a weak economic environment and price competition in the gasoline market, as well as the general overcapacity in the sector, would continue to pressure oil companies' business. "It is possible that the government could provide the industry with financial incentives and resources to facilitate the transition," the report said.

Cuban agency to tackle oil spill

A new Cuban environmental agency faced a baptism by fire a day after it was set up when 100 tonnes of oil spilled into Havana Bay from an oil refinery, a local paper reported. The State Group for the Cleaning Up, Conservation and Development of Havana Bay, created only 24 hours before the spill, declared an environmental emergency and implemented contingency plans to clean up the slick and prevent it spreading, Sunday's Havana Tribuna said. The oil spilled from the Nico Lopez refinery, which has been responsible for similar spills in past years. According to the Tribuna, the refinery claimed that 21 tons of crude oil spilled into the bay, but during the clean-up the State Group filtered out more than 100 tonnes of oil. The rapid action of the new agency prevented oil from passing out of the mouth of bay and contaminating nearby beaches where tens of thousands of Havanans spend summer days. Delek to sell chemical unitsDelek the Israel Fuel Corp said last week that it was in advanced talks to sell off its holdings in three chemical companies to an unnamed Israeli company. In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Delek said it was looking to sell its 35 per cent stake in Gadot Biochemical Industries, its 25 per cent holding in Gadot Chemical Tankers & Terminals and its 23 per cent stake in Gadot Chemical Terminals. In July, Delek said it had approved a restructuring plan in which it would issue its entire shareholidng in its Delek Investments & Properties division as a dividend to shareholders. The Gadot companies belong to this division.

Iranian petrol consumption up

Petrol consumption in Iran is growing faster than envisaged in the country's five-year development plan, Iranian state television reported on Sunday. Daily petrol consumption, in the country which is one of the world's top five oil exporters, had reached a record 36.6 million litres, four million of which had to be imported, the report said. Domestic fuel demand was forecast to grow three per cent annually in the current development plan which ends in 2000. But the television said fuel demand had increased by seven per cent since July 23. Heavy state price subsidies, smuggling and inefficient fuel use have fanned domestic petroleum demand which threatens the country's oil export potential, according to industry analysts. These factors helped push petrol use in the last Iranian year, which ended on March 20, to 35 million litres, a hike of four per cent.

CNPC sets $336 profit target

Revamped China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) aims to boost output in the second half of the year to achieve profits of 2.79 billion yuan ($336 million) for all of 1998, the China Daily Business Weekly said last week. CNPC had asked its oilfields to raise daily output to 298,500 tonnes by the end of September, the newspaper quoted CNPC president Ma Fucai as saying. CNPC pumped 53 million tonnes in the first six months of this year and planned to produce 107.8 million tonnes of crude oil in the whole of 1998, it said. CNPC also aimed to produce 15.1 billion cubic metres of gas this year. The corporation reduced oil output by 1.27 million tonnes in the first half due to weak domestic demand and a flood of imported and smuggled oil products, it said. CNPC, producer of 67 per cent of China's crude oil, recorded 10.18 billion yuan in profits last year, it said.

Maoming ups refining capacity

China's Maoming Petrochemical Corp, parent of Maoming Petrochemical Shihua Co Ltd has raised its annual oil refining capacity to 13.5 million tonnes from 9.5 million tonnes, Xinhua news agency said. Maoming boosted its refining capacity after putting into operation a fourth set of distillation facilities, Xinhua said in an overnight report seen last week. The new facilities made Maoming China's first oil refiner to have capacity exceeding 10 million tonnes, Xinhua said. Maoming's ethylene output capacity had also risen to 380,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes per year, Xinhua said but gave no further details. Maoming is planning to increase the capacity of its 17 billion yuan ethylene project to 400,000 tonnes by the end of the century.

Scientists to make plastics from algae

Under a project funded by the department of biotechnology, scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory (ncl) in Pune are hoping to produce cheap, non-polluting, biodegradable polymer from genetically engineered spirulina, a fast growing algae. The algae will carry gene that synthesises the bio-polymers known as "polyhydroxyalkanoates (phas)." The us chemical company Monsanto is already commercially producing a plastic material called "bio-pol" by fermentation of the bacterium "alcaligenes eutrophus." But the cost of production is high.