Weekly News Round Up

This week's round-up of news and updates on previous stories

• Numerous reports suggest that Reliance Industries is moving quickly in its efforts to aquire LyondellBasell , with executives from the two companies meeting recently in Houston. Reliance is believed to be preparing to make a binding offer for LyondellBasell.

• The Chemical Engineer reports that the European Union has approved a substantial amount of funding for a number of green energy-related projects. The EU had previously set aside €4 billion for green energy projects and has now allocated €1.6 billion for carbon capture and storage projects and €0.6 billion for offshore wind energy projects.

• Shell has opened a state-of-the-art mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Singapore. The plant uses Shell's OMEGA process, which is claimed to have lower construction and operating costs and maximises the yield of MEG (producing less di and tri-ethylene glycols), when compared with other processes.

• BASF chairman Juergen Hambrecht has spoken positively about his company's fourth quarter results, which were above expectations. 2010 is expected to be 'difficult' given the volatility of global recovery and the fact that central bank interest rates are expected to rise.

• Ineos Bio, together with its partner New Planet Energy, has been selected for a $50M grant for its advanced bioenergy facility in Florida, USA. The facility to use INEOS Bio’s advanced BioEnergy technology to produce bioethanol and power from a range of feedstocks, including forestry waste, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops, construction waste and municipal solid waste.