Specialty chemical market to grow
A new report forecasted the global market for specialty chemicals to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.79 percent from 2016 to 2021. The growth is reported to be due to increased exploration and production in the oil and gas sector and the rise of unconventional hydrocarbon recovery methods, according to the "Global Oilfield Specialty Chemical Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021)” report.
The market also faces challenges with the decline in crude oil prices and a global economic slowdown.
In particular, Brazil’s market is expected to lead in South America, Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and China and India in the Asia Pacific region.
The report is based on a study of nine companies: Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton Co., BAKER HUGHES Inc., Weatherford International Ltd., Lubrizol Corp, DOW Chemicals Co., Evonik Industries, AkzoNobel , BASF, Omnova Solutions, Inc. and Ecolab Inc.
Congress overhauling chemical safety law
The U.S. legislature is working to pass new chemical safety legislation for the first time in four decades.
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act. The 1976 law is widely considered ineffective and out of date for assessing the safety of chemicals in consumer goods today.
The revised version would give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to regulate the safety of a chemical before it is used in the marketplace and to evaluate existing chemicals with risks.
The bill is a collaboration between Republican Sen. David Vitter (Louisiana) and Democratic Sen. Tom Udall (New Mexico).
EPA issues alert on minimizing chemical releases during hurricanes
With hurricane season approaching, the EPA issued advice to operators of industrial facilities to help minimize chemical releases.
The Hazardous Weather Release Prevention and Reporting alert is designed to increase awareness among facility operators about their obligation to operate facilities safely and report chemical releases in a timely manner.
For example, before hurricane force winds and associated storm surge flooding can damage industrial processes and cause uncontrolled releases of hazardous chemicals, operators should take preventive action by safely shutting down processes (i.e. de-energize or isolate process equipment) or otherwise operate under emergency procedures.
Facilities that experience process shutdown-related or hazardous weather-induced releases, spills or discharges into the environment should notify the National Response Center (NRC), and appropriate State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) and Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), as soon as it becomes clear that such releases, spills or discharges exceed reportable quantities.
