The expenditure for global downstream asset maintenance is set to hit $322 billion between 2015 and 2019, up 12 per cent when compared to the previous five-year period, said a report.

LACK of clear thinking about the challenges ahead worries me at the moment. I am concerned that petrochemicals companies, because of the strong profitability they have enjoyed so far this year, might well not be adequately prepared for the fault lines opening up the global economy.

Three data points show that markets fell during first half of 2015