NEW YORK (Reuters) - LyondellBasell's U.S. operations filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, weighed down by a heavy debt and decreased demand due to the economic downturn.

The world's third-largest petrochemical company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, included almost 80 units of the company.

LyondellBasell Industries <ACCEIN.UL> is owned by Russian- born billionaire Len Blavatnik through New York-based Access Industries and is based in the Netherlands. It also has a Houston office, where Lyondell was based before it was purchased in 2007.

The company has suffered from plunging demand for chemicals as industries such as autos, housing and electronics weakened. Tight credit markets have made renegotiating debt difficult.

The privately held company has struggled under a heavy debt burden, much of which was taken on a year ago in the $12.7 billion leveraged buyout ofLyondell by Basell.

Among the largest creditors were Venezuelan oil company Petroles Der Venezuela (PDVSA), Algerian energy group Sonatrach, Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> and Dow Chemical Co <DOW.N>.

LyondellBasell's lenders include Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N>, Citigroup Inc <C.N>, ABN AMRO and UBS Securities LLC <UBSN.VX><UBS.N>, according to filings.

LyondellBasell, which employs 17,000 workers and had revenue of $44.7 billion in 2007, has seen its liquidity drop to $639 million currently from $1.67 billion at the end of the third quarter, falling short of its quarterly interest and maintenance costs.

(Reporting by Chelsea Emery; Editing by Andre Grenon)

Publié le 06 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Reuters