PKN Orlen offered for sale second series of bonds

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PKN Orlen, one of the largest oil and gas companies in Europe, has offered for sale a second PLN 200m tranche of its bonds and expects the proceeds from the entire bond issue programme to reach approximately PLN 1bn, reported the company in its press-release.

This move was done in response to the enormous interest in PKN Orlen bonds on the part of investors, who subscribed to the entire PLN 200m of the first series of bonds in just two days.

The Series B bonds are being offered on the same general terms as the previous issue - they will bear interest based on the sum of 6M WIBOR and a margin of 1.5%, payable every six months. Subscriptions to the second series of was closed on 14 June 2013. The redemption period is four years, but investors will be able to sell or buy the securities through the Catalyst market operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The issue is viewed favourably by Fitch, who has assigned it the same high rating of BBB+ as that received by the first tranche of PKN Orlen bonds.

"We seek to meet the expectations of investors who are willing to invest in our debt. This is why we decided to respond to the huge demand for our first series of bonds, by launching another on the same terms," said PKN Orlen CEO Jacek Krawiec.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in late November 2012, PKN Orlen slid to a week-low after Bank Zachodni WBK SA recommended selling Poland's biggest oil refiner on expectations of lower refining margins. The stock declined 0.5 percent to 45.76 zloty, the lowest since 16 November, at the close in Warsaw. Trading volume was 45% of the daily average over the previous three months.

Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A. (PKN Orlen) is a Polish oil and gas company. It has a lot of petrol stations in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia. It is the biggest company in Poland and one of the biggest oil and gas companies in Europe. Polish group PKN Orlen PKNA is a majority owner - 63% of czech polyolefins manufacturer Unipetrol.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chinese giant Sinopec is in talks to take a stake in Novatek’s Yamal liquefied natural gas project, a report has claimed, said Upstreamonline.

A formal deal between the pair could be signed as early as next week, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the situation.

Novatek currently has an 80% stake in the project on the Yamal peninsula with French supermajor Total in for the other 20%.

In late May Gazprom axed its plans to take a working interest in Yamal to develop three gas fields. Last year, Gazprom and Novatek signed a memorandum of understanding on joint co-operation to tap the three deposits, with the independent player getting a 25% stake in the planned joint venture.

Gazprom still holds a 10% stake in Novatek, which is lobbying the government to allow unrestricted LNG exports from South Tambey, bypassing Gazprom’s monopoly.

Also last month, Novatek commissioned France’s Technip to carry out an eight-month open book exercise to come up with a cost estimate and plans to execute the project, so as to make a final investment decision.

The Yamal facility will have an annual production capacity of 16.5 million tonnes and will be based on the resources of the South Tambey gas condensate field located on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula.

South Tambey’s proven and probable reserves are estimated at about 1.3 trillion cubic metres of gas.

In 2011, the Novatek and Total joint venture contracted CB &I Lummus of the US to conduct preliminary front end engineering and design work.

As MRC wrote previously, ConocoPhillips had joined up with Sinopec to explore for shale gas in China as the country grapples with the best way to exploit its potentially significant unconventional resources. This marks the official entrance of a third major international oil company into China's shale gas industry. Shell signed a similar agreement in 2009 with PetroChina before it green-lighted a more formal production sharing contract in March. Chevron signed a joint study agreement with Sinopec in April 2011 and began initial drilling in the first quarter. Other international oil majors such as BP and Total have said they are studying similar agreements, but have yet to announce any partnerships.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia's state oil and gas company Petronas plans to invest USD20 billion in its liquefied natural gas project in West Canada, one of the biggest investments aimed at capitalizing on cheap North American gas, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to a senior company official.

The company is planning two LNG trains of 6 million tpy each under the Pacific NorthWest LNG project by the end of 2019, Anuar Ahmad, head of Petronas' gas and power business, said in an email to Dow Jones Newswires.

The export terminal project in British Columbia was acquired by Petronas last year as part of its USD5.2 billion purchase of Canada's Progress Energy Resources. It is just one of several energy companies building LNG export terminals in Canada and the US to create outlets for surplus gas that has resulted from shale-drilling technology unlocking massive new reserves.

Royal Dutch Shell is spearheading one LNG venture at Kitimat, some 200 kilometers from the Petronas one, working with several Asian partners, including Japan's Mitsubishi. Another LNG project is a 50-50 joint venture between Chevron and Apache, also at Kitimat.

TransCanada was picked by Progress Energy to build, own and operate a 5 billion Canadian dollar (USD5.1 billion) pipeline that would transport natural gas to the terminal.

The project is crucial for Petronas as well as Malaysia, which has the third-largest oil-and-gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific region, but is struggling to maintain its status as a net exporter of fossil fuels.

Petronas aims to make a final investment decision on the West Canada project by the end of 2014 and start commercial operations by the end of 2018.

The Malaysian company is in talks to sell stakes in the project, Mr. Anuar said, after upstream energy company Japan Petroleum Exploration agreed in March to buy a 10% stake. Petronas is also looking for potential partners to be offtakers of the gas, he added.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries, the German specialty chemicals company, has launched its Composites Project House, based primarily in Marl, with a branch in Darmstadt, to develop new materials and system solutions for the lightweight construction sector, according to the company's press release.

This is Evonik’s tenth project house. Among the topics addressed will be automotive and aviation applications and applications in the domain of renewable energies. Having established the Composites Project House, the specialty chemicals company is intensifying its strategic research for resource-efficient, sustainable solutions, particularly in the field of mobility.

"Our aim in setting up the Composites Project House is to expand our expertise in the field of composites. Innovative composites will make it possible to improve resource efficiency significantly at the same time," says Dr. Dahai Yu, Evonik’s Executive Board member responsible for the Specialty Materials segment, who believes that composite materials for the lightweight construction sector are an attractive market for Evonik.

The research findings are then commercialized by Evonik’s operating units or an internal start-up.

Evonik has been offering composites for specific applications in the lightweight construction industry for some time now: ROHACELL as a structural foam in fiber-reinforced composite parts, VESTAMIN as a hardener component for thermoset matrix systems, and VESTAKEEP as a matrix for thermoplastic composites, to name just a few examples.

As MRC informed previously, last summer Evonik Industries developed and launched on the market a novel combination of bio-based high-performance polyamides and bio-based high-performance fibers. Reinforcing fibers are often mixed into a plastic to improve its mechanical properties. Polyamide grades of VESTAMID Terra with rayon fibers retain the high bio-content along with excellent reinforcing potential. The combination of viscose fibers and polymer matrix offers a significantly improved carbon balance.

In 2012, Evonik invested EUR393 million in research and development to be able to offer customers and partners innovative products, solutions, and methods.

Evonik, the industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2012 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around EUR13.6 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.6 billion. The international rating agency Moody's has upgraded the credit rating of Evonik Industries AG from Baa3 with a positive outlook to Baa2 with a positive outlook. The rating agency quotes, among other things, the robust operational performance.
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