Hungarian import dependency may fall on new plant - MOL CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) - -Hungary's largest oil and gas company MOL Nyrt. laid the cornerstone of a butadiene plant in a move that may decrease Hungary's dependency on imports of the chemical, said The Wall Street Journal.

MOL is set to invest 120 million euros (USD162.7 million) in the plant of its petrochemical arm TVK, part of the company's 300-billion-forint (USD1.37 billion) three-year investment scheme.

Production of butadiene, a component used in synthetic rubber production, will be supplied to tire makers across Hungary, MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi said at an event in Tiszaujvaros, northeast Hungary.

The butadiene plant could help boost TVK's profits, because production of the chemical is more profitable than of other polymer products produced by TVK, MOL said in a statement.

The new plant will have an annual output of 130,000 metric tons from the second quarter of 2015, MOL said. MOL was trading 0.6% higher at HUF15,290 at 1116 GMT Tuesday.

Mr. Hernadi was speaking in public for the first time since a Croatian court issued an international arrest warrant against him. He is wanted for a hearing related to a bribery case. Croatia earlier sentenced a former prime minister Ivo Sanader, saying he had accepted bribes to allow MOL management to have rights over Croatian peer INA d.d.

Mr. Hernadi didn't comment on the case. MOL is focusing on business as usual and is committed to solving any problems and issues that come up, he said. MOL previously said Hungarian authorities had dismissed the allegations against MOL, which now holds a 49.1% share of INA. Hungary's government holds a 24.6% stake in MOL.

As MRC wrote before, MOL Nyrt. laid the cornerstone of a butadiene plant in a move that may decrease Hungary's dependency on imports of the chemical. MOL is set to invest 120 million euros (USD162.7 million) in the plant of its petrochemical arm TVK, part of the company's 300-billion-forint (USD1.37 billion) three-year investment scheme.

According to MRC, TVK is a significant player in market of polyolefins in Ukraine. Tiszai Vegyi Kombinat (TVK) is a Hungarian manufacturer of olefins and polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Feedstock is supplied by MOL of which TVK is a subsidiary and which also processes a major portion of resulting by-products from the olefins plant.

MOL previously said Hungarian authorities had dismissed the allegations against MOL, which now holds a 49.1% share of INA. Hungary's government holds a 24.6% stake in MOL.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras reported a boiler shutdown at its 100,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Pasadena, Texas, according to a filing with state pollution regulators, said Economistimes.

The filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality listed a gasoline-making fluidic catalytic cracking (FCC) unit as a source of emissions.

As MRC wrote before, Petrobras is in talks to sell off its Argentine unit as part of a USD9.9 billion divestment plan. Petrobras, however, has taken its Pasadena Refining System, a refinery located in Pasadena, Texas, off the market

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.
MRC

(MRC) - BP Plc kicked off the results season for top global oil firms on Tuesday with forecast-beating profits and a dose of what the industry's investors want - a dividend hike, plans for asset sales, and a promise to keep a lid on spending, said Reuters.

The world No. 5 among investor-controlled oil and gas groups worldwide scaled back its guidance on capital spending next year to USD24-25 billion compared with previous guidance of USD24-27 billion for the years up to 2020.

BP also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.6% to 9.5 cents a share and said it would sell USD10 billion (6.2 billion pounds) of assets over the next two years, returning most of the proceeds to shareholders - a higher rate of disposals than previously promised under a programme aimed at jettisoning USD2 to USD3 billion dollars worth of assets per year until 2020.

BP's underlying replacement cost net profit for the third quarter of 2013 was USD3.692 billion compared with a company-supplied consensus analyst forecast of USD3.170 billion.

The figure was sharply lower than the USD5.017 billion a year earlier - mainly because of much weaker refining margins, divestment of refineries and reduced income from its Russian business, but it was more than the second quarter's USD2.712 billion when a big Russian tax charge hit the bottom line.

BP has already sold USD38 billion of assets - mainly to pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 - but asset sales have become a theme throughout the sector as it struggles with rising costs and eyes potentially lower oil prices in future.

Most of the top oil companies have been making noises this year about "active portfolio management" and "value over volume". BP recently won a small victory in its sea of legal defeats over the oil spill and to reflect that, it derecognised about USD400 million of provisions within the USD20 billion fund it has set aside for certain types of compensation.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerbaijan is expected to produce 142,500 tons of propylene in 2014 compared to 44,200 tons projected for 2013, the draft concept of socio-economic development in 2014 and the next three years reads, said Azernews.

According to the document, propylene production will reach 163,500 tons, in line with outlooks for 2015.
A reduction will be observed in 2016 and 2017, and the production of this product will amount to 24,500 tons and 23,400 tons respectively.

Also a growth in polyethylene production is forecasted in 2014 in accordance with the draft law. Thus the production of 131,800 tons of polyethylene is expected in the next year, versus 105,300 this year.

In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the production of polyethylene in the country will be at 152,900 tons, 151,800 tons and 150,900 tons, respectively. According to outlooks in 2016, Azerbaijan will start production of polypropylene, and this production will be at 150,000 tons in 2016 and 2017.

Azerkimya production association of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is engaged in the manufacture of basic chemical products in the country.

As MRC wrote before, Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, owned by SOCAR ,plans to invest as much as USD8 billion by 2016 on projects including a refinery, a new port and power plants.

SOCAR includes production association Azneft (companies producing oil and gas on land and sea) and Production Association Azerkimya (chemical industry), production association Azerigas (gas distribution).
The State Oil Company is the only producer of oil products in the country (it has two refineries on its balance sheet) and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania. SOCAR possesses a network of petrol stations in Switzerland and is the co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation, polymer compounder and distributor, has reported USD1.0 billion of revenue for the third quarter of 2013, a 43% increase compared to USD708 million in the third quarter of 2012, according to the company's press release.

Revenue growth was driven by the acquisitions of Spartech and Glasforms, as well as organic growth in Specialty and Distribution.

Adjusted earnings per share grew 29% to USD0.36 from USD0.28 in the prior year quarter, bringing year-to-date adjusted EPS to 28% above 2012. Earnings per share from continuing operations totaled USD0.24 in the third quarter of 2013 compared to USD0.22 in the third quarter of 2012.

"I am pleased to announce our strong third quarter results and our 16th consecutive quarter of double-digit adjusted earnings per share expansion. Four consecutive years of substantial growth has resulted from excellence in executing our four-pillar strategy," said Stephen D. Newlin, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Newlin added, "Specialization, globalization and commercial and operational excellence are woven into the culture of our organic businesses and are quickly being adopted by the recently acquired Spartech and Glasforms. Our Specialty Platform has been the cornerstone of our transformation, and this quarter was no different, as specialty growth drove our strong results. With 64% of our segment operating income from our Specialty Platform, our mix of earnings has never been stronger."

Speaking about the Spartech acquisition, Robert M. Patterson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer said, "When we announced our acquisition of Spartech we assumed we would deliver USD65 million of synergies or profit expansion by the end of year three following the deal. We have seen excellent progress in accelerating our integration efforts, and year to date, we have delivered USD0.06 of EPS accretion from Spartech." Patterson added, "We now expect to deliver the full USD65 million in synergies and USD0.50 of EPS accretion in calendar year 2015."

As MRC informed previously, last year PolyOne bought Spartech Corp. By this aquistion, PolyOne intend to turn Spartech's businesses into higher value added operations. Spartech has a presence in aerospace and security markets, ones in which PolyOne wants to expand. Spartech's aerospace and security markets are wedded to its cast acrylic and PVC multilayer sheet operations for applications such as aircraft windows and canopies, bullet-resistant armor for banks, and aircraft interior components. These operations, however, are small compared with Spartech's predominant commodity sheet business of filled polypropylene. Along with its aerospace and security products, Spartech makes consumer and medical packaging products. It makes plastic sheet, specialty film laminates, specialty plastic alloys, color concentrates and blended resin compounds and has annual revenues of about USD1.2 bln.

PolyOne Corporation is a global leader offering a comprehensive array of specialized polymer materials, tailored services and end-to-end solutions.
MRC