Tasnee to increase stake in TiO2 producer Cristal

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tasnee, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, has entered into an agreement to increase its stake in titanium dioxide (TiO2) producer Cristal, reported Chemical Technology.

The company will pay SAR1.8bn (USD480m) to acquire an additional 13% stake in Cristal from Gulf Investment.
Tasnee already has a 66% stake in Cristal, while Gulf Investment holds the remaining interest. Gulf Investment is a venture capital unit equally owned by the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

"Tasnee already has a 66% stake in Cristal, while Gulf Investment holds the remaining interest."

The transaction forms part of the company's plan to increase stakes in its subsidiaries and the company expects that its impact will reflect on its earnings from the first quarter of 2015. Tasnee had made a bid to acquire the stake in Cristal in September.

In January, Tasnee and Cristal partnered with Toho Titanium to construct a production facility adjacent to Cristal's TiO2 plant in Yanbu Industrial City.

As MRC informed before, last year, Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, and Tasnee announced the signing of an agreement to establish a masterbatches joint venture in Saudi Arabia. Within the framework of the agreement, through its 100% subsidiary Rowad National Plastic Company Ltd., Tasnee will acquire a 40% stake in Clariant’s masterbatches operations in the country, already operating under the name Clariant Masterbatches (Saudi Arabia) Ltd.

Headquartered in Riyadh, Tasnee is primarily engaged in petrochemical, chemical and industrial projects. The
company produces petrochemical products, including polypropylene, polyethylene and acrylic acid, as well as other downstream petrochemical products.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Co. (SAMREF), a JV between Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil, has completed construction of major desulfurization facilities, including a new hydrotreater, that dramatically cuts sulfur levels in gasoline and diesel, as per Hydracarbonprocessing.

"We continue to apply advantaged technology that will deliver world-class products that contribute to the fuels value chain," said Darren Woods, senior vice president of ExxonMobil. "The successful, recent startup of the Clean Fuels Project illustrates the refinery’s advancements and preparations to meet global energy demands."

The SAMREF partnership, which is celebrating 30 years of joint refining operations, demonstrates the long-term collaboration and progress to meeting the energy needs of Saudi Arabia’s growing economy. The project is the largest investment in SAMREF’s history and will reduce the sulfur levels in gasoline and diesel by more than 98%, to 10 ppm, which makes the refinery an industry leader in emissions reduction.

"Our long-term partnership benefits from the technology and innovation from both companies," said Khalid Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco. "Our refinery will continue to be an industry leader throughout the Middle East and in the global market place well into the future. It is also testimony of Saudi Arabia’s long-standing role as a reliable energy supplier to key geographic areas of the world."

“The company contributes to the global competitiveness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by providing world class fuels, but also creating jobs and improving the surrounding environment," added Mohammad Al Naghash, CEO of SAMREF.

SAMREF is a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) and Mobil Yanbu Refining Co. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil) The SAMREF refinery complex was formed for the development, construction, ownership and operation of crude oil refining facilities in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Following the construction and start-up of the facilities, it commenced operations in late 1984.

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Arabia plans to build a plant able to turn crude directly into chemicals, without first having to refine the oil. Development of the Saudi petrochemical sector is part of Riyadh’s strategy for diversifying the economy away from heavy dependence on crude export revenues. Chemical companies usually process refined oil products into petrochemicals, such as ethylene and propylene, that are then used to make plastics and other products.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco was estimated to be the world's most valuable company. It is the largest oil company in the world due to having the largest proven oil reserves, about 260 billion barrels, and the highest production, 10 million barrels per day. Saudi Aramco owns and operates four refineries serving the local market, with a combined refining capacity of 1 MMbpd. The firm also has a 50% interest in SAMREF and in SATORP, a joint venture with Total, which will also produce cleaner fuels.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's largest refiner and oil marketing company Indian Oil Corp announces downward price revision with effect from 11 December 2014, said Plastemart.

The following polymer price revisions have been announced by Indian Oil Corp:

HDPE- Decrease of Rs 5000/MT
LDPE BM: Decrease of Rs 4000/MT
LLDPE: Decrease of Rs 3000/MT
PP Homopolymer: Decrease of Rs 4000/MT
PP Copolymer: Decrease of Rs 5000/MT

New price protection in PE,PP,LBM with effect from 11 Dec till 1 Jan 15 or next price revision whichever is earliest
MBM decrease additional by Rs 1500/MT, PE 80/PE 100 by Rs 500/MT and 1030MG increased by Rs 500/MT.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corporation's Rs 34,555-crore 15 million tonnes per annum Paradip Refinery will be commissioned in phases from March 2015 onwards. The refinery is capable for processing a broad basket of crude oil grades, including cheaper high-sulphur heavy crudes, which will help the company to improve bottomline.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amec Foster Wheeler announced today that it has acquired Scopus Group, a market-leading laser scanning, dimensional control and lean engineering company whose precise survey data is used to engineer piping and structural solutions for the global oil and gas industry, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Headquartered in Aberdeen, with bases in international oil and gas hubs, Scopus employs around 300 employees who provide specialist engineering services to the global oil and gas, petrochemical and nuclear industries.

Scopus will continue to offer independent services to its customers while building on Amec Foster Wheeler’s presence in 50 countries and extensive customer base.

"This acquisition forms part of our growth strategy by further strengthening our project delivery capability across the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas sectors," said Alan Johnstone, managing director of Amec Foster Wheeler’s brownfield projects business.

“Combining Scopus’ specialist expertise with our wider capability, geographic coverage and customer relationships will further enable us to deliver cost-effective services across the whole life-cycle of a project," he added. "In particular, the enhanced lean engineering capability will allow us to provide a low-cost solution at the late-life stage of a facility prior to decommissioning."

As MRC wrote before, Foster Wheeler has been selected by Rosneft and ExxonMobil to undertake the initial phase of the front-end engineering design (FEED) for a proposed Russian Far East liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Foster Wheeler is one of two companies to be awarded separate contracts for the initial FEED work prior to selection of a single contractor for the second FEED phase.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian petrochemical company Versalis is to restart its 490,000 tpa steam cracker at Porto Marghera, Italy, in February to cover a shortfall of ethylene in northern Europe, as per Plastemart.

There had been talk that Shell, whose 900,000 tpa Moerdijk cracker in the Netherlands was closed October after a leak, had asked Versalis to restart the plant. The Porto Marghera cracker was shut in February for what was supposed to be six months, with the company citing a downturn in the market. In August, Versalis announced plans to permanently shut the unit, converting the site into an environmentally friendly hub as part of a Eur200 mln project expected to be operational in three years' time.

A Shell spokesman, declining to comment on Porto Marghera specifically, said: "We are committed to continue supply to Moerdijk customers where feasible, and this includes sourcing products from third parties and other production locations".

Production of ethylene and propylene at Moerdijk will start before the end of the second quarter of next year, while production of propylene oxide, styrene monomer, ethylene oxide and ethylene glycols will have resumed by the end of 2014, Shell said.

As MRC wrote before, Eni SpA chemical subsidiary Versalis established a 50-50 joint venture with South Korean petrochemical company Lotte Chemical to target the Asian elastomers market. The joint venture is called Lotte Versalis Elastomers Co., and will be headquartered in Yeosu, South Korea. Production capaciy for the elastomers unit includes butadiene and ethylene propylene-derived products for a total capacity of about 200,000 metric tpa.
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