Marathon Petroleum to buy MarkWest for USD15.8 B, adds refining feedstocks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The pipeline unit of refiner Marathon Petroleum plans to buy MarkWest Energy Partners, the second-largest US processor of natural gas, for about USD15.8 billion in stock and cash, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The transaction represents a major expansion into pipelines and processing for Marathon, which created its pipeline unit MPLX in 2012, the year after it was spun out of producer Marathon Oil Corp. The refiner has more than doubled in value since then as processors reap the rewards from low crude prices brought on by the shale revolution.

The acquisition will be a "unit-for-unit" tax-free deal that includes a one-time cash payment to MarkWest unit-holders, MPLX said in a statement Monday. The combination creates a USD21 billion company that will be the nation’s fourth-largest master-limited partnership. It will have shipping and processing capabilities for crude oil, refined products and natural gas from Texas to Pennsylvania.

"The combination of the two companies is very formidable because it gives them economies of scale," said Fadel Gheit, a New York-based analyst for Oppenheimer & Co. "Most of the gain is going to be for Marathon Petroleum. It will give them tremendous flexibility in their ability to source feedstock for their refining system."

Marathon will retain control of the combined entity through ownership of the MPLX general partner and would own 19 percent of the partnership, according to the statement. MPLX affirmed plans to raise its investor payout 29 percent this year, and forecast 25 percent annual compound growth in distributions through 2017 from the combined MLPX.

The deal shows that interest in mergers continues to be strong for owners of pipelines and processing units even after oil prices fell more than 50% since last year. Pipeline operator Williams Cos. began an auction process to sell itself after rejecting a USD48 billion takeover bid last month.

Under the MarkWest merger agreement, common unit holders in the acquired company will get 1.09 MPLX common units and a one-time cash payment of USD3.37 for a MarkWest unit, or the equivalent of USD78.64/unit, a 32% premium to the July 10 closing price. MPLX’s sponsor, Marathon Petroleum, will contribute USD675 million to fund the cash payment.

The deal is expected to close in the 2015 fourth quarter, subject to approval of MarkWest unit holders and regulatory agencies. UBS Investment Bank acted as financial adviser and Jones Day acted as legal adviser to MPLX. Jefferies Group acted as financial adviser and Cravath, Swaine & Moore acted as legal adviser to MarkWest.

As MRC informed earlier, Marathon Petroleum has closed its transaction with BP to purchase several assets, including the 451,000 bpd refinery located in Texas City, Texas.

Marathon Oil Corporation is a United States-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Poland, Angola and Iraqi Kurdistan.

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) is planning to launch operations at its carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization plant in Jubail by the end of 2015, said Argaamplus.

Construction of the facility was said to be complete and commissioning work had begun.

The plant is designed to compress and purify about 1,500 tons per day of raw CO2 coming from glycol plants. The purified CO2 will be used to make urea and methanol.

The facility is expected to operate at full production capacity at the end of this year. The launch will also coincide with the company’s opening of a 500,000 ton per annum (tpa) ethylene glycol (EG) plant in Jubail.

The move falls in line with SABIC’s strategy to boost utilization of CO2 over the next two years to 4.2 million tpa from 2.7 million tpa in 2014.

As it was informed earlier, Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Royal Dutch Shell have shelved plans to expand an existing petrochemical joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French investigators believe two fires that closed a chemical plant of LyondellBasell in the south of the country on Tuesday may have been started deliberately. Two storage tanks exploded overnight and one was still burning mid-morning, reported RFI.

The two tanks exploded in flames at 3.00am, belching flames and thick, black smoke into the sky above the lake where the plant is situated.

They were 500 metres apart, leading investigators to suspect arson since they consider it very unlikely that they caught fire "practically simultaneously", as several witnesses said Tuesday, by accident.

The plant, owned by American multinational LyondellBasell, is near Marseille-Marignane airport and the A7 motorway, whose Rognac exit was closed by police.

Some 120 firefighters and 50 fire engines were sent to fight the blazes and one had been put out by mid-morning Tuesday.

The fire at the other tank, which contained 40,000 cubic metres of fuel, was put out at about midday.

No-one was injured.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF commissioned a new production plant for form release agents that is among the most advanced and most efficient in Europe, said the producer in its press release.

Opened at the company’s in Stassfurt site in May 2015, the new facility produces release agents based on renewable raw materials as well as emulsions from renewable and non renewable raw materials. Successful trial operation was completed in early July 2015, and the plant has since commenced regular production.

"This important investment is to strengthen our release agent business in the European marketplace and to help us achieve a leadership position", says Philipp Kley, Senior Vice President Construction Chemicals Europe at BASF. "We identified the increasing demand for alternatives to mineral oil based release agents at an early stage, and aligned our research efforts accordingly. This is why now, at just the right time, we can provide our customers with an innovation that fills a gap in the market and can give our customers a competitive advantage." Form release agents facilitate the easy removal of the concrete from its formwork; at the same time, they also enhance the surface of precast concrete elements and cast in place concrete.

The Master Builders Solutions experts have, among others, developed new release agent formulations based on natural raw materials such as plant oil. The products are available under the MasterFinish product name. BASF offers a complete range of MasterFinish form release agents under the Master Builders Solutions umbrella brand, as well as in depth application technical advice on the selection of the right product and the best possible application process.

Under the Master Builders Solutions brand, BASF bundles its advanced chemical solutions for new construction, maintenance, repair and renovation of structures. Master Builders Solutions is built on the experience gained from more than 100 years in the construction industry. The comprehensive portfolio under the brand encompasses concrete admixtures, form release agents, cement additives, chemical solutions for underground construction, waterproofing solutions, sealants, repair and protection solutions, performance grouts, and performance flooring solutions.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF has sold its 25% share in the joint venture SolVin to Solvay. The transaction took place on July 1, 2015. Financial details were not disclosed.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of polycarbonate (PC) to the Russian market slumped over the first six months of 2015 by 50% year on year and totalled only 10,040 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope report.

Russian importers have been forced to reduce their purchasing since last year on the back of a significant devaluation of the national currency, higher prices of material in foreign markets and the reduction in the population's purchasing power. Imports substitution has been successfully implemented in most sectors of the PC market (if we consider the market of pure PC granules).

Producers of electrical engineering (TVs, refrigerators, washing machines), electronics (counters, switches, sockets) and car industry encountered the greatest problems. PC compositions with various fillers (glass fiber, ABS, flame retardants, etc.) that are not produced in Russia so far are widely used in these industries.

If imports of pure PC granules are considered, almost all major producers reduced shipments to the Russian Federation. Thus, Sabic Innovative Plastics and Bayer reduced their shipments by 50% each over the first six months of 2015. The total share of these manufacturers is about 80% in the Russian market. If we talk about European suppliers, then their shipments also decreased because of a shortage of material in the European market over the last three months. This, in its turn, led to another jump in prices for Russian consumers.

Market players said they anticipate a further reduction in imports and switch to Russian material in the near future. This is especially true for the sheet extrusion segment. However, Russia's existing production capacities (about 6,000 tonnes) are not enough to cover the needs of the market. The deficit in the market will be met by Asian, European or Iranian material.

MRC