Louisiana refineries not hit by floods, markets expect trouble

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Operations at several major refineries in southern Louisiana have not been affected by deadly floods that have claimed five lives and forced emergency crews to rescue more than 20,000 people, the companies and sources familiar with operations said on Monday, reported Reuters.

Major oil markets were roiling on Monday by potential disruptions due to the deluge and a fire last week at Motiva Enterprises Convent, Louisiana refinery.

The ICE gas oil crack spread jumped 7% on Monday due to expectations of reduced production or transport interruptions from Louisiana refineries.

Operations at Motiva Enterprises 235 Mbpd Convent, Louisiana refinery have been unaffected by the flooding, said sources familiar with plant operations Monday.

Output from the refinery has been reduced by the outage of the 45 Mbpd heavy oil hydrocracker, called the H-Oil unit, in a fire Thursday. Sources have told Reuters an initial damage assessment projects the unit will be shut one to four months for repairs.

Exxon Mobil Corp's 502 Mbpd Baton Rouge refinery had seen no impact to operations as of midday Monday, a company spokeswoman said.

Motiva's 237 Mbpd Norco, Louisiana refinery has not cut production due to heavy rain over the weekend, sources familiar with plant operations said Monday.

Citgo Petroleum Corp's 427 Mbpd Lake Charles, Louisiana refinery has also seen no impact to its operations, a company official said.

Alon USA Energy's 80,000 bpd Krotz Springs, Louisiana refinery was operating at planned rates on Monday, a spokesman said.

President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration on Sunday for flood-ravaged Louisiana.

As MRC wrote before, US petrochemical producer ExxonMobil plans to increase production of ultra-low sulfur fuels at its Beaumont refinery by approximately 40 Mbpd, further strengthening its integrated downstream portfolio while meeting environmental standards. Construction is scheduled for the second half of 2016 to install a selective cat naphtha hydrofining unit, which uses a proprietary catalyst system to remove sulfur while minimizing octane loss. Startup of the flexible technology is expected in 2018. Gasoline produced using this technology will meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 3 gasoline sulfur specifications.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay affiliates Rhodia Operations and Anan Kasei have filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales against UK-based Molycorp Chemicals and Oxides (Europe) Ltd on April 13, 2016, claiming infringement of Anan Kasei’s patent EP 1435338 B1 by Molycorp, said the company on its site.

The patent covers certain high surface-area ceric oxides and catalysts for purifying automotive exhaust gases containing such ceric oxide.

Solvay has already won, in first instance, two rare earth mixed oxide patent cases against UK-based Molycorp Chemicals & Oxides (Europe) Ltd in the German District Court of Dusseldorf in March 2016. These decisions have been appealed by Molycorp.

Rare earth oxides are used in applications including the manufacturing of automotive catalysts to abate noxious gases from engine exhaust. Ever stricter air quality standards require increasingly complex formulated rare earth oxides. Solvay’s OPTALYS and ACTALYS rare earth oxide product range offers tailor-made solutions for all types of automotive catalysts and contributes significantly to cleaner mobility.

As MRC informed earlier, Solvay has agreed to divest its chlorine and peroxide derivatives site in Italy to Italian chemical company Caffaro, but will continue to market its EURECO organic peroxides, produced on the site, through an exclusive distribution agreement.

Solvay, with a market share 27%, is the second largest PVC manufacturer in Europe, after Kerling with 29% of the market. Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 30,900 employees spread across 53 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR12.4 bn in 2015, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Corporation has announced that it has closed its previously announced offering of USD750,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 3.600% senior unsecured notes due 2026 and USD700,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 5.000% senior unsecured notes due 2046 to qualified institutional buyers in the United States, said the producer on its site.

Westlake intends to use the proceeds from the proposed offering, together with the proceeds from other financing transactions and cash on hand, to finance the previously announced proposed acquisition of Axiall Corporation, to repay certain indebtedness of Axiall and pay related fees and expenses. The Notes are guaranteed, jointly and severally on a senior basis, by certain of Westlake’s subsidiaries.

The Notes and related guarantees have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration under, or an applicable exemption from, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

As MRC informed before, Axiall and Westlake have received all regulatory approvals required for the transaction, including clearance from both the U.S. and Canadian competition authorities. On August 1, 2016, Axiall filed a definitive proxy statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to notify Axiall"s shareholders of a special meeting to be held on August 30, 2016 to vote on the transaction. Assuming the Axiall shareholders approve the transaction at that meeting, the closing is expected to occur on August 31, 2016.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a U.S. manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals and polymers, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The range of company"s products includes ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustics, polyvinyl chloride and plastic products. Westlake is one of the major ethylene producers in the US and its Calvert City operation is a large integrated PVC site. Westlake"s 2015 financial results showed sales of USD4.46 billion and profit of USD646 million. The sales total was up 1% vs. 2014, while the profit level was down almost 5%. Lower selling prices - particularly for polyethylene and ethylene feedstock - impacted Westlake in 2015.
MRC

МОSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer AG is considering a hostile bid for Monsanto Co. if the company rejects friendly offers, according to a report in the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, said Chemweek.

"Bayer is prepared to turn directly to the shareholders" to acquire Monsanto, the paper reports, citing anonymous sources. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a July statement that Bayer is "absolutely determined" to acquire Monsanto, a quote that the paper says "was a clear signal that Baumann was prepared to force through a deal, with or without the Monsanto board."

Monsanto rejected a USD125/share offer from Bayer on 19 July. That offer, revised slightly upward from Bayer’s original USD122/share offer, valued Monsanto at USD63.5 billion. Monsanto says it remains open to negotiating a deal, but analysts note that Bayer would likely need to raise its offer by several billion dollars to entice Monsanto to agree to a deal. Analysts also said in July that Bayer may go hostile with its offer.

Bayer shareholders have voiced skepticism about a Monsanto acquisition. A survey of Bayer shareholders in June found widespread dissatisfaction with the proposed deal, and one Bayer investor has called for a shareholder vote on it.

Reports in mid-July also linked BASF SE to Monsanto in a possible agchems combination. It is not currently clear whether Bayer intends to put forth another friendly offer for Monsanto, or when it may go hostile.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell, the world's petrochemical major, on 17 August 2016 lifted force majeure on shipments of verious petrochemical products from the company's site at Pulau Bukom (Singapore), said the producer in its press release.

According to the company's statement, the Ethylene Cracker Complex at Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site has now resumed production.

"We have informed our customers and suppliers about the end of the force majeure on our ability to supply a number of chemical products from Singapore, with effect from 17 August 2016. The force majeure had been declared in December 2015," - the company said in its press release.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Shell restarted its ethylene cracker in Bukom, Singapore, in the second half of January 2015, following a three-month maintenance and expansion works to raise the unit's capacity. Shell said the expansion work would increase the capacity of the cracker by 20%. The cracker originally had a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene. The cracker uses a range of feedstock including naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to produce ethylene, a building block for plastics.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC