BP petrochemical earnings more than double in Q3

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP reported a near halving in third-quarter earnings on Tuesday and cut its 2016 investment plans by another USD1 billion as weak oil prices cut into profits yet tighter spending helped the British oil major still beat analysts' estimates, said Reuters.

BP, which plans to lay off around 7,000 workers by the end of next year, said it was expecting further charges related to redundancies and other restructuring measures next year, adding to the USD2.1 billion in charges incurred since the end of 2014.

BP's third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, the company's definition of net income, fell to USD933 million from USD1.8 billion a year earlier but beat the USD780 million expected by analysts.

"We remain on track to rebalance organic cash flows next year at USD50 to USD55 a barrel," Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said in a statement.

Oil prices are now trading at around USD49 a barrel, meaning BP is banking on a slight rise in prices going into next year.

To achieve a leaner balance sheet, BP said it would lower its 2016 capital expenditure to around USD16 billion from the USD17-19 billion expected at the start of the year, and target USD15-17 billion for 2017.

BP joined the ranks of Shell, France's Total and U.S. majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron in beating expectations, with cost cuts helping to improve margins. Norway's Statoil and Italy's ENI disappointed, however.

BP said asset sales stood at USD2.7 billion at the end of the quarter and the company remained on track to sell USD3-5 billion of assets this year.

As MRC informed earlier, BP is seeking buyers for its 50% stake in Chinese petrochemicals joint venture SECCO, its largest investment in China, in a deal sources said could fetch USD2-USD3 B.

BP is a leading producer of oil and gas and produces enough energy annually to light nearly the entire country for a year. Employing about 17,000 people across the country, BP supports more than 170,000 additional jobs through all of its business activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global demand for biodegradable polymer market was valued at around USD1.68 bln in 2014 and is expected to reach approximately USD5.18 bln in 2020, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 21% between 2015 and 2020, as per Plastemart with reference to A to Z Research.

Rising demand for biodegradable and bio based products due to sustainable development policies and growing concern for use of environment friendly product is the main driver for the biodegradable polymer market.

Government support to produce eco friendly biodegradable polymer is also the key factor for the growth of market. Escalating price of crude oil which is raw material for the production of petroleum based polymer also helps tin driving the demand of biodegradable polymers. However biodegradable polymers have few applications to replace synthetic petroleum based plastic materials and high manufacturing cost and failure in production of accurate biodegradable polymers may influence the market growth. Rising end-user applications and economical raw material price for biodegradable polymers is offering potential market opportunity in the years to come.

The biodegradable polymer market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. Polymers with hydrolyzable backbone, polymers with carbon backbone and natural polymers are the types of biodegradable polymers. Polymers with hydrolyzable backbone is classified as polyglycolic acid (PGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyamides, polyurethanes, others in which polyglycolic acid (PGA) is the widely used followed by polyamides and polyurethane. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is one kind of polymers with carbon backbone, whereas amylopectin, starch, amylose, chitin and chitosan and others are types of natural polymers. Starch based polymers is one of the leading segment due to easy availability, and extensive application in food packaging.

Biodegradable polymer has broad range of applications in packaging, agriculture and medical. In medical application, biodegradable polymers are used in adhesive prevention, drugs deliver system and surgical sutures. Further, biodegradable polymers are utilized in agriculture mulches, and starch based packaging, cellulose based packaging and PLA based packaging among others.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Evonik is expanding its production facilities in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and Darmstadt (Germany). This will create additional capacity for the production of biodegradable polymers marketed globally under the brand names RESOMER and RESOMER SELECT. These poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) copolymers are primarily used to manufacture bioresorbable medical devices and controlled-release formulations for parenteral drug delivery.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical production company Spolek pro Chemickou a Hutni Vyrobu (SPOLCHEMIE) will launch new chlorine production facility in fall 2016, after two years of construction, said Praguemonitor.

New membrane electrolysis testing began in October 2016 and will continue until the facility’s launch. As CIANEWS has previously informed, the total costs of the construction and launch of the new source and related infrastructure amount to almost CZK 1.9bn. The electrolyse is now safer, more energy saving and environment-friendly. The facility complies with European legislation on the utilisation of mercury in the production of chlorine and alkali lye.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2015, SPOLCHEMIE restarted epichlorohydrin (ECH) production following planned maintenance at its Usti nad Labem site.

Spolchemie a.s. manufactures synthetic resins. It offers environmental friendly products, epoxy resins, alkyd resins, hardeners and reactive diluents, other synthetic resins, systems for construction, hydroxides, chlorine chemical substances, and other products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Phillips 66 expects a permit will be granted to build an oil pipeline under the Missouri River near Native American land in North Dakota, said Hydrocarbonprocessing citing Chief Executive Officer Greg Garland.

"There's not that much left to be finished once we get the easement to go underneath the Missouri River," Garland told analysts on a conference call. "So I think that can be wrapped up in relatively short order."

In a tense standoff in North Dakota that spilled into Friday morning, police arrested 141 Native Americans and other protesters seeking to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline intended to carry crude oil to the Midwest. Phillips owns 25% of the project.

The US Justice and Interior Departments along with the US Army Corps of Engineers halted construction under the Missouri in September due to protests by Native American tribes who say the pipeline would disturb sacred land and pollute waterways supplying nearby homes.

Construction is continuing on sections of the pipeline away from the Missouri River, Garland said.

The USD3.7-B, 1,100-mile Dakota Access would be the first to carry crude from the Bakken shale, a vast oil formation in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada, to an existing pipeline in Illinois through which it could be shipped to refineries along the US Gulf Coast.

As MRC informed before, Phillips 66 and Chevron Phillips Chemical are teaming up with the Sweeny Independent School District in Texas to help fund the creation of a petrochemical academy.

Phillips 66 is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. It debuted as an independent energy company when ConocoPhillips spun off its downstream assets and midstream assets. Phillips 66 began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2012, under the ticker PSX. The company is engaged in producing natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell’s third quarter 2016 CCS earnings attributable to shareholders were USD1.4 billion compared with a loss of USD6.1 billion for the same quarter a year ago, said the company on its site.

Third quarter 2016 CCS earnings attributable to shareholders excluding identified items were USD2.8 billion compared with USD2.4 billion for the third quarter 2015, an increase of 18%.

Compared with the third quarter 2015, CCS earnings attributable to shareholders excluding identified items benefited from increased production volumes mainly from BG assets, lower operating expenses more than offsetting the increase related to the consolidation of BG, and lower well write-offs. This was partly offset by the decline in oil, gas and LNG prices, and increased depreciation mainly resulting from the BG acquisition, and weaker refining industry conditions.

Third quarter 2016 basic CCS earnings per share excluding identified items decreased by 8% versus the third quarter 2015.

Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter 2016 was USD8.5 billion, which included favourable working capital movements of USD0.7 billion.

Total dividends distributed to shareholders in the quarter were USD3.8 billion, of which USD1.1 billion were settled by issuing 44.1 million A shares under the Scrip Dividend Programme.

Gearing at the end of the third quarter 2016 was 29.2% versus 12.7% at the end of the third quarter 2015. This increase mainly reflects the impact of the acquisition of BG.

A third quarter 2016 dividend has been announced of USD0.47 per ordinary share and USD0.94 per American Depositary Share.

As MRC informed earlier, in mid-October, Royal Dutch Shell has signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran’s National Petrochemical Co. (NPC) for cooperation in the petrochemical industry.

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