BP to propose the appointment of Deloitte as auditor from 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP announced that it intends to propose to shareholders at its 2018 Annual General Meeting that Deloitte be appointed as the company’s auditor for the financial year 2018, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This decision was taken following a competitive audit tender.

EY, BP’s current external auditor, will continue in its role and will undertake the audit of BP p.l.c. for the financial years 2016 and, subject to reappointment by shareholders at the next Annual General Meeting, 2017.

"I would like to thank EY for their high professional standards and all they have done to provide assurance to the Board and shareholders during their time as BP’s auditors," Brendan Nelson, Chairman of BP’s Audit Committee, said. "Subject to shareholder approval at the 2018 AGM, we look forward to working with Deloitte."

As MRC informed earlier, 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.

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

Hyundai Chemical to start MX, light naphtha output from new splitter

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank Co and Lotte Chemical, has finished building a USD1.02 billion condensate splitter to produce mixed xylene and light naphtha, said Reuters.

The 130,000-bpd condensate splitter in Daesan on the country's west coast will churn out 1.2 MTPY of mixed-xylene and 1 MT of light naphtha annually, Hyundai Oilbank said in a statement on Tuesday. It is expected to start operating this month.

Mixed-xylene is a feedstock for xylene, which is used to make plastic bottles and polyester textiles. Light naphtha is mainly used as a petrochemical feedstock.

By processing ultra-light oil condensate, the splitter can also produce about 50,000 barrels of refined products including diesel and jet fuel, according to the statement.

The splitter will boost demand for condensate in the region, helping buoy premiums that are already expected to remain firm through 2017.

It will increase Hyundai Oilbank's total refining capacity to 520,000 bpd from 390,000 bpd.

The company also said it would supply mixed xylene to Lotte Chemical and Hyundai Cosmo, jointly owned by the refiner and Japan's Cosmo Oil Co, which could replace about 1 trillion won of imports a year and ensure the stable procurement of raw materials.

Light naphtha will be consumed by Lotte Chemical for its petrochemical production.

Ahead of the start-up of its splitter, Hyundai Oilbank bought 2 million barrels of Iran's South Pars condensate each month between October and December, according to two trade sources.

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2016, Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank Co and Lotte Chemical, has bought 1 million barrels of Qatari condensate loading in August ahead of the start-up of its new splitter.

At the moment, there are 67 developments projects in the country which are under construction, adding 61 million metric ton on total production and estimated to fully run till 2018.
MRC

Slovnaft to invest USD500 million by 2020 to upgrade petrochemical unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Slovakia's biggest oil refinery Slovnaft, owned by Hungary's MOL, will invest USD500 million by 2020 to upgrade its petrochemical unit to diversify away from fuels, where demand is expected to decline, said Reuters cciting its chief executive.

The investment is part of MOL's strategy to invest USD4.5 billion in petrochemicals by 2030. Slovnaft said it aimed to increase the share of non-fuel production to 50 percent from the current 10-15 percent. The refinery's throughput is 124,000 barrels per day.

"We see the demand for fuels falling by up to 15 percent by 2030," Slovnaft Chief Executive Oszkar Vilagi said. "We have to be flexible, process the same amount of oil but make more products out of it such as polypropylene, polyethylene."

As MRC informed earlier, Slovnaft launched a new USD323 million low-density polyethylene unit last year. The MOL group is also interested in investing outside its core business and will set up a venture capital fund to look for potential projects, Vilagi, who is a board member of the parent firm, said without giving details.

MOL Chairman Zsolt Hernadi told Reuters this month that the Hungarian oil group will invest in new chemical plants to cut its dependence on producing fuel for cars, while also buying more upstream assets and selling goods and services in its petrol stations.

In its 2035 Energy Outlook released in February, BP forecast global demand for energy would increase by 34 percent, driven by growth in the world population and economy, but the share of oil will fall in favour of gas and renewables.

Slovnaft Petrochemicals, s.r.o., represents the Petrochemicals Division of Slovnaft Group. It produces polymers of high quality which are base materials with a broad range of uses. The geographical position of company gives it an important advantage when penetrating the quickly growing polymer markets of Central Europe.
MRC

Wood Group awarded USD40 million contract for ExxonMobil polyethylene plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Chemical awarded a USD40 million contract to Wood Group to provide main automation contractor services, including detailed design and site construction of the process control systems, for a grassroots polyethylene plant to be built in Beaumont, Texas, said Wood Group.

Wood Group completed the front-end engineering design for the process control systems in 2015.

Wood Group currently provides process control systems detailed engineering, procurement and fabrication services for ExxonMobil Chemical's multi-billion dollar expansion project at the Baytown and Mont Belvieu plants near Houston. Much of the work done for that project will be used for this new project, applying a design-one, build-two concept that helps to reduce project costs and schedules.

"Wood Group's global experience delivering automation and control solutions for large-scale projects will help to ensure a safe, cost-effective and efficient process control solution for this new petrochemical facility,” Robin Watson, chief executive of Wood Group, said. "We look forward to continuing our long, successful history of executing notable projects with ExxonMobil Chemical."

As MRC informed earlier, Sunoco Logistics Partners has formed a strategic JV with ExxonMobil, Permian Express Partners LLC., to combine certain of their key crude oil logistics assets.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

Lotte Chemical Titan plans maintenance at HDPE plant in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical Titan, a subsidiary of the South Korean Lotte Group, is likely to take off-stream its No. 1 high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the company has planned to shut its plant in early-March 2016 for a period of around 15 days. Earlier, the plant was expected to shut in January 2017.

Located at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, the plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, the company undertook maintenance at its another HDPE plnat in Pasir Gudang with the capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year from 8 to 18-19 June 2016.

Lotte Chemical Titan produces Malaysia's most comprehensive portfolio of olefins and polyolefins which contribute to the enhancement of everyday life. Lotte Chemical Titan's production site in Malaysia consists of eleven process facilities, two co-generation plants and three tank farms. They are located on 2 sites in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat in the state of Johor. In 2006, Lotte Chemical Titan acquired PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara, Indonesia’s first and largest polyethylene plant in the country. This acquisition boosted the polyolefins capacity by approximately 50%, thus making the company one of the largest producers in South East Asia. Lotte Chemical Titan was acquired by Lotte Chemical Corp., forming part of the Lotte conglomerate of Korea, in 2010. The company thus became one of Lotte Chemical Corp.’s largest overseas subsidiaries.
MRC