Kazakhstan may strike separate deal with OPEC on oil output curbs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan is aiming for a standalone deal with leading global oil producers on restraining its crude production due to a need to crank up output at its Kashagan field, reported Reuters with reference to a Kazakh official.

The Central Asian nation increased oil and gas condensate output by 9.9% in January-July to 49.907 MMt, or 1.724 MMbpd, exceeding its quota of 1.7 MMbpd under a global supply pact.

Kazakhstan has said it needs to adjust the terms of the deal as it expects to boost output later this year thanks to the giant Kashagan field.

On Thursday, Deputy Energy Minister Aset Magauov said his country needed to repay the shareholders in Kashagan, where output had been delayed for years before it was relaunched last year.

"I think that talks on Kazakhstan’s commitments will continue separately," Magauov told reporters.

"There is understanding from OPEC that the project (Kashagan) is very large, there have been huge investments and there is a need to return these investments to shareholders."

He said Kashagan, with investments of around USD55 B, was expected to produce 13 MMt next year (260,000 bpd), while other oil projects in the country could see their output reduced.

Kashagan has been developed by a consortium of China National Petroleum Corp, ExxonMobil, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Inpex and KazMunaiGas.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia and Kazakhstan, agreed to cut output from January this year until the end of March 2018 to reduce global inventories and support oil prices.

As MRC informed before, in May 2017, Kazakhstan and UAE agreed to prepare a joint project for polyethylene production, reported the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan. The industry is going to be based on the territory of the petrochemical zone in Atyrau region, which provides special legal regime, tax, customs and other preferences.
MRC

Evacuation lifted around Arkema flooded Texas chemical plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French chemical firm Arkema SA said an evacuation zone put in place amid fears that more flammable organic pesticides at its flooded plant in Crosby, Texas, would explode was lifted on Monday after the materials were ignited in a controlled burn, said Reuters.

The plant, which makes organic peroxides for the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products, was swamped by as much as 6 ft of water due to Hurricane Harvey and had been without electricity since Aug. 27. Starting on Thursday, three of the nine trailers at the facility containing a total about 500,000 pounds of chemicals exploded and caught fire. The company had warned it expected a series of fires as temperatures in the trailers rose without functioning cooling systems.

In a statement on Monday, Arkema's North American unit said the 1.5-mi evacuation zone ordered by Harris County authorities since Tuesday had been lifted. On Sunday, the company said it had safely caused "ignition of the remaining" six containers which had then "largely burned themselves out."

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said on Sunday fire officials would perform a controlled burn of materials at the facility, located about 25 mi northeast of Houston, to avoid further damage and limit the risk to the surrounding area. The environmental officials said they would continue to monitor air quality around the plant.

The EPA has said its testing methods have not found toxic concentration levels in smoke from the plant in areas away from the evacuated facility since explosions were first reported on Thursday. The plant lost refrigeration when backup generators were flooded, prompting workers to transfer products from warehouses into diesel-powered refrigerated containers. The company said refrigeration of some back-up containers was compromised because of high water levels.

Last week, 15 Harris County Sheriff's deputies were briefly taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke from fires at the Arkema plant but were released soon afterward. The Federal Aviation Administration last week temporarily barred flights near the plant because of the risk of fire or explosions.

The company said it is opening an assistance center at Crosby to provide financial assistance to people who were affected by the evacuation order near the plant.
MRC

Amec Foster Wheeler awarded EPC contract for methanol plant

MOSCOW (MRC) — Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a USD604 MM engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) fixed price contract for part of a USD1.85 B methanol plant being developed by Yuhuang Chemical Inc (YCI), a US-based subsidiary of China's Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Company Co. Ltd., said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The first phase of the project, which includes the construction of a 1.8 MMtpy methanol plant, is being built at YCI's 1,300-acre site in St. James Parish, Louisiana.

The contract follows the completion of an earlier phase of work at the plant awarded to Amec Foster Wheeler in 2015, covering engineering, project management, procurement and early construction services. The Power & Process business has executed USD3 B of lump sum EPC work in the last 3 yr.

In this latest contract award, Amec Foster Wheeler will carry out specific infrastructure and utilities engineering work, the procurement of bulk items and selected tagged equipment, and the construction of the methanol plant.

In line with the full notice to proceed, USD604 MM will be added to the Company's order book in the second half of the year.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2017, Amec Foster Wheeler was awarded an engineering contract by ISAB Srl, a Lukoil Group Co., as part of a major turnaround at their refinery in Priolo, Sicily, Italy.
MRC

Essar Oil UK to spend USD250 MM upgrading Stanlow refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) — Essar Oil UK expects a USD250-MM upgrade of its Stanlow refinery in northwest England to improve its basic profit margin by USD1/bbl as it will be able to process a greater variety of cheaper crude oils and raise output, its chief executive said on Wednesday, said Reuters.

The company, owned by the Indian billionaire Ruia brothers' Essar Group, plans to raise the annual processing capacity of Stanlow by about 10% to 75 MMbbl. The company's gross refining margin, the profit from processing a barrel of crude, stood at USD9.20/bbl in the March quarter, up from USD6.80 a year ago.

The Ruias, who last month completed the sale of their Indian refining business Essar Oil to a consortium led by Russia's Rosneft for USD12.9 B, have so far invested USD800 MM in Stanlow since acquiring it from Royal Dutch Shell in 2011.

Essar plans to complete the expansion of the crude unit and revamp its catalytic cracker by July, S. Thangapandian told Reuters, adding that the refinery would be shut for at least a month to undertake the upgrade.

"The final schedule for the shutdown will be drawn up in two to three months' time," he said, adding that following the expansion the company's petrochemical production would also rise by about 10%.

Essar mostly processes light oils because of stringent emission standards in the UK. But Stanlow's use of North Sea crudes has been cut to about 50%–70% from about 85% with an increase in purchases of oil from north and west Africa.

The refiner earlier this year also took in for the first time a consignment of Eagle Ford shale oil from the United States and has booked two more cargoes, for delivery in October and November, to take advantage of price differentials.

While the supply glut has weighed on Brent and West Texas Intermediate prices, the spread between the two grades holds at about USD4.50/bbl.

"There is scope to buy more cargoes from the US if the differential between Brent-WTI stays above USD3/bbl," Thangapandian said. In the last year Stanlow has processed 37 more grades of crude and the expansion is geared towards further diversifying supplies to process cheaper grades while improving middle distillate yields.

Essar UK supplies 16% of the UK's demand for road transport fuels and operates 36 retail fuel stations but Thangapandian said the company aims to expand this number to some 400 in the next five years.

As MRC informed earlier, India's Essar Group will payUSD1.18 apiece to the minority shareholders who tendered Essar Oil shares under a delisting offer ahead of the company's sale to a consortium led by Russian oil major Rosneft. India's Essar Group in August closed the USD12.9 B deal to sell 98.26% stake in Essar Oil to a consortium of Rosneft, trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP. The group will pay an additional 8.80 B rupees to minority shareholders, as under the deal shares are valued at 338.28 rupees apiece, it said in a statement.
MRC

Evonik again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Europe and World

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik has again been included in the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Europe and DJSI World, achieving maximum results in the criteria innovation management, climate strategy and customer relationship management, as per the company's press release.

Alongside financial criteria, investors increasingly include ecological and social factors in their investment decisions.
They are guided by leading sustainability indices such as the DJSI.

Every year around 2,500 companies worldwide are invited to participate. In each sector the best of the participating companies are included in the DJSI.

The assessment is performed by the Swiss rating agency RobecoSAM.

As MRC reported 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.

Besides, in November 2016, Evonik Resource Efficiency announced that the company would invest in a capacity expansion of its performance foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany. The investment will increase the output of the facility by about 20% as a first step. The Group will be adding production equipment to its operations complex that manufactures products marketed under the Rohacell brand. The expanded production capacity was expected to be operational by the second half of 2017. Evonik’s Darmstadt plant is producing foam products that are used as a core material in the construction of sandwich composites. The global market has shown steady annual growth in the use of composites.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
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