Equate appoints senior vice president as new CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equate, a global producer of petrochemical products based in Kuwait, has appointed Dr Ramesh Ramachandran, the senior executive vice president of Equate, as the new chief executive officer, while Naser Al Dousari will take over as the new senior vice president of the group, reported TradeArabia.

Dr Ramachandran will be succeeding Mohammad Hussain, who retires after serving as CEO for two consecutive three-year terms and a career in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry extending over 35 years, said a statement from Equate.

During his tenure, Hussain led the transition of the organization from a single-plant operation to a global leader with manufacturing operations in Kuwait, Europe, and North America, it stated.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical, the company is an international joint venture with key shareholders including Petrochemical Industries Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Boubyan Petrochemical Company and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company.

Announcing the changes in senior leadership, Equate said both Dr Ramachandran and Al Dousari will assume their new roles effective November 20 and will complete the transition process with Hussain by the end of the year.

Prior to this, Al Dousari was the manager of Olefins Business Development at Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and also a board member of Equate and Kuwait Olefin Company (TKOC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and a founding shareholder of Equate.

As MRC informed before, Kuwait-based Equate Petrochemical Company continued its global growth through its wholly owned subsidiary MEGlobal with the launch of work on a new world-scale ethylene glycol (EG) manufacturing facility in Freeport, Texas, US, in August 2016. With this plant, Equate is the first Kuwaiti petrochemical company to invest in the US. The new facility, to be completed during 2019, will increase Equate’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) capacity by 750,000 metric tonnes annually and will enhance the company’s global presence to meet customer needs.

Equate is the world’s second largest EG producer with 12% of the global market share.

Equate Petrochemical Company K.S.C.C., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes petrochemical products. The company produces ethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, styrene monomer, paraxylene, heavy aromatics, and benzene; polyethylene for various applications, including flexible and food packaging, industrial packaging, agricultural films, HIC, and others; and monoethylene and diethylene glycol that are used in polyester fiber for fabrics, water-based adhesive materials, shoe polish, and printer inks, as well as automotive anti-freeze and coolants. The company sells its products in Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, North America, Asia, Europe, and internationally. Equate Petrochemical Company K.S.C.C. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Safat, Kuwait.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Pembina Pipeline Corporation announced that in order to accommodate incremental volume commitments from customers, the Company is adding additional infrastructure and increasing operational flexibilities to its previously announced Phase V pipeline expansion (Phase V), which included a 20-in pipeline from Lator to Fox Creek, Alberta, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Company is also revising its capital cost estimate for Phase V by an additional USD135 MM for a total capital cost of USD385 MM.

Since Phase V was originally announced in April 2017, Pembina has secured approximately 30,000 bpd in additional volume commitments.

The Phase V capital cost estimate revision is a result of: USD90 MM towards increased receipt station functionality at Lator by adding 40,000 bbl of operational crude and condensate storage, new tie-ins and site modifications, a new pump station near Dawson Creek, British Columbia and upgrading an existing pump station at Gordondale, Alberta; and USD45 MM due to capital cost refinements, including changes to volume receipt locations.

Through the Phase V project enhancements, the pipeline capacity will be increased by an incremental 45,000 bpd upstream of Laglace, Alberta. In addition to accommodating further customer demand, this will improve operational efficiencies and offer more optionality, which will ultimately provide a better service offering for Pembina's customers.

Phase V is aimed at addressing capacity constraints between Lator and Fox Creek and supporting future growth in the Montney and Deep Basin resource plays. The project is expected to provide additional capacity in this corridor and access to Pembina's downstream capacity at Fox Creek. Clearing and access to the right-of-way is now 90% complete with construction expected to commence shortly. The Company continues to anticipate bringing Phase V into service in late-2018. Once operational, Pembina will have three distinct pipelines between Lator and Fox Creek.

The Company also continues to progress regulatory approvals, design and engineering of the two pump stations for its previously announced Phase IV pipeline expansion. Phase IV will increase capacity between Fox Creek and Namao, Alberta.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total SA expects production soon from its 225,500-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, which has been shut since an Aug. 30 power outage during Tropical Storm Harvey, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Gulf Coast market sources said the company was proceeding carefully bringing units up to operating temperatures and beginning to circulate feed. None of the units is producing product.

"The Total Port Arthur Refinery is restarting the plant and anticipates first production soon," said Total spokeswoman Tricia Fuller. "We are preparing for the previously planned turnaround on some process units."

A planned overhaul of the 78,000-bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit and 5,000 bpd alkylation unit began last week and is continuing as planned, the sources said.

The overhaul is planned to last up to two months, according to the sources.

Most of the units not involved in the turnaround are preparing to restart, the sources said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations over October shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) began in Russia between producers and converters on Monday. All producers announced a price increase of not less than Rb2,000/tonne from September, according to ICIS-MRC's Price report.

Local converters had to accept the increase in PVC prices by Rb5,000-6,000/tonne in September, compared with August level due to the limited supply of resin in the market due on falling imports and planned and unplanned shutdowns of several production sites. Producer intend to achieve further price increases in October at least by Rb2,000/tonne.

Demand for PVC from local consumers exceeded the output of Russian producers in July - August, in part because of planned and unplanned shutdowns of two major producers: SayanskKhimPlast and Bashkir Soda Company. Reduction of the operating time of the resin was compensated by the stocks made at the beginning of the summer by both converters and producers.

In previous years, high seasonal demand was covered by the growth of imports, in particular, from China. But this year, traditional Chinese suppliers of acetylene PVC began to actively increase export prices from mid-July, and Russian companies practically completely refrained from imports from China by September.

RusVinyl reduced the capacity utilisation for technological work in September. Kaustik (Volgograd) shut down its PVC production from 24 September to 18 October for the turnaround. These factors limited the supply of resin from Russian producers in September and October.

The shortage of Russian PVC is not compensated by import supplies because of high export prices. Demand for PVC from the domestic market remained at a good level in September, although some companies have limited the volume of purchases due to a serious increase in prices.

Some producers increased PVC prices by Rb1,000-3,000/tonne in the second half of September in comparison with the level at the beginning of the month.

Demand for PVC is expected to be strong in October, although traditionally this month many converters are beginning to reduce their capacity utilisation and purchases. Given strong demand and limited supply, Russian producers intend to achieve further price increases in October.

Deals for October deliveries were discussed in the range of Rb71 000-74 500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for K=65/67 and for quantities up to 500 tonnes. Discussions for K=70 resin started from Rb73,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, and higher.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Privately-run conglomerate CEFC China Energy has obtained preliminary state approval for its proposed USD9.1 billion investment in Russian oil major Rosneft, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

CEFC said earlier this month it will buy a 14.16 percent stake in Rosneft from a consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority, strengthening energy ties between Moscow and Beijing.

The approval was received just about a week after the deal was announced, the sources said.

"It’s a preliminary approval from the NDRC which means the government gave the in-principle go-ahead for the deal," said an industry executive with direct knowledge of the government decision. NDRC, or the National Development and Reform Commission, is China’s top economic planner.

"The preliminary approval means the government sees the strategic significance of this deal and shall lend its backing in financing."

The government, including the State Council, or Cabinet, is expected to give final approval unless there are "material errors" during the process of proceeding with this transaction, said the executive and a second source briefed by CEFC on the matter.

Both NDRC and CEFC did not immediately comment.

CEFC China Energy has grown in recent years from a niche oil trader into a USD25 billion sprawling energy and financial conglomerate with strong political ties and a rare contract to store part of China’s state oil reserve.

CEFC has long held overseas expansion ambitions and grabbed the spotlight in the Rosneft deal at a time when larger state-run peers like Sinopec Group have shifted gears from rapid expansion to divestment.

A stake in Rosneft will allow China, the world’s top energy consumer and crude oil buyer, to boost cooperation with the world’s top oil producer.

CEFC has tapped China Development Bank and Russian lender VTB to help fund the Rosneft deal, banking and company source said. CDB, a Chinese policy bank, has long supported CEFC and is its biggest lender.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2016, a consortium of Glencore and Qatar bought a 19.5% stake in Rosneft for over EUR10 billion in one of the biggest energy deals of 2016.

Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC