Gazprom Neft begins deep conversion project at Serbian refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft, through its subsidiary Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), has started construction of a new deep conversion complex (DCC) at its Pancevo Refinery in Serbia with an investment of over EUR300m, said Refiningandpetrochemicals.

The new complex will be equipped with delayed coking technology. It is anticipated to be ready in 2019 and will help NIS to start production of petroleum coke (pet coke) which is currently not done in the country.

Gazprom Neft says that the project is an important part of the second phase of a major program to modernize NIS’ refining capacity which it has been executing since 2009.

According to Gazprom Neft, the deep conversion complex will have a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day which would help the conversion rate of the Pancevo Refinery to reach 99.2%. Additionally, production of high-quality diesel fuel at the Serbian refinery is expected to grow by over 38%.

Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov said: "By introducing cutting-edge technological solutions, Gazprom Neft is striving to bring the group’s refineries up to the highest standards globally in terms of conversion rate, energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.

"Modernising the oil refining complex is a key strategic objective for us, on the successful implementation of which the overall efficiency of our business largely depends. Under the unstable conditions of today’s energy market, this is becoming a key factor in competitiveness."

After the complex begins operations, the Pancevo Refinery will terminate the production of high-sulphur fuel oil (mazut).

Gazprom Neft had invested over EUR540m in the first stage of the Pancevo refinery modernization which saw the construction of a light MHT/DHT hydrocracking and hydrotreating complex, for the production of Euro-5 fuel.

The Gazprom subsidiary holds 56% in NIS, an oil and gas company in which the Serbian government is a major shareholder.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, today announced the appointment of Darleen Caron as executive vice president and chief human resources officer, as per the company's press release.

"Darleen's track record of leading global HR functions, combined with her ability to design and implement strategic programs enabling business objectives make her a terrific fit for this role," said Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell. "As we look to the future, I firmly believe a world-class HR function is key to strengthening our already outstanding team around the globe."

Most recently, Ms. Caron was executive vice president of global human resources for SNC-Lavalin, Inc. Previously, she led HR functions for the Dow Chemical Company and ABB, and both HR and environment, safety and health for Alcan.

Ms. Caron holds a BBA from the Universite du Quebec a Montreal. She will join the company Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.

As MRC informed before, in late August 2017, LyondellBasell's Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (ACP) polyethylene technology has been selected by Shandong Shougang Luqing for a planned 350kta high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit in China. The unit will be built in Shandong’s petrochemical complex at Bohai Industry Park in the Shandong Province.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 56 sites in 19 countries. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) announced that Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited (SECCO) will upgrade its operator training simulator (OTS) system to the Honeywell Connected Plant UniSim Competency Suite, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The comprehensive suite includes robust solutions to better train the industrial workforce for safe, incident-free and efficient startups and operations.

SECCO plans to use part of the suite known as Honeywell Connected Plant UniSim Operations, which is a cloud-deployed learning solution that enables convenient access to simulation-based operator training. It connects operators across the plant through the cloud, centralizes management and deployment of simulation-based learning and reduces lifecycle maintenance costs. Built on Honeywell’s proven UniSim lifecycle simulation modelling platform, the UniSim Operations process simulation models can be effectively applied to process design, process engineering and process optimization activities.

UniSim Operations provides an interactive, real-time plant simulation as the foundation for a comprehensive training program to improve operators’ knowledge and skills. The solution accelerates knowledge transfer by consolidating an entire lifetime of experience into a concise field and console operator-training curriculum. Operators can safely execute and experience critical production scenarios of routine and abnormal situations in a visual environment. Studies show that practice and experience can result in up to 75% improvement in operation knowledge retention compared to other learning methods.

Honeywell has been collaborating with SECCO since 2006. Over the past decade, SECCO has implemented Honeywell Advanced Process Control and real-time optimization from ethylene crackers to downstream chemical units, alarm management system for safety operations, as well as OTS. These connected technologies improve operational performance, safety and reliability.

As MRC informed before, in May 2017, BP announced that it had agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited (SECCO) to Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), BP’s joint venture partner, for a total consideration of USD1.68 bln.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Struggling commodities trader Noble Group agreed to sell its Americas-focused oil trading business to Vitol for about USD580 MM as part of a debt-cutting strategy, and warned of a big loss for its third quarter, as per Reuters.

Monday's announcement came after Reuters reported late on Friday that Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, was nearing a deal to buy Singapore-listed Noble's oil liquids unit.

Noble, founded in 1986 by Richard Elman who took advantage of a commodities bull run to subsequently build it into one of the world's biggest traders, is shrinking to an Asian-centric company focused on coal trading, LNG and freight.

It is slashing jobs and selling assets to reduce debt and win support from lenders after a crisis-wracked two years. In July it agreed to sell its smaller gas and power business to Mercuria.

"I guess the question is when are they going to basically turn around their business, which is quite key. If they can actually provide more details, what sort of assets they can still sell, that would be great," said Annisa Lee, Nomura's head of Asia ex-Japan's flow credit analysis. Hong Kong-based Noble was plunged into crisis in February 2015 when Iceberg Research questioned its accounts, and then it was hit by a commodities downturn.

While Noble has stood by its accounts, the upheaval triggered a share price collapse, credit downgrades, a series of writedowns, as well as fund raising and management changes. Noble's market value has plummeted to less than USD400 MM from USD6 B in February 2015.

Noble said it would receive gross proceeds of about USD1.42 B from the planned sale of its oil liquids business, while net proceeds would have been about USD580 million after repaying USD836 MM of loans. It said the amount calculated is for "illustrative purposes" and is based on its end-June financials and includes proceeds from its gas and power business.

"It gives the company some positive momentum going into a liability management exercise and it likely raises recovery realizations under a restructuring scenario modestly," said Todd Schubert, fixed income analyst at Bank of Singapore.

In July, Noble announced an up to USD1 B disposal plan for assets outside North America over the next two years as Chairman Paul Brough, a restructuring specialist appointed in May, sought to tackle Noble's more than USD3 B of debt.

"Conservative liquidity management and constraints placed on the group's access to trade finance lines led to disruption costs and prevented the group from taking advantage of profitable trading opportunities," the company said on Monday. Its stock fell 7% on Monday and was down 5.6% on Tuesday, extending losses to about 80 percent this year.

In a one-line statement, Vitol US Holding Co confirmed it had agreed to acquire Noble Americas Corp subject to certain conditions and referred to Noble's statement on the deal. Noble bonds due 2020 were higher by two points at 39/41 cents on the dollar. As recently as April, the 2020s were trading around 97 cents on the dollar.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today upgraded Ineos Group Holdings S.A.'s (Ineos) Corporate Family Rating (CFR) to Ba2 from Ba3 and Probability of Default Rating (PDR) to Ba2-PD from Ba3-PD, as per the agency press release.

Concurrently, Moody's has upgraded the ratings of the senior secured tem loan facilities due March 2022 and March 2024 borrowed by INEOS US Finance LLC and INEOS Finance Plc; upgraded the rating of the senior secured notes due May 2023 issued by INEOS Finance Plc to Ba1 from Ba2; and upgraded the ratings of the senior unsecured notes due August 2024 issued by INEOS Group Holding SA to B1 from B2. The outlook on all ratings is stable.

A full list of affected ratings is provided towards the end of this press release.

"The upgrade reflects Ineos' strong operating performance since 2015 and Moody's expectation of robust performance in the next 12 months, resulting in solid credit protection metrics supporting the higher rating," says Hubert Allemani, Moody's Vice President -- Senior Analyst and lead analyst for Ineos. "The upgrade also reflects Ineos' strong free cash flow generation, low leverage and financial policy commitment to maintain a net leverage of under 3x through the cycle, which should provide the company with a stronger ability to manage a downcycle."
MRC