ADNOC mulls downstream opportunities abroad with Aramco

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is in talks with several partners, including Saudi Aramco, for possible downstream joint ventures abroad, particularly in Asia, industry sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The Abu Dhabi state energy company wants to increase its crude refining capacity by 60 percent and boost petrochemical production.

It plans to spend more than 400 billion dirhams (USD109 billion) in the next five years, which will include boosting gas output and investing in international downstream activities, the company said in November.

ADNOC wants to expand its downstream portfolio in markets where demand for oil is still growing, such as China and India, securing a new outlet for its crude.

"As part of ADNOC’s further expansion of our downstream business, we are exploring a number of select international downstream opportunities, especially in growth markets. We will update the market in due course," an ADNOC spokesman said on Wednesday, declining to comment on specific projects.

One source said the opportunities ADNOC could be looking at included a refinery and petrochemical project in India, for which Aramco signed an initial agreement on Wednesday with a consortium of Indian state refiners.

The source said talks were at a very early stage and no decision had been taken. It was not clear whether ADNOC would join Aramco on the same project.

In March, an executive of Indian Oil Corp said ADNOC was interested in buying a stake in its planned west coast refinery.

Top executives from Aramco and India's Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals - a joint venture of Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp - signed a memorandum of understanding to take equal stakes in the project in Maharashtra state.

Aramco may introduce at a later stage a strategic partner to share its 50 percent stake, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Wednesday in New Delhi. Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser declined to comment on whether Aramco had been in talks with ADNOC for a partnership in the project.

The project includes a 1.2 MMbpd refinery integrated with petrochemical facilities with a total capacity of 18 MMbpd.

It will be one of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes in the world, built to meet fast-growing fuel and petrochemicals demand in India and elsewhere, and providing a steady outlet for Saudi crude oil.

As MRC informed previously, ADNOC plans to almost triple its petrochemical production to an annual 11.4 MMt by 2025 from 4.5 MMt at present, group chief executive Sultan Al Jaber said in November 2016.

ADNOC's petrochemicals are produced by Abu Dhabi Polymers Co (Borouge), which makes polyolefin, and Ruwais Fertilizer Industries (Fertil), which produces urea and ammonia fertilisers.
MRC

India, Aramco to partner on USD44B refinery-petchem project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco signed an initial deal with a consortium of Indian refiners to build a USD44 billion refinery and petrochemical project on India's west coast, as the kingdom moves to secure buyers for its crude in a market awash with oil, as per BusinessLine.

The project includes a 1.2 MMbpd refinery integrated with petrochemical facilities with a total capacity of 18 MMtpy, the officials said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum.

Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, is expanding its footprint globally by signing new downstream deals and boosting the capacity of its existing plants ahead of an initial public offering that is expected later this or next year.

Days earlier, state oil giant Aramco sealed refining and petrochemicals deals worth about USD20 billion in France and the United States.

The Indian plant will be one of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes in the world, built to meet fast-growing fuel and petrochemicals demand in India and elsewhere.

"Large as this project may be, it does not by itself satisfy our desire to invest in India ... We see India as a priority for investments and for our crude supplies," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

"We're very much interested in retail ... We want to be consumer-facing," he said.

Saudi Aramco will supply at least 50 percent of the crude to be processed at the planned refinery, he said.

Aramco may introduce at a later stage a strategic partner to share its 50 percent stake, Falih said.

"We have somebody in mind and we will announce in due course," Aramco Chief Executive Amir Nasser said, without elaborating.

Saudi petrochemical company SABIC is also keen to invest in a cracker and other facilities in India, Falih said.

Aramco, like other major producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world's third-biggest oil consumer. Last year it opened an office in New Delhi.

India outlined plans in February to expand its refining capacity by 77 percent to about 8.8 MMbpd by 2030.

The signing confirmed a Reuters story that ran after representatives of Aramco had met with their Indian counterparts on Tuesday.

During a visit to New Delhi in February, Falih had said Saudi Arabia would sign oil supply deals as part of any agreements to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy it has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals.

Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in refinery projects in Indonesia and Malaysia that came with long-term crude oil supply deals.

The company is further strengthening its refining role in China, one of its biggest oil customers. Aramco has a refinery joint venture with Sinopec and Exxon Mobil, and is building a 300 Mbpd refinery with Norinco.

"Because of our significant supplies to the Chinese market we are looking at additions," Nasser said, adding his company hopes to close a deal with CNPC this year to buy a stake in a 260 Mbpd refinery in Yunnan.

Saudi Arabia is competing with Iraq to be India's top oil supplier. Iraq displaced Saudi Arabia for the first time on an annual basis in 2017, data compiled by Reuters showed.

Nasser said he was not worried by rising supplies from regional rivals to India.

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Aramco and France's Total are considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy, said a source familiar with the plans, who described them as at an initial stage. The feedstock would partially come from SATORP, the existing Aramco-Total joint refining venture, and from Sadara, a joint venture between Aramco and Dow Chemical.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

Sonoco сompletes фcquisition of Highland Packaging Solutions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Highland Packaging Solutions, a Plant City, Fla.-based, leading manufacturer of thermoformed packaging for fresh fruits, vegetables and eggs found in the fast-growing perimeter of retail supermarkets, as per Seekingalpha.

Sonoco acquired the privately-held Highland for approximately USD150 million in cash. Highland’s financial results will be added to Sonoco’s Consumer Packaging segment, and the business will operate within the Company’s Global Plastics division.

Owned by Steve Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, and John Durham, along with select members of the company’s leadership team, Highland has grown from a regional supplier of agriculture packaging products into a global packaging company with 2017 net sales of approximately USD90 million. The company has approximately 425 employees operating a world-class production facility in Plant City producing a total packaging solution for customers that includes sophisticated engineered containers, flexographic printed labels and inventory management through distribution warehouses in the Southeast and West Coast of the United States.

“We are extremely pleased to have Highland joining the Sonoco family of leading consumer packaging products. Highland significantly expands our thermoforming packaging capabilities for fresh products, especially when you consider our addition of Peninsula Packaging last year. Combined with our acquisition of Clear Lam, also in 2017, we now occupy a strong packaging solutions position serving the perimeter of supermarkets in fresh food products," said Sonoco President and CEO, Rob Tiede.

Tiede added that he is delighted to have Maxwell and other members of Highland’s management team joining Sonoco, and he expects no changes in any of Highland’s key relationships. “Combining Highland’s product lines with Sonoco’s packaging capabilities positions us extremely well to capture new growth in the rapidly expanding fresh and natural category, while greatly accelerating and enhancing our ability to offer our customers the most diverse consumer packaging formats and solutions in the industry," he concluded.

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately USD5 billion, the Company has 21,000 employees working in more than 300 operations in 33 countries, serving some of the world’s best known brands in some 85 nations. With a purpose focused on Better Packaging. Better Life., Sonoco ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2018 list.
MRC

Exxon expects Papua New Guinea LNG project to restart in May

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp expects to restart production from its Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at the start of May after it was shut following an earthquake in February, reported Reuters with reference to ExxonMobil LNG Vice President Emma Cochrane.

The $19 billion LNG facility, opened in 2014 in a remote location in one of Asia’s poorest and most politically troubled countries, has been closed since the powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

The project is considered one of the world’s best-performing LNG operations, despite the challenge of drilling for gas and building a plant and pipeline in the remote Papua New Guinea jungle. Australia’s Oil Search and Santos are Exxon’s main partners in the project.

The LNG export terminal may not be able to produce at full capacity at first and will likely ramp up gradually, Cochrane said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum.

"We are hopeful that we will be able to start in the beginning of May. We are actually ahead of schedule," Cochrane told Reuters.

ExxonMobil has said there has not been any indication that the 700 km (435 mile) pipeline that delivers gas to its coastal LNG plant had been damaged by the quake, which flattened villages, killed dozens of people and spoilt water sources.

Cochrane also said the company has recertified the reserves in its P’nyang field in Papua New Guinea, and the reserves are higher than it previously thought.

"That gives us the potential to expand the facilities in the P’nyang field for the PNG LNG foundation project," she said.

Exxon is likely to take a final investment decision this year on expanding its Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas - a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, Cochrane said.

The company intends to expand its facility in Qatar, but "they have still not made a decision on partnering," Cochrane said.

"We very much hope that Exxon Mobil will be a part of that story. But Qatar Petroleum is still considered their partnership choices."

As MRC informed before, in December 2016, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) received an order for supply of systems to support a large-scale polyethylene production train for ExxonMobil's Beaumont polyethylene plant. The new production train is slated to be completed in 2019, and will produce 650,000 tons of polyethylene per year.

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

Wacker opens plant for functional silicone fluids in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (WMC) has expanded its existing silicone production at its Amtala site near Kolkata, India, with a new hydrosilylation plant for manufacturing functional silicone fluids, as per GV.

The plant with an annual capacity of over 6,000 t was officially opened on 20 March 2018.

According to the company, the expansion is a response to growing regional demand for speciality silicones for use in the textile, personal-care, rigid and flexible polyurethane foam, and agrochemical sectors. In PU foams, e.g., for car interior trim and insulation materials, functional silicone fluids serve as additives for adjusting the cell structure. The investment for the plant amounted to around EUR 6 million.

"With this expansion of our production, we are broadening our product portfolio and can thereby open up new markets in the growth regions of India and Southeast Asia," said Christian Hartel, Executive Board member at Wacker Chemie AG.

WMC has its registered office and production facilities near Kolkata, while sales are headquartered in Mumbai. The company is responsible for all marketing and sales activities in the Indian subcontinent relating to Wacker silicones. Wacker owns a 51 % share in the joint venture, which was set up in 1998 and is active in Greater India's most important trade centers, maintaining sales offices and warehouses in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, as well as a liaison office in Dhaka, Bangladesh. WMC currently has 260 employees.

As MRC wrote before, Wacker Chemie AG is expanding its existing production plants for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in South Korea. In early November 2017, Wacker celebrated the official start of construction on the major project during a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony. The Group is building a new spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders at its Ulsan site, which will have a total capacity of 80,000 metric tons per year. The Munich-based chemicals company is also constructing an additional reactor for dispersions based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (EVA), which are needed as the raw material for the spray dryer to produce dispersible polymer powders.

Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
MRC