JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley picked to advise on Aramcos SABIC deal

MOSCOW (MRC)) - JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been picked to advise on Saudi Aramco's plan to buy a controlling stake in petrochemical maker SABIC, several sources familiar with the matter said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Aramco aims to buy such a stake, possibly taking the entire 70 percent holding owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, two of the sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday.

Late last week Aramco confirmed a Reuters report that it was working on the possible purchase of a "strategic stake" in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's top sovereign wealth fund.

Aramco wants to develop its downstream business as the government prepares to sell up to 5 percent of the company, which is the world’s largest oil producer. Boosting its petrochemicals portfolio further could help attract investors for the initial public offering.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley had already been among the advisers assisting the oil giant on its IPO.

Aramco's initial thinking is to buy the full stake owned by the PIF, but if that fails to materialise Aramco could end up with a stake in SABIC of more than 50 percent, making it a majority owner, two of the sources said.

No final decision has been made on the size of the stake as discussions are at a very early stage, they added.

Aramco and JPMorgan declined to comment. Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The PIF did not respond to a request for comment on the size of the stake sale.

Riyadh-listed SABIC, the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals firm, has a market capitalisation of 385.2 billion Saudi riyals (USD103 billion).

The potential acquisition would affect the timeframe of Aramco's planned IPO set for later this year, the state oil giant's chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a TV interview on Friday.

Aramco plans to boost investments in refining and petrochemicals to secure new markets and sees growth in chemicals as central to its downstream strategy to cut the risk of an oil demand slowdown. Aramco plans to raise its refining capacity to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day, from around 5 million bpd now, and double its petrochemicals production by 2030.

Aramco pumps around 10 million bpd of crude oil.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global Petrochemicals Market report identified the various delicate issues such as market growth and inhibitors, as per Thebusinesstactics.

Further, the report offer a detailed analysis of the current and future market scenario. The report also determined the market size, share, and forecast for the period 2017-2024. Going forward, the report is fabricate in such a way that it also address the most-detailed market segmentation on the global as well as regional level.

Petrochemicals are petroleum by-products of oil or natural gas derived from cracking (pyrolysis) or chemical processing. This chemical compound is obtained from fossil fuels, like coal, natural gas, or from renewable sources like corn or sugarcane. Petrochemical derivatives such as acetylene, benzene, ethane, ethylene, methane, propane, and hydrogen are precursors for many other chemicals compounds. These derivatives are widely applied in production of elastomers, fibers, plasticizers, etc. High investments and volatile prices had adverse effect on the petrochemical industrial performance. However, the market is growing owing to demand from downstream requirements.

The major market drivers are low labor cost in many regions such as Asia-pacific, increasing construction market growth and increased demand for lightweight and flexible materials. The market growth might be restricted due to availability of bio based alternatives and price instability under the study period.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - An explosion at an Iranian oil storage facility in the central industrial zone of Khomein killed two people and wounded another, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, as per Reuters.

"An oil purifier unit in the Khomein facility caught fire around noon ... which caused a blast in which two people were killed," the deputy governor of Iran’s Markazi province, Fatollah Haghighi, told Tasnim.

"The fire has been completely contained but firefighters will remain at the scene until the cooling operation is completed."

The official said that technical issues caused the fire.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Сandu Energy, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, has secured a contract to offer decommissioning services for the Saskatchewan Research Council’s (SRC) Safe Low-Power Kritical Experiment (SLOWPOKE-2) research reactor, as per Compello.

The design of the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor is inherently safe and poses a very low risk. For 37 years, the reactor has operated safely in SRC’s Environmental Analytical Laboratories in Saskatoon.

"Decommissioning is the end of the nuclear lifecycle that SNC-Lavalin supports with the latest technology, modern tools and training – all with a focus on safety,” said Sandy Taylor, President, Nuclear at SNC-Lavalin. "We have successfully decommissioned similar reactors at Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta in recent years, and our track record speaks to our commitment to the Saskatchewan Research Council that its SLOWPOKE-2 reactor will be safely retired in the most environmentally responsible manner."

SRC’s SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor was mainly used as an analytical tool for neutron activation analysis to determine uranium and other elemental concentrations in a wide variety of sample types. Developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) in the 1960s, SLOWPOKE-2 reactors support nuclear education and research.

The specialized techniques used for SLOWPOKE-2 decommissioning, heavy water reactor decommissioning projects as well as large, commercial reactor refurbishments can be applied to the global decommissioning market to increase certainty in schedule, cost and outcome. These techniques are not just efficient in terms of project management, but are also safe and effective practices.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia and China delayed a U.S. push for a U.N. Security Council committee to order a halt to refined petroleum exports to North Korea, asking for more detail on a U.S. accusation that Pyongyang has breached a cap, diplomats said, as per Reuters.

Russia's mission to the United Nations told the 15-member committee it is "closely examining this request and is seeking additional information on every single case of 'illegal' transfer of petroleum," diplomats said. China backed the request for information.
MRC