US sanctions: what trade restrictions on Iran mean for the oil and gas industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US today re-imposes economic sanctions on Iran, with a second wave of sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's energy sector due in November, as per Compelo.

In May, President Donald Trump ended US participation in the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran.

Under the 2015 Nuclear Deal Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P5+1 group of world powers – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany – Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

President Trump described the JCPOA has “a horrible, one-sided deal” and pledged to re-impose tough sanctions on Tehran after a wind-down period of 90 days. That has now expired.

As of today, 7 August, Iran is, among other things, prohibited from using US currency, trading in metals and minerals including gold, steel, coal and aluminium, and conducting transactions related to the Iranian currency the rial, the value of which has already declined 50% against the US dollar in 2018 amidst civil unrest.

President Trump wants to Iran to curtail its nuclear enrichment and weapons programmes, and end its support of unfavourable governments or uprisings in the Middle East.

Adopting a typically hardline stance, he has warned of “severe consequences” for any countries or companies that defy the sanctions and continue to do business with Iran.

The remaining unilateral sanctions will be re-imposed by the US on 5 November and will target Iran’s energy sector, including barring imports of the oil and gas from the country, and sanctions on its energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors.

French oil and gas multinational Total has already threatened to pull out of its $4.8bn deal with Petropars, a subsidiary of the National Oil Company of Iran (NOIC), to exploit the vast South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf unless it is granted a waiver from the US sanctions.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Xuzhou Haitian has taken off-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at the plant on August 5, 2018. The plant is likely to remain off-stream for around one week.

Located at Xuzhou in Jiangsu province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2018, China Tianchen Engineering Corp. won a CNY 689 million (USD108 million) contract to build a 300,000 tonne/year PP plant for Tianjin Bohua, Tianchen's parent firm China National Chemical Engineering Co (CNCEC).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The world’s biggest listed packaging company, Amcor Ltd, swooped on U.S. rival Bemis Company Inc (BMS.N) in a USD5.25 billion all-stock deal that comes as packaging firms are jostling to buy growth with acquisitions, as per Reuters.

The transaction gives Australia-listed Amcor some new products, particularly food-packing film for which Bemis is known, as well as deeper access to the Americas at a time when shifting customer preferences are shaking up the industry.

Bemis shareholders get a 25 percent premium on the company’s closing stock price last Thursday, before details of the deal were reported.

Amcor also is focused on plastic packaging, with about 54 percent of sales in flexible products and 29 percent in rigid products like bottles, according to a presentation on the deal. More than one-third of Amcor sales are in North America, with 31 percent in Europe and 5 percent in Australia and New Zealand.

Current Amcor shareholders will own 71 percent of the combined company, while Bemis holders will have the rest. The new company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australia Stock Exchange. The deal, subject to regulatory and stockholder approval, is targeted to close in the first quarter of next year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Milliken & Company’s board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Halsey M. Cook Jr. as president and CEO effective September 1, 2018. J. Harold Chandler will return to his role as chair of the board of directors, as per the company's press release.

"The board of directors is confident that Halsey is the right leader for Milliken’s next era," said current chair, president and CEO, Harold Chandler. "He has the experience to accelerate what is working very well today at Milliken and, importantly, introduce change where the organization can further leverage our emphasis on innovation, manufacturing excellence and customer care. He will lead an organization with a proven management team that knows how to translate strategy into effective execution and sustainable results. His experience in growing diversified, global businesses and his leadership style are an excellent fit for Milliken’s values, culture and commitment to the community."

Cook’s 30-year career leading a wide range of large, diversified global businesses with significant manufacturing and distribution networks has prepared him to lead family-owned Milliken. His leadership roles in sales, marketing and product development have included international- and U.S.-based assignments across a variety of companies such as United Technologies and Legrand North America. Most recently, Cook was the president and CEO for Sonepar USA, a family-owned global distributor of electrical products and related solutions. These experiences provided opportunities for Cook to drive growth through organic innovation programs and strategic acquisitions. Cook has a B.A. in Economics and English from the University of the South and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

On joining the Milliken team, Cook commented, "I am honored and excited to have been selected to lead Milliken. It is an esteemed company with talented associates and an opportunity-rich future. I am looking forward to meeting the team and listening to their ideas and aspirations for the next chapter of Milliken & Company."

As MRC reported before, in H1 2018, Milliken Chemical intoduced containers of NX UltraClear polypropylene (PP) made using its Millad NX 8000 clarifier. Containers made with NX UltraClear PP are lightweight, microwaveable, can be hot-filled, and are recyclable.

Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. The company creates coatings, specialty chemicals, and advanced additive and colorant technologies that transform the way we experience products from automotive plastics to children's art supplies.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, has announced it has won an onshore Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract from HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL), a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Mittal Energy Investment, as per EnergyWorld.

Under the contract, LTHE would set up seven cracker furnaces at the Bathinda refinery in Punjab. The order for setting up the furnaces of 1,200 kilo-tonne per annum (KTPA) dual-feed cracker unit is part of HPCL-Mittal Energy's Guru Gobind Singh Polymer Addition project.

The firm said that the scope of work under the contract covers project management, residual engineering, procurement and supply of cracker furnace systems, components, auxiliaries, fabrication in modules, erection, construction and commissioning.

LTHE plans to use its modular fabrication facilities in Hazira, Gujarat for fabrication of furnace modules.

The process licensor for the cracker unit was McDermott, an American multinational EPC and installation company, the company in a statement.

As MRC informed before, in March 2018, HMEL received clearance from India’s ministry of environments for the polymer addition project at its Guru Gobind Singh refinery and petrochemical complex.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
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