Bapco completes multibillion-dollar financing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-run Bahrain Petroleum Co (Bapco) has completed multi-billion-dollar financing aimed at expanding its refining capacity to 380,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 267,000 bpd, reported Reuters.

Bahrain, a small non-OPEC Gulf oil producer with around 124.6 million barrels of proven reserves, gets its oil revenue from two fields: the onshore Bahrain field, and the offshore Abu Safah field, which is shared with Saudi Arabia.

Around 88 percent of the crude that Bapco refines comes from neighboring Saudi Arabia, and the rest from Bahrain’s field.

The refinery’s expansion is projected to be completed by 2022, Bapco said in a statement on Sunday.

It did not disclose the size of the financing, but sources previously told Reuters it was over USD4 billion.

Five export credit agencies and a syndicate of 21 commercial banks - regional and international - took part in the financing, which includes conventional and Islamic loans, Bapco said.

BNP Paribas, HSBC Middle East and Verus Partners advised the firm on the deal.
MRC

Innovia releases barrier packaging films for the circular economy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Innovia Films is launching the first of its new range of transparent high barrier packaging films, Propafilm Strata SL., as per Britishplastics.

The film has been designed to be a standalone monofilmic solution, to be used in laminate constructions to be recycle ready, or recyclable in countries which have the infrastructure to recycle polypropylene films.

Alasdair McEwen, Global Product Manager for Packaging at Innovia Films, said: “Our new in-house technology has enabled us to produce a totally new film with unique barrier properties. Strata SL has a very effective barrier to aroma, mineral oils and oxygen even at high relative humidity levels ensuring increased shelf life and reduced food waste."

"All our beta trials during the development of this product have been very effective. Strata SL has performed exactly as we expected, proving excellent machinability and printability. Some of our customers are currently running shelf-life tests to prove the product for their particular application which will provide us with real test results."

"Our target markets for this packaging film are cereal bars, biscuits, snacks, dried fruit and nuts, as well as tea and coffee. This new development is very timely in view of the industry move towards recyclability and a circular economy."

"Our next product launch will follow very soon and will offer even higher barrier levels."

MRC

SOCAR to import 110,000 T of petrol in Oct due to refinery maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerbaijan’s only oil refinery plans to import 110,000 tonnes of A-92 petrol in October while it halts production for a month for routine maintenance, state energy company SOCAR’s vice president told Reuters on Thursday.

The refinery, which is owned by SOCAR, will halt production from Oct 1. The company’s petrochemicals unit, Azerkhimia, will also halt production for 40 days starting Oct 1. Routine maintenance at the refinery was also conducted last year. “It’s not ruled out that purchases (of A-92 petrol) would be made from Russia and Turkmenistan, although it will depend on prices and some other options might be reviewed,” Davud Mammadov said in an interview.

The refinery and Azerkhimia fully satisfied the country’s oil refining and petrochemical products needs at present, he said. SOCAR plans to complete modernising the refinery by 2021 and start a new oil processing line at the plant, allowing it to increase oil processing to 7.5 million tonnes annually in 2023-2024 from 6 million tonnes at present, Mammadov said.

“Azerbaijan intends to increase condensate production at such fields as Absheron, Umid, Babek and others by that date, which will increase loading at the refinery,” he said. SOCAR plans to process 6.1 million tonnes of oil at the refinery in 2019. Last year the volume was 6.14 million tonnes.

Azerbaijan mainly exported two types of petroleum products - liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel fuel, Mammadov said.

Azerbaijan plans to sell around 11,000 tonnes of LPG and up to 400,000 tonnes of diesel fuel on the world market in 2019, of which 8,000 tonnes of LPG and 200,000 tonnes of diesel fuel have already been exported.

Mammadov said that buyers of diesel fuel were Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea countries, while LPG is being exported to Georgia and Afghanistan.

LPG was being delivered to Afghanistan by ferry across the Caspian Sea via Turkmenistan, as well as by road through Iran.
MRC

Sberbank receives rights for 80% stake in Antipinsky refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia’s largest bank Sberbank said it had decided to recover debts from Russia’s Antipinsky refinery ahead of schedule and that it had received rights for 80% of the stock in the refinery, reported Reuters.

The Antipinsky oil refinery, which has a capacity of 9 million tonnes per year, said on Monday it had filed for bankruptcy, weeks after a London court ordered its assets be frozen in response to a lawsuit from a trading house.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia’s Antipinsky oil refinery does not plan to receive oil this month and has removed itself from the delivery schedule. A London court has issued a worldwide order to freeze 225 million euros (USD252 million) in assets belonging to the oil refinery, owned by New Stream Group.

JSC Antipinsky Refinery was founded in July 2004 on the territory of one of the major oil and gas producing constituents of the Russian Federation - Tyumen Region, where most of Russian oil (64%) and natural gas (91%) reserves are concentrated.
MRC

AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group to expand its spent catalyst recycling capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. announced that its Supervisory Board has approved a capital project to double its spent catalyst recycling capacity by building a new, greenfield plant in the operational vicinity of its current spent catalyst processing plant in Cambridge Ohio, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This new plant will be financed with the proceeds from the sale of up to $350 million tax-exempt bonds to be issued by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority. The proceeds of the bonds will be lent to AMG Vanadium LLC, a subsidiary of AMG, and AMG will guarantee the repayment of the bonds.

The bonds will be senior, unsecured obligations of AMG. AMG has engaged Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley to act as underwriters with respect to the bonds. Subject to necessary approvals from the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, AMG expects the bonds to be marketed at the end of June.

AMG is a global critical materials company at the forefront of CO2 reduction trends. AMG produces highly engineered specialty metals and mineral products and provides related vacuum furnace systems and services to the transportation, infrastructure, energy, and specialty metals & chemicals end markets. AMG Critical Materials produces aluminum master alloys and powders, ferrovanadium, natural graphite, chromium metal, antimony, lithium, tantalum, niobium and silicon metal. AMG Technologies produces titanium aluminides and titanium alloys for the aerospace market; designs, engineers, and produces advanced vacuum furnace systems; and operates vacuum heat treatment facilities, primarily for the transportation and energy industries.
MRC