Valero insists newly hired workers in Texas and Louisiana to be vaccinated against COVID-19

MOSCOW (MRC) -- San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp, the second-largest US oil refiner, will require newly hired workers in Texas and Louisiana to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, reported Reuters with reference to six people familiar with the matter.

Valero becomes the first US refiner to require vaccinations as a condition for new workers, the people said. Current employees at the firm’s Gulf Coast refineries are not required to be vaccinated, the sources added.

A Valero spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment.

As COVID-19 has spread in the US South this summer, Valero and other US refiners have required workers wear face masks where social distancing is not possible. Several also limited the number of staffers able to gather together at work.

New employees hired to Valero’s Port Arthur, Texas, and Meraux, Louisiana, refineries were told this week they would have to get vaccinated, the people said. Some of the new hires were scheduled to begin work within two weeks, the sources said, and will be placed on an at least six-month probationary period, a time they are considered at-will employees and can be dismissed without cause.

Other refiners that have resumed strict rules this month to prevent the spread of the virus include the nation’s largest refiner, Marathon Petroleum Corp, and Motiva Enterprises.

Chevron Corp this week postponed the full return of employees to company offices in California and Texas, joining companies like Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc, due to a resurgence in coronavirus cases related to the fast-spreading Delta variant.

As MRC wrote previously, Valero Energy Corp. operated its 14 refineries up to 89% of their combined total throughput capacity of 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd) during the second quarter of 2021.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's SK Innovation Co Ltd said it is considering spinning off and listing its growing battery business, taking a page out of rival LG Chem Ltd's playbook that is on track to list its battery unit this year, reported Reuters.

The move, announced by SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun earlier this year, comes as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) surges and carmakers partner with battery makers to ensure uninterrupted supplies.

"We haven't decided how to split the battery business ... it takes quite a lot of resources to further grow our growing battery business, so we are considering the spin off as one of the ways to secure resources," Kim said, adding he will review whether to list only on Nasdaq or opt for a dual listing in the United States and South Korea.

SK, which supplies batteries to Ford Motor Co , Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co and among others, also said it aims to increase its annual battery production capacity to 200 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2025, up 60% from a previously announced goal of 125 GWh. Its current capacity is 40 GWh.

Analysts said without the battery business, SK Innovation would just be left with its conventional petrochemical business, which investors do not find as attractive.

In September, LG Chem said it would separate its battery business, which supply batteries for Tesla Inc and General Motors Co, into a new company, LG Energy Solution. Shares of LG Chem have jumped more than 30% since September, buoyed by its chemical business due to strong material demand.

LG Energy Solution last month applied for preliminary approval for an initial public offering (IPO) that publication IFR said could raise USD10 billion - USD12 billion.

As MRC informed earlier, in March 2021, SK Innovation announced its intention to build a plant in Wojewodztwo Slaskie, Poland that will manufacture Lithium-Ion Battery Separators (LiBS) and Ceramic Coated Separators (CCS).

We remind that in July 2021, SK Innovation Co Ltd said refining margins were likely to gradually improve in the second quarter due to recovering demand as the impact of COVID-19 eases.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldor Topsoe has increased August prices for sulfuric acid catalysts by EUR0.25 per liter, as per the company's press release.

The increase is driven by a substantial hike in the price of vanadium, which is a necessary raw material for sulfuric acid catalysts.

The price adjustment took effect starting from 12 August, 2021.

The VK sulfuric acid catalysts provide excellent activity over a wide range of operating conditions. This leads to unprecedented reductions in SO2 emissions and make it easy to comply with stringent environmental regulation. VK catalysts also gives sulfuric acid producers the option to boost production volumes with no additional emissions.

As MRC informed earlier, Haldor Topsoe will build a 15,000-tpy hydroprocessing catalyst plant at the company’s existing Bayport production site in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas. The plant will increase production capacity of Topsoe’s TK catalyst family to meet increasing demand, both in traditional refining and for use with Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology for production of renewable diesel and jet fuel. The plant is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2023.

We remind that in 2019, Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNKH, part of the TAIF Group, and Haldor Topsoe signed a memorandum of intent to implement a methanol production project.

Haldor Topsoe is a global leader in supply of catalysts, technology, and services to the chemical and refining industries. Topsoe aims to be the global leader within carbon emission reduction technologies by 2024. By perfecting chemistry for a better world, the company enable its customers to succeed in the transition towards renewable energy. Topsoe is headquartered in Denmark and serves customers around the globe. In 2020, the company's revenue was approximately DKK 6.2 billion, and it employs around 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco is looking to raise at least USD17 billion from the sale of a significant minority stake in its gas pipelines, higher than the USD12.4 billion raised from its oil pipeline deal, sources familiar with the matter said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Potential bidders including North American private equity and infrastructure funds, as well as state-backed funds in China and South Korea have been approached by Aramco through its advisors before a formal sale process kicks off in the next few weeks, they said.

The deal size may include USD3.5 billion of equity and the remainder will be funded by bank debt, one source said, while another source said the transaction size could top USD20 billion. Saudi Arabia is the world's sixth largest gas market, according to Aramco, whose Master Gas System (MGS) derives value from a range of gas deposits and helps deliver it to consumers.

"The gas deal is about the long-term view of gas utilization and consumption in Saudi Arabia," said one source familiar with deal, explaining why the gas deal may generate higher proceeds. The source said many industries will shift to gas under the economic Vision 2030, meaning domestic gas demand will rise.

Aramco is working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on the deal to tap potential buyers, sources have said. The companies tapped include the ones who took part in the stake sale process for Abu Dhabi National Oil Co's gas pipelines, which was bought by a consortium of investors including Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Brookfield, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and European gas infrastructure owner and operator SNAM.

Aramco, JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment. Brookfield and SNAM declined to comment. GIP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other potential bidders showing interest in the Aramco sales process include China's Silk Road, Chinese state-backed investment fund CNIC Corp, South Korea's sovereign wealth fund Korean Investment Corp (KIC) and NH Investment & Securities, sources said. KIC declined to comment, while the other companies did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Aramco, similar to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), used a lease and lease-back agreement to sell a 49% stake of newly formed Aramco Oil Pipelines Co to the buyer and rights to 25 years of tariff payments for oil carried on its pipelines.

As per MRC, Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, said Aug. 8 that its hydrocarbons production fell 8% to 11.7 million boe/d in the second quarter from the year-earlier period due to OPEC+ cuts, but its profit surged almost four times thanks to higher oil prices and a recovery in worldwide demand. Net income soared to USD25.5 billion in the second quarter from USD6.6 billion a year earlier, the company said in an earnings statement.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco is in advanced talks to acquire a roughly 20% stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's oil refining and chemicals business for about USD20 billion to USD25 billion in Aramco's shares, said Reuters.

An agreement could be reached as soon as the coming weeks, according to the report, which cited people with knowledge of the matter. Aramco and Reliance declined to comment.

Reliance announced a sale of a 20% stake in its oil-to-chemicals business to Aramco for USD15 billion in 2019, but the deal stalled after oil prices and demand crashed last year due to the pandemic.

During Aramco's earnings briefing earlier in August, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said the company was still doing due diligence on the deal.

In late June, Reliance's billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani said it hopes to formalise its partnership with Aramco this year and its Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the Indian conglomerate's board as an independent director.

Reliance managing director Mukesh Ambani had said in late June that discussions were ongoing with Saudi Aramco and that a deal is expected to be finalized before the end of 2021.

RIL had in 2019 announced its interest to sell 20% stake in the company’s flagship chemicals and refining business to Saudi Aramco in a deal valued at USD15 billion. Last fiscal, RIL carved out its oil-to-chemicals business into a separate entity, to facilitate onboarding of strategic partners like Aramco.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
MRC