Repsol seeking to sell parts of its Canadian assets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish oil and gas company Repsol SA is considering putting some of its Canadian assets for sale later this year as it looks to reap the benefits of higher oil and gas prices, four sources told Reuters on Monday.

Repsol is seeking buyers for its holdings in the Duvernay basin, in western Canada, which are still in early development stages, according to its website. The company's 170,000 acres (688 square kilometers) in the Duvernay could fetch about CD750 MM (USD589.9 MM), according to an industry source.

Repsol also owns assets in Alberta's Greater Edson and Chauvin basins, along with gas- and power-related infrastructure.

Repsol has not made a final decision on any of the assets, the sources cautioned, adding that among the options it could consider are partial sell-downs or joint ventures.

Repsol, whose total annual Canadian production was 57,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019, could still choose to retain the assets as is, they said.

As MRC reported earlier, Repsol said in October, 2021, it will invest EUR2.549 billion (USD2.958 billion) in the entire hydrogen value chain by 2030. Renewable hydrogen is one of Repsol’s strategic pillars to achieve zero emissions by 2050. Thus, the company presented its hydrogen strategy for up to 2030.

We remind that the “Cracker of the Future” consortium has recently announced two new member companies: Repsol and Versalis (Eni) have joined the consortium.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Repsol is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Repsol was ranked as the 645th-largest public company in the world. It has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. Its products are distributed in nearly 100 countries to around 24 million customers. Repsol Industrial Complex in Sines is the largest chemical site in Portugal.
MRC

1.Sumitomo Chemical net profit jumps on growth of petchemichal, plastics business earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical reports a steep increase in net profit to Yen 133.6 billion (USD1.1 billion) in the fiscal first nine months ended 31 December, from Yen 20.2 billion a year earlier, on sales up 24% to Yen 2.0 trillion, as per the company's press release. Operating income was Yen 197.9 billion, higher by 71% year on year (YOY). les at Sumitomo's petrochemicals and plastics business segment, the company's largest, rose by 53% YOY to Yen624.9 billion. The unit swung to an operating profit of Yen 51.9 billion from an operating loss of Yen 27.8 billion a year earlier. The company adds that market prices for petchem products, synthetic resins, and synthetic fibers increased owing to demand recovery and a rise in raw material costs. Margins also improved.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras has reached a deal to sell the fertilizer plant UFN3 to Russia’s Acron Group, according to Investing with reference to confirmation in Petrobras' securities filing on Friday.

Earlier, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias announced the sale, saying she was briefed by Petrobras Chief Executive Joaquim Silva e Luna and Mining and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque on the deal for the plant, which has been up for sale since 2017.

Petrobras and Dias did not provide a price for the deal. Dias said that should be one of the topics of President Jair Bolsonaro’s official trip to Russia Feb. 14-17.

The signing of the agreement depends on Petrobras and government approvals, it said in the securities filing.

Acron, a leading mineral fertilizer producer in Russia and globally, had been in talks with Petrobras about buying the plant in 2018 that were suspended and resumed last year.

The designed capacity of the UFN3 plant, also known as Nitrogen Fertilizer Unit III, is 800,000 tons of ammonia and 1.3 million tons of carbamide per year.

As MRC reported earlier, Russia introduced a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate on February 2, 2022. The corresponding government decree was signed, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported. "This is a temporary measure, the remaining volume can be exported from April 2, when Russian enterprises will receive ammonium nitrate in the required volume, and demand for it in the domestic market will peak," said First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, whose words are quoted in the message.

According to VTB Capital's analysts, a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate will not have a significant impact on producers: the falling volumes are insignificant and can be compensated after the restrictions are lifted. According to them, 60% of the ammonium nitrate produced in Russia is consumed domestically (45% in agriculture and 15% in industry). The largest producer is Akron, whose ammonium nitrate accounts for about 30% of sales.

Acron Group is Russia's leading vertically integrated producer of NPK compound fertilizers and is one of the top ten global leaders in terms of NPK production capacity. The company operates two chemical plants and a mining and processing plant in Russia with a total production capacity of over 8 million tons of end products.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) might suspend operations at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam in February because of feedstock supply disruption, according to CommoPlast.

The new plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year of PP.

As MRC reported earlier, on 26 January, 2022, state oil firm PetroVietnam blamed NSRP for the recent production cut. State media had reported PetroVietnam had failed to make an early payment under a "Fuel Products Offtake Agreement" (FPOA) with the refinery, causing financial difficulties for Nghi Son. But PetroVietnam, which owns 25.1% of the 200,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Thanh Hoa province, insisted it was not to blame.

We remind that NSRP shut its new PP plant in Vietnam for maintenance on 24 August, 2021, instead of the initially scheduled date of 17 August, for approximately three weeks. The company decided to postpone the maintenance shutdown at this plant by one week from the previous schedule due to the COVID-19 related lockdown. Thus, the new PP plant came back on-line in mid-September, 2021.

We also remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1% - by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% - by PetroVietnam and 4.7% - by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy firm Repsol SA said that it had presented the paperwork required by the Peruvian government to restart oil unloading operations at its La Pampilla refinery, following a spill of over 10,000 bbl, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

New Peruvian Prime Minister Hector Valer said on Thursday the country was facing a fuel shortage due to a government decree that forbids Repsol SA from unloading any new oil into a local refinery. "We are starting the fuel shortage since yesterday, due to a decree that we need to annul," Valer told reporters.

Valer, who was named prime minister on Tuesday, was not involved in the decision to suspend Repsol's Peruvian operations, which had been put in place on Jan. 31.

Peru had ordered Repsol to suspend unloading oil shipments until it submitted new contingency plans in case of a new spill. Peru has yet to say if it will allow Repsol to restart operations based on the new plan.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo called the spill the worst ecological disaster in the country's recent memory. Repsol has said it will take until the end of February to finish cleaning up the spill. La Pampilla is Peru's largest refinery and accounts for about 40% of Peruvian fuel.

As per MRC, Repsol selected Univation Technologies' UNIPOL polyethylene (PE) technology for its new 300 ktpa plant in Sines, Portugal. The plant will be able to produce a range of products, including HDPE, LDL, used in the pharmaceutical, automotive and food industries.

Earlier it was reported that Repsol notified Gazprom Neft that it was not ready to participate in the development of a new exploration cluster on the Gydan Peninsula in the current economic conditions. It was planned to create a joint venture there to develop the Leskinsky and Pukhutsyakhsky license areas. In June 2019, Gazprom Neft, Repsol and Shell signed an agreement of intent to establish a joint venture to develop these areas. The transaction was scheduled to close in 2020. It was assumed that Gazprom Neft would own 50% in the capital of the joint venture, the shares of Repsol and Shell would each be 25%.

Repsol is the largest oil and gas company in Spain and Latin America, one of the ten largest oil and gas corporations in the world.
MRC