Petroecuador agrees additional crude sale to Marathon Petroleum

Petroecuador will sell an additional 720,000 barrels of Oriente crude to Marathon Petroleum Supply LLC , under a larger contract awarded last month, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The U.S. refiner won a tender for 7.92 MM barrels of Oriente crude oil in April. It had offered a premium of 75 cents per barrel. Petroecuador said in a statement it will sell Marathon an additional 720,000 barrels of crude following an agreement between the two companies.

The delivery of the new crude supply will take place in two equal shipments in July, "under the same terms that were awarded a few days ago, through a medium-term tender, that is, a premium of 0.75 dollars per barrel", the company said.

The Andean nation is seeking to alleviate fiscal problems by revaluing some of its crude oil sales to refineries amid high international oil prices.

Petroecuador expects additional revenues for August of approximately USD70.7 MM with this additional sale, the statement added.

As per MRC, Marathon Petroleum’s first-quarter (Q1) sales and income shot up on the back of healthy operations at its Refining & Marketing (R&M) division. The jump in income and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was possible due to healthy results at Marathon's R&M division, with the segment reporting adjusted EBITDA of USD1.4bn compared with USD23m in the Q1 2021.

We remind, Neste Corporation has signed definitive agreements for the establishment of a 50/50 JV with US-based Marathon Petroleum. The JV will produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon's refinery in Martinez, California (the Martinez Renewable Fuels project). The closing of the JV is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including obtaining the necessary permits, which depend upon certification of a final Environmental Impact Report.
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Oil prices jumped on Wednesday, as the European Union spelled out plans to phase out imports of Russian oil, raising concerns about further market tightness as those nations hunt for adequate supply, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Crude benchmarks have risen steadily over the past two months following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Until now, the European Union has been reluctant to fully cut off imports of Russian oil and gas, and its plans still do not suggest a full ban for all EU members. Europe imports some 3.5 MM barrels of Russian oil and oil products daily, and also depends on Moscow's gas supplies.

"Inventories are so tight, so against this backdrop, when you're talking about this ban, there are a lot of questions on how (Europe) is going to make up for this," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. Brent crude futures settled up USD5.17, or 4.9%, to USD110.14 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at USD107.81 a barrel, up USD5.40, or 5.3%.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia, as well as sanctioning Russia's top bank. The Commission's measures include phasing out supplies of Russian crude within six months and refined products by the end of 2022, von der Leyen said. She also pledged to minimise the impact of the move on European economies.

Hungary and Slovakia, however, will be able to continue buying Russian crude oil until the end of 2023 under existing contracts, an EU source told Reuters. Russia could offset the loss of one of its primary customers by selling oil to other importers including India and China. Neither country has stopped buying from Moscow.

As per MRC, Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns over weak economic growth in China, the world's top oil importer, overshadowed fears supply might be crimped by a potential European Union ban on Russian crude. Brent crude futures were down USD3.73, or 3.4%, to $103.41 a barrel at 1403 GMT, while U.S. WTI crude futures fell USD3.98, or 3.8%, to USD100.71 a barrel. Markets in Japan, Britain, India and across Southeast Asia were closed for public holidays on Monday. China released data showing factory activity in the world's second-largest economy contracted for a second month to its lowest since February 2020 because of COVID lockdowns.
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German specialty chemicals firm Lanxess reported a 55.6% year-on-year increase in its first-quarter net income on the back of higher selling prices, said the company.

Lanxess passed on the significantly increased raw material and energy costs in the first quarter via higher selling prices, the company said in a statement. Q1 EBITDA margin pre-exceptionals stood at to 13.2% , against 14.3% a year earlier.

The company expects EBITDA pre-exceptionals of between EUR280m and EUR350m in the second quarter. For the full year, Lanxess expects EBITDA pre-exceptionals to be "significantly higher than in the previous year".

"However, the guidance does not take into account potential further impacts of the war in Ukraine and the contribution of the acquisition of IFF’s Microbial Control business," the company said.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, it added.

We remind, Lanxess officially opened a new EUR50m facility for engineering plastics at its site in Krefeld-Uerdingen.
The compounding plant will provide Durethan ployamide and Pocan polybutylene terephthalate, for use in the automotive and electronic industries, Lanxess said in a statement. Capacity details were not disclosed. The company added that it received support for the project from the North Rhine-Westphalia state government, but it did not provide details.

As per MRC, Lanxess said it was suspending its business activities in Russia due to the war in Ukraine. Thus, the company had “suspended business activities with Russian customers as far as contractually possible until further notice” and had suspended all investments in Russia. Its sales in Russia and Ukraine made up less than 1% of its global sales, it said.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
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MRC) -- SCG Chemicals Pcl, a unit of Siam Cement Pcl, is seeking to raise as much as USD3 billion in what could be Thailand's largest ever initial public offering (IPO), said Bangkokpost.

The group submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval the proposed listing of up to 3.85bn shares of SCG Chemicals on 27 April. The shares represent 25.2% of SCG Chemicals, which accounted for about 45% and 40% of SCG group’s first-quarter 2022 sales and profit, respectively.

First-quarter profitability in chemicals slumped due to squeezed margins as feedstock naphtha prices spiked along with crude when Russia started invading Ukraine in late February, while China demand was weak amid COVID-related lockdowns. For the second quarter, SCG expects some recovery in demand for polyolefins and PVC as lockdowns start easing, while supply for these polymers, as well as feedstock naphtha, is likely to stay limited.

For the whole of 2021, a strong recovery in oil prices and demand allowed SCG Chemicals to post a 64% rise in profit, which accounted for 61% of SCG group’s total net profit.

The Thai conglomerate’s board approved the planned IPO of SCG Chemicals on 26 January 2022, about nine months since it announced a possible restructuring of the business for the pursuit of strong growth opportunities in the ASEAN. It was the same strategy adopted for another subsidiary SCG Packaging, which started trading on the Thai bourse on 22 October 2020.

For SCG Chemicals, the IPO proceeds would fund new capacities being built in Indonesia and Vietnam; a planned vinyl chain integration and expansion; as well as strategic acquisitions, SCG said in a filing to the Thai bourse on 28 April 2022.

In Vietnam, its 100%-owned Long Son Petrochemical project (LSP1) in Ba Ria-Vung Tao province is now 93% complete and is on track to start up in the first half of next year, while a second complex at the site is being mulled. Test runs are expected to begin at the LSP1 polyolefins units of the complex by the end of the year; while the cracker start-up will be in Q1/Q2 2023.

As per MRC, on 26 October 2021, a fire hit Thai petrochemical producer Siam Cement's (SCG) Map Ta Phut olefins complex. The fire broke out at a naphtha tank, which was empty at the time of the incident, because it had been shut for cleaning and maintenance. The cause of the fire is unknown.

As MRC reported earlier, Map Ta Phut Olefins Co Ltd (MOC), a subsidiary of Thailand’s SCG Chemical, has completed the maintenance work at its cracker in Map Ta Phut. Thus, the cracker with the capacity of 900,000 mt/year of ethylene and 450,000 mt/year of propylene was shut for a scheduled turnaround on 2 November, 2020, and fully resumed operations in the fourth week of December, 2020.

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Arkema's first-quarter adjusted net income more than doubled to EUR376m in the first quarter, supported by price increases, said the company.

EBITDA of EUR619 million, up by 72.9% compared with Q1’21, and EBITDA margin up sharply to 21.4%:
EBITDA of Specialty Materials up by 82% at EUR556 million (EUR306 million in Q1’21), benefiting from solid volumes, the selling price policy against a highly inflationary context, and the development of high value-added applications linked to sustainable megatrends (batteries, 3D, lightweighting, bio-based materials, more eco-friendly paints, etc.)
Intermediates’ EBITDA up by 25%, supported by the improvement of Fluorogases and better conditions in upstream acrylics in Asia.

Adjusted net income multiplied by 2.4 to EUR376 million, representing EUR4.96 per share (EUR2.08 in Q1’21). Recurring cash flow of EUR26 million (EUR53 million in Q1’21), including the seasonal increase in working capital, as well as higher selling and raw materials prices.

Net debt tightly controlled at EUR2,703 million – of which EUR700 million in hybrid bonds – including the acquisition of Ashland’s performance adhesives finalized on 28 February 2022, and representing 1.4x last-twelve-months EBITDA.

The company "aims to reach in second-quarter 2022 a strong increase in its EBITDA compared with the prior year, driven in particular by high organic growth in Advanced Materials and Coating Solutions", Arkema said.

"Moreover, Arkema now aims to achieve in 2022, at constant scope, Specialty Materials EBITDA and group EBITDA slightly above the record level of 2021," it said.

As per MRC, Arkema has closed its previously announced acquisition of Ashland’s Performance Adhesives business for around USD1.65bn in an all-cash transaction. The company signed an agreement to acquire Ashland’s business in August last year.

As MRC wrote before, in January 2022, Arkema announcedd that it will be increasing its fluoropolymer capacity at its site in Changshu, China by 50% instead of 35%. The decision to increase polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) capacity at the site is to cater to growing demand for lithium-ion batteries for semiconductors, water filtration and specialty coatings markets. This is not expected to change the expected start-up date, which is still scheduled for the end of 2022.

Arkema is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers headquartered in Colombes (near Paris, France). Founded in 2004 as a result of the restructuring of the French oil company Total, Arkema, with a turnover of EUR6.5 billion, has operations in 40 countries, 10 research centers around the world, and 85 plants in Europe, North America and Asia.
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