ExxonMobil announces sale of interests in Montney and Duvernay Canadian assets

ExxonMobil said that its Canadian affiliates, Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada, have entered into an agreement with Whitecap Resources Inc. for the sale of XTO Energy Canada, which is jointly owned by Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The sale, for a total cash consideration of about USD1.47 B, is expected to close before the end of the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. The sale completes the marketing effort announced in January, and is consistent with ExxonMobil’s strategy to focus upstream resources on key assets to deliver long-term value to shareholders.

The assets include 567,000 net acres in the Montney shale, 72,000 net acres in the Duvernay shale and additional acreage in other areas of Alberta. Net production from these assets is about 140 MM cubic feet of natural gas per day and about 9,000 barrels per day of crude, condensate and natural gas liquids.

RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor to Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada in connection with the transaction.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil, Grieg Edge, North Ammonia, and GreenH have signed a memorandum of understanding to study potential production and distribution of green hydrogen and ammonia for lower-emission marine fuels at ExxonMobil’s Slagen terminal in Norway.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil expects to add approximately 20,000 bpd of light, heavy and extra-heavy lubricant base stocks when upgrades at its Singapore integrated refining and petrochemical complex are complete in 2025.
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Sika is opening a new manufacturing plant for concrete admixtures in Stafford, Virginia, USA to help meet demand in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, said the company.

According to the company, the new plant is well positioned to support the addiitonal needs of the announced infrastructure programme of CHF200-250bn (USD209-216bn) in these two regions. The new facility in Stafford will be the second-biggest manufacturing plant for Sika concrete admixtures in the USA.

"This investment allows us to significantly expand our production capacity while creating the best possible conditions for continued growth in our North American market. Our concrete admixtures satisfy the construction sector's most demanding requirements and make it possible to produce higher-performance, resource-saving concrete. Sika admixtures enable the realisation of critical infrastructure projects, are used in state-of-the-art high-rise construction, and help increase sustainability in megacities," said Christoph Ganz, regional manager Americas.

Sika has been benefiting from the strong demand in the construction sector over recent years. The new facility in Stafford is the second-biggest manufacturing plant for Sika concrete admixtures in the USA. Together with the existing plant in Fairless Hills, Philadelphia, it enables the company to service customers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions even more efficiently. Moreover, short transportation routes for raw materials and end products will enhance operational efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions at the same time.

As per MRC, Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland) has opened a new plant in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, thus doubling its production capacity for mortar and concrete admixtures in Bolivia. With this new facility in one of the country’s main industrial agglomerations, Sika is positioning itself for continued growth in the dynamic Bolivian construction market.

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China's Ministry of Commerce has released 52.56 million mt (385.26 million barrels) of crude import quotas to 35 qualifying independent and non-major state-owned refineries in the second batch for 2022, said S&P.

However, the higher second batch this year brought up total crude import quotas for 2022 by only 4.9% to 159.96 million mt as of June 28, from 152.44 million mt last year. The independent refinery sources said they were less anxious about this second batch than the one last year, because most of them had sufficient quotas in hand amid low throughput during the previous months.

"Most refineries have processed less feedstock year on year as the tight COVID-19 movement controls dampened demand," said an analyst. Independent refineries in Shandong slashed their feedstock consumption by 30% year on year to 40.3 million mt (1.96 million b/d) in January-May, data from local energy information provider JLC showed.

S&P Global Commodity Insights data also showed that crude imports by the country's independent refineries dropped 21.6% on the year to 59 million mt in the first five months. Only those refineries with larger capacity than they have reported to the government could be short in quotas, sources added.

In China, refineries built and operated by state-owned companies -- CNOOC, PetroChina, Sinochem and Sinopec -- do not need quotas to import crude. All other refineries, including independents and those owned and operated by state-owned companies such as ChemChina and Norinco, require quotas.

Among the 36 quota holders for 2022, the greenfield 320,000 b/d Shenghong Petrochemical is absent from the the second batch list. The Jiangsu-based independent complex won 7.95 million mt in quota in the first batch, leaving adequate quotas as it has yet to start commercial operations.

The refinery started trial runs in early May, but is eyeing commercial operations in around August or September, sources said. At the same time, five independent refineries -- North Asphalt Fuel, Haiyou Petrochemical, Qingyuan Petrochemical, Qingyishan Petrochemical and Wonfull Petrochemical -- failed again to win any crude import quota, after failing to secure any in the first batch.

As per MRC, PetroChina has completed construction of two crude distillation units (CDUs) of its integrated refining and petrochemical complex at Jieyang in Guangdong province. The CDUs each can process 10m tonnes/year, or 200,000 bbl/day, of crude oil. Construction work of the complex, which houses a 400,000 bbl/day refinery, a 1.2m tonne/year cracker and a 2.6m tonne/year aromatics facility, has 98% completed.
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Japan’s factory output posted the biggest monthly drop in two years in May as China’s COVID-19 lockdowns and semiconductor and other parts shortages hit manufacturers, adding more pressure on an economy struggling to mount a strong recovery, said Reuters.

Japan's industrial output in May marked the steepest fall in two years, down 7.2 percent from the previous month, as the auto industry was hit by parts shortages due to a COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, government data showed Thursday. The seasonally adjusted index of production at factories and mines stood at 88.3 against the 2015 base of 100, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. The decline followed a decrease of 1.5 percent in April.

With the sharpest fall since May 2020, the ministry also downgraded its basic assessment of industrial production for the second straight month to "weakening," compared with "was pausing" in April. "Many Japanese companies said they were affected more severely by the lockdown in Shanghai in May than in April," said a ministry official.

The ministry assumed logistics were disrupted for a full month in May, although the early part of April is believed to have escaped the lockdown's impact as some parts for manufacturers had already been shipped out when the measure was put in place in the Chinese commercial hub in late March.

Of the 15 industries covered by the survey, production in 13 declined. Automobile output dropped 8.0 percent from the previous month, including a 33.2 percent plunge in truck manufacturing, according to the data. Output of electronic components, such as lithium-ion batteries including those for automobiles, plummeted 11.3 percent and that of construction and production machinery fell 5.1 percent, the data showed.

Meanwhile, output of organic and inorganic chemical compounds rose 3.9 percent, and that of petroleum and coal products, such as diesel fuel and jet fuel, grew 8.9 percent. The index of industrial shipments declined 4.3 percent to 89.0, while that of inventories was down 0.1 percent at 98.5 for the third straight month of decline.

"We will continue to closely watch the effects of the development of coronavirus infections for domestic and overseas economies, shortages of parts, rising prices and the situation of Ukraine," the official said. Based on a poll of manufacturers, the ministry expects output to grow 12.0 percent in June and climb 2.5 percent in July.

As per MRC, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. said it will acquire a majority stake in Seibu Oil Co., Ltd., following a board of directors meeting held on June 14, 2022. Seibu Oil will become a subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan following the acquisition. The acquisition price was not disclosed for confidentiality purposes. Following the acquisition, Idemitsu Kosan will own 10,705,561 shares of Seibu Oil or 66.9% stake, from 38%.
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Jiangsu Honggang Petrochemical is planning to construct a third phase purified terephthalic acid (PTA) project with a capacity of 2.4m tonne/year at Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, said the company.

The project will involve an investment of around yuan (CNY) 3.9bn (USD582m) and take 28 months for construction, according to Jiangsu Eastern Shenghong. Honggang currently has 3.9m tonne/year of PTA capacity.

The project will further enhance the company’s scale advantage in PTA and boost its overall competitiveness.

In May, Shenghong Petrochemical began trial operation at its new greenfield refining chemical integration project in Lianyungang Port, Jiangsu Province, China. The USD9.93 bn complex, originally expected to begin operation in late 2021, has a crude oil processing capacity of 320,000 b/d. It also includes a 1.1 M tonnes/y ethylene facility and a 2.8 M tonnes/y aromatics plant.
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