Brazils antitrust watchdog postpones decision on Petrobras refinery sale

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said it has signed a contract to sell the REMAN refinery in the northern state of Amazonas for USD189.5 MM to Ream Participacoes S.A., a subsidiary of distributor Atem, said Reuters.

In a separate filing, however, the company formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it had failed to secure a buyer for the Abreu e Lima (RNEST) refinery after the interested firms declined to offer a bid. Petrobras said it would end the sale process, and analyze its next steps.

For the REMAN refinery, the second it has agreed to sell of eight that were put up for sale, Petrobras said it would receive USD28.4 MM upfront with the rest paid when the deal closes. The sale still needs to be approved by competition regulator CADE. Petrobras said it will continue to run the refinery until the deal is completed.

The REFAP, REGAP, LUBNOR, and SIX units are still trying to attract buyers, Petrobras said.

We remind, Petrobras' Brazil-listed shares jumped almost 7% on Friday, hitting a 12-year high, after the state-run oil company smashed quarterly profit estimates and announced a record dividend payment. The company announced a USD17 B dividend payout, the largest ever, sending the firm's shares up some 3.3% in intraday trade. After the market close, the firm posted a second-quarter profit of 54.33 B reais, well above analysts' estimates, buoyed by higher margins in its fuel business. The company was on track for its fifth straight day in the black, with accumulated gains this week coming to 16%.
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Honeywell announced it will upgrade ExxonMobil’s existing operations control systems to Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) at their downstream refinery and chemical plant operations worldwide, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As the program’s main automation contractor, Honeywell will deliver systems and software, detailed engineering and lead procurement for the integrated control system and construction. The migration will utilize Honeywell technology to evolve the legacy system to Honeywell’s flagship control system, the Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS).

“Honeywell’s technology will enable ExxonMobil to upgrade control systems at its global refinery and chemical sites safely and reliably with no downtime.” said Ujjwal Kumar, president, Honeywell Process Solutions.

“This project is a testament to Honeywell’s commitment to providing continuous evolution – allowing systems to upgrade in place over decades of time. Doing so in a manner which preserves customer built in knowledge while also offering modern control system capabilities,” said Jason Urso, chief technology officer, Honeywell Process Solutions.

Honeywell has a long track record as a vendor for control and safety technology with ExxonMobil globally, providing solutions and services across the company’s downstream and upstream portfolio.

As per MRC, Honeywell launched communications systems and bi-directional amplifiers (BDA) that cover the entire Public Safety spectrum, providing scalable solutions to support first responder emergency radio connectivity even in challenging environments.

We remind, Shanghai Honeywell announced that China Tianying (CNTY) has selected the Honeywell UpCycle process technology to use in a new advanced plastics recycling plant to be built in Jiangsu Province, China, said Apic-online.
The facility, which will be the first commercialized waste plastics recycling facility using the UpCycle process in China, will convert mixed waste plastics into polymer feedstock. A schedule for the project was not given.
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Shell said this week it plans to shut for two weeks in September a key crude oil pipeline in Gulf of Mexico that supplies oil to Louisiana refineries, said Reuters.

The Odyssey and Delta crude pipelines in September will be shut for planned maintenance early-to-mid September, Shell said in a statement.

The pipelines transport Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude from offshore oilfields and switching to other pipelines is not an option, Shell added.

The Odyssey pipeline in the eastern Gulf of Mexico has 220,000 barrels per day capacity and is connected to the Delta pipeline with deliveries into terminals in Louisiana and to Shell's Norco refinery.

As per MRC, Shell posted record results, with a USD11.5 billion second-quarter profit smashing the mark it set only three months ago, lifted by strong gas trading and a tripling of refining profit. Higher feedstock and utility costs and higher turnaround activities hit Shell’s chemicals earnings in the second quarter. Shell reported an loss attributable to shareholders for the business of USD158m.
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Amcor announced that it will be selling its three factories in Russia, said Polymerupdate.

This announcement is in line with its statement in March regarding scaling down activities and exploring strategic options for its Russia operations. Until completion of the sale, which is currently expected to occur in the second half of its 2023 fiscal year, Amcor remain committed to supporting its employees and customers, while preserving value for shareholders through an orderly sale process.

The guidance Amcor provided for FY23 in its recent year-end results takes into account a number of potential outcomes regarding the sale of Amcor’s factories in Russia. Amcor’s quarterly and year-end financials for FY22 can be found here.

We remind, Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, announced an investment to establish new thermoforming capabilities for medical packaging in its Sligo, Ireland, healthcare packaging facility. The multi-million-dollar investment will strengthen Amcor’s leadership in the growing industry for sterile packaging, offering customers in Europe and North America another site with comprehensive healthcare solutions.

Amcor is a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care, and other products. Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, differentiate brands, and improve supply chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that is increasingly lighter weight, recyclable and reusable, and made using an increasing amount of recycled content. In fiscal year 2022, 44,000 Amcor people generated USD15 billion in annual sales from operations that span 220 locations in 43 countries.
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Tatneft will produce helium and LNG, said Polymerupdate.

The company is reconstructing a cryogenic unit for deep processing of dry stripped gas to produce new products. The project documentation and the results of engineering surveys carried out on the territory of the Tatneftegazpererabotka Administration (UTNGP) received a positive conclusion from the State Ecological Expertise and the FAA Glavgosexpertiza of Russia.

The current capacity of the unit for dry stripped gas is 54,000 m?/h. In the course of the modernization, the productivity will be increased to 64 thousand m?/h, and a gaseous helium separation unit of brand "A" will be built in the amount of 504 thousand m?/year and the production of liquefied natural gas will begin to year.

The new modification of the cryogenic plant solves the problems of integrated use of raw materials, optimization of technological processes of gas processing and increasing the environmental friendliness of production. The technical solutions envisaged by the project will reduce the carbon footprint of the facility by 95 percent.

The cryogenic plant was put into operation in 2011 and is designed for deep processing of dry stripped gas in order to isolate the ethane fraction and remove nitrogen to increase the calorific value of the methane fraction before being fed into the Gazprom-transgaz Kazan main gas pipeline.

The general designer is OOO Institute for the Design of Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry Enterprises. The planned date for completion of work and documentary commissioning of the facility is the fourth quarter of 2024.

We remind, Tatneft and Kazakh company KazMunayGas have signed an agreement for a new production site in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan. The new facility will produce butadiene rubbers for use in tire manufacturing. The joint venture was signed by Nail Maganov, general director of Tatneft, and Alik Aidarbayev, management board chairman of KazMunayGas. Production will commence in 2026 at the SEZ National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark (Free Economic Zone). Approximately 2,000 jobs will be created at the site during the construction period, and more than 700 job positions at the point the facility goes into operation.
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