Lukoil says 9-month net profit more than doubles

Russia’s second-largest oil producer, saw its January-September net profit more than double to 647.9 billion roubles (USD10.51 billion), said the company.

Sales rose by 1.5 times to 2.335 trillion roubles. Revenue increased by 1.5 times - up to 2.334 trillion rubles, cost - by 30%, up to 1.425 billion rubles, gross profit - 2 times, up to 909 billion rubles, profit from sales - 2.3 times, up to 798 billion rubles , profit before tax - 2.3 times, up to 712 billion rubles.

Russian accounting standards typically do not take into account financial results of subsidiaries.

We remind, Italian authorities have provided Lukoil with a "comfort letter" to help a refinery it owns in Sicily get bank financing to buy non-Russian oil and remain operational. The move is aimed at staving off worries that Lukoil's ISAB refinery, which accounts for around 20% of Italian refining capacity, stops working due to an embargo on seaborne Russian oil that comes into force on Dec. 5. ISAB has been forced to rely solely on Russian oil after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees needed to buy oil from alternative suppliers.
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Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, announces that it has completed the acquisition of BASF’s U.S. based Attapulgite business assets for USD 60 million in cash, said the company.

Structured as an asset deal, the transaction includes the transfer of land as well as mining rights, the processing facility, and inventories, which will be integrated into Clariant’s Functional Minerals business. The finalized deal also includes an agreement for the long-term supply of attapulgite-based products to BASF. The transaction will improve the EBITDA margin profile of Clariant’s Business Area Natural Resources while supporting the company’s path towards reaching its 2025 targets.

Adsorbent clays, such as attapulgite, are an important enabler for growth in the purification of edible oils and renewable fuels. In edible oil they remove contaminants thereby enhancing the shelf-life and oil quality, whereas in renewable fuels they play a key role in removing contaminants during the pre-treatment process, thereby protecting the catalyst. This enables a particularly stable and economically viable process. Clariant offers unique technologies for the purification of biodiesel to reduce greenhouse gases in road transportation and for the purification of pyrolysis oil to enable the chemical recycling of plastics. With this acquisition Clariant’s Functional Minerals business will increase its production capacity and subsequently its footprint in the attractive North American market.

The newly acquired attapulgite business is one of the largest miners and producers of attapulgite in North America. It encompasses mining operations in Georgia as well as Florida and processing operations in Quincy, Florida. This business is well recognized in the industry for its unique combination of mineral quality, mine reserve size, and strategic location. It produces attapulgite based products for a wide range of applications and end markets, and generated sales of approximately USD 36 million in 2020.

We remind, Clariant and Dorf Ketal, two of the world's leading specialty chemical products and services companies, have today announced a definitive agreement for Dorf Ketal to acquire Clariant's North American (NORAM) Land Oil business, a provider of chemical technologies and services to the North American oil and gas industry. The transaction announced today is subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2023.

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Topsoe, a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies, has been appointed by SGP BioEnergy to support the production of renewable fuels in South America’s largest upcoming renewable fuels plant, located in Panama, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Topsoe will provide its innovative HydroFlex technology to produce SAF and RD, while also deploying its H2bridge technology to ensure the plant has a net-zero greenhouse gas footprint, recycling green hydrogen generated by waste carbon and production by-product back into the plant’s operations.

Henrik Rasmussen, Managing Director, The Americas, Topsoe, said: “This is truly an amazing project, and we are proud to work with SGP BioEnergy to bring it to life. We are excited to support the production of low-carbon fuels with our proven technologies for what will be the largest renewable fuels plant in South America, while also facilitating the net-zero operations of the biorefinery. It is a true model for a low-carbon energy future."

Construction is on schedule for first production by 2025. The biorefinery will have a producing capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (2.6 B gallons per year) of biofuel and 405,000 metric tons of green hydrogen annually once fully operational. Panama offers great potential as a platform to transport the sustainable fuels globally.

Randy Delbert Letang, CEO of SGP BioEnergy, said: “This facility is truly a model of the future of the energy transition. We will not only produce the fuel that will decarbonize transportation but do so in a way that is also decarbonizing the manufacturing process itself. It is the first time both advanced biofuels and green hydrogen will be produced together at this scale, and we are excited to be bringing this innovation to Panama."

We remind, Topsoe, a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies, today announces its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2040, setting near-and long-term company-wide emission reduction targets. The target commitments have been sent to SBTi for validation. Through investment in renewable energy technology and changes to production processes, Topsoe aims to reduce operational emissions by 30% in 2024 and at least 95% in 2030, with a transition to 80% renewable power within all the Company’s operations by 2025.
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Linde and SLB announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration on carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS) projects to accelerate decarbonization solutions across industrial and energy sectors, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The collaboration will combine decades of experience in carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and sequestration; innovative technology portfolios; project development and execution expertise; and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) capabilities.

CO2 is found or produced in many industrial and energy applications. This collaboration will focus on hydrogen and ammonia production, where CO2 is a by-product, and in natural gas processing. CCUS abates the emissions from these energy-intensive industries, creating new low-carbon energy sources and products. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that over 6Gt of CO2 per year will need to be abated with CCUS in order to reach net zero by 2050.

“CCUS is vital in creating the decarbonized energy systems our planet needs to balance energy demand with climate objectives,” said Olivier Le Peuch, Chief Executive Officer, SLB. “We are excited about this collaboration with Linde to develop CCUS projects and support the growth of low-carbon energy products from conventional energy sources."

“Carbon capture and storage will be a key lever for tackling global warming,” said Sanjiv Lamba, Chief Executive Officer, Linde. “We are committed to helping customers decarbonize their operations in a cost-effective way. With SLB, we are able to offer technology-driven solutions - from execution of complex EPC projects through to ensuring reliable and safe long-term storage."

Linde and SLB have been working on decarbonization opportunities for over a year already. Using their global footprint across multiple sectors and industries, the collaboration will expand customer reach and will focus on designing business and operating models that maximize value for all stakeholders.

As per MRC, Linde’s sales and earnings rose year on year in the third quarter on the back of higher selling prices and sales volumes. The margin for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), a key measure of a company’s profitability, fell slightly to 31.1%, down from 33.4% in the third quarter of 2021.
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Mexican state oil company Pemex reported its third quarter net loss narrowed to USD2.58 billion (52.0 billion pesos), but said it had suffered from increased sales costs as well as currency exchange losses as the peso weakened against the dollar, said Reuters.

The company posted a net loss of 52.0 billion pesos for the three months through September, compared with a loss of 77.2 billion pesos in the same period of 2021. The red ink came despite a 56.5 percent jump in revenue, to 602 billion pesos, thanks to higher energy prices and strong demand.

Pemex is recovering from what it called the worst crisis in its history in 2020, when it lost around $23 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group posted a sharp increase in profit in the second quarter of this year, to 131.4 billion pesos, on the back of rising oil prices.

Since taking office in late 2018, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has sought to help Pemex with cash injections and other measures following years of declining production.

Even so, credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded Pemex from Ba3 to B1 in July, putting it deeper in junk bond territory due to concerns about its debt.

Pemex said its total debt stood at USD105 billion at the end of September, 5.2 percent lower than at the start of the year.

We remind that n late January, 2022, Pemex signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas. Pemex and Shell in May, 2021, announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd. Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 years.

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