Celanese completes acquisition of DuPont mobility and materials business

Celanese has completed the USD11bn acquisition of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials (M&M) business, the companies said.

With the acquisition, announced in February 2022, Celanese obtains a broad portfolio of engineered thermoplastics and elastomers, brands and intellectual property, global production assets, and a “world-class organisation”, it said.

We remind, the European Commission has approved the proposed USD11 billion acquisition of Dupont's mobility and materials business by U.S. chemicals company Celanese Corp (CE.N), on the condition that the latter divests a plastics-producing business. Celanese announced the deal in February but had to offer remedies to address EU antitrust concerns. The combined entity would have been the largest producer of thermoplastic copolyester (TPC) in the European Economic Area and globally, with only a few alternative suppliers remaining. The product is primarily used by automakers.

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications.
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Marathon Petroleum’s Q3 net income rose more than six-fold year on year to USD4.5bn, with the refining and marketing (R&M) margin more than doubling, said the company.

Crude capacity utilisation was about 98%, with total throughput of 3.0m bbl/day in Q3 – compared with 93% and 2.8m bbl/day, respectively, in Q3 2021.

“Market demand for our products remains strong, and our third-quarter results reflect our improving operational and commercial execution,” said president and CEO Michael Hennigan.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (adjusted EBITDA) was USD6.8bn, up from USD2.4bn in Q3 2021.

We remind, Marathon Petroleum smashed quarterly profit estimates on Tuesday, the latest U.S. refiner to benefit from a surge in fuel prices sparked by tight capacity and low inventories. The company's refining and marketing margins tripled to USD37.54 per barrel in the April-June quarter, mirroring similar gains at rivals such as Phillips 66 and sending Marathon's shares 4% higher in premarket trading. Global refining capacity has declined in the past two years because the pandemic-driven demand hit forced several less profitable operations to shut shop, while Western sanctions against Russia have tightened an already-supplied market.
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Global energy giants including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. posted another round of huge quarterly profits, benefiting from surging natural gas and fuel prices that have boosted inflation around the world and led to fresh calls to further tax the sector, said Hellenicshippingnews.

Four of the five largest global oil companies have now reported results, combining for nearly USD50 billion in net income, lifted by tight global markets and disruption following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The sheer size of the profits has revived calls from politicians and consumer groups to impose more taxes on the companies to raise funds to offset the hit to households, businesses and the wider economy from higher energy costs. They have also criticized big oil companies for not doing enough to raise production to offset rising fuel and heating costs.

Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber warned in an interview with Reuters that “taxing production will just reduce it."

The company reported its second-highest profit of USD11.2 billion. However, the company’s global production is down so far this year from a year ago, and other U.S. oil companies signaled that output in the top-producing U.S. shale region is waning already.

“If you raise the costs on energy producers, it will decrease investment so that goes against the intent of increasing suppliers and making energy more affordable."

U.S. President Joe Biden, who earlier this year said Exxon was making “more money than God”, told oil companies this month that they were not doing enough to bring down energy costs.

Hours after Shell reported a quarterly profit of USD9.45 billion and raised its dividend by 15% on Thursday, Biden said the company was misusing its profits.

We remind, Cyclyx International, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell announced they have signed an agreement to advance development of a first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility in the Houston area. The new facility addresses a critical missing link in the plastic waste supply chain by connecting community recycling programs to new and more advanced recycling technologies that have the potential to take a much wider variety of plastic materials.
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Due to the low market demand in Europe, Rohm extends the shut down of several methacrylate monomer production units in Worms into November, said Polymerupdate.

Rohm remains your reliable and committed Methacylates producer in Europe with two strong production sites in Worms and Wesseling serving our valuable customers.

We remind, Roehm intends to begin construction of its 250,000 tonnes per year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant on the US Gulf Coast, with completion scheduled for 2023. Integrated into the OQ Chemicals manufacturing facility in Bay City, Texas, the plant will be the first to commercialize Roehm's low energy and wastewater LiMA MMA technology on an industrial scale. Separated from its former parent company Evonik and acquired by private equity firm Advent International in early 2019, Roehm has already hired Wood to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the project.

With 3,500 employees and 13 production sites worldwide, Rohm is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in the methacrylate business. The medium-sized company with branches in Germany, China, the USA, Mexico, and South Africa has more than 80 years of experience in methacrylate chemistry and a strong technology platform.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and GAIL (India) Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore collaboration opportunities in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply and decarbonisation, including short and long term LNG sales agreements, said Polymerupdate.

The agreement also includes potential optimization of LNG trading activities, the review of joint equity investments in renewables and the monitoring of greenhouse gasses for LNG cargoes, to support low carbon LNG supplies.

The agreement was exchanged between Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) Ltd and Fatema Al Nuaimi, CEO ADNOC LNG in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, and H.E. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs at Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said: “India is a strategic partner of the UAE and we have a strong and longstanding bilateral relationship. Through this important new agreement, ADNOC and GAIL will seek opportunities to broaden our commercial partnership, with a particular focus on lower carbon energy supplies, in this case LNG, and joint opportunities for collaboration in new projects, decarbonization efforts and renewable energy."

H.E. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said “India and the UAE enjoy strong bonds of friendship since historical times and this relationship is being further cemented through such partnerships. This MOU opens up opportunities for both GAIL and ADNOC in the energy sector which in turn helps to boost the trade and commerce relations between the two nations."

GAIL is one of India’s largest natural gas companies with integrated operations across the value chain, including exploration and production, processing, transmission, distribution, marketing, petrochemicals, LNG trading and shipping, city gas distribution and related services, both domestically and internationally, as well as expanding its presence in renewable energies including solar, wind and biofuels.

ADNOC is a responsible and reliable provider of energy products to customers globally. The company was the first LNG producer in the Middle East and has over 40 years’ experience in the LNG market. It is currently in the midst of a major expansion of its natural gas business, accelerating production to meet both domestic and international demand.

We remind, ADNOC Refining, a joint venture company between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Eni, and OMV, is set to complete the first phase of its innovative Waste Heat Recovery project at the General Utilities Plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. ADNOC produces some of the world’s least-carbon intensive crude and the company is further reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 25% by 2030, aligned to the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
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