Lukoil one-time dividend payment exceeded RUB 50 bln

(Lukoil) -- LUKOIL Press Service announces that, pursuant to Federal Law No. 409-FZ of December 28, 2010, ⌠On the Amendment of Individual Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation with Regard to the Regulation of Dividend Payment and the resolution of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of LUKOIL held on June 23, 2011, the Company performed a one-time dividend payment to its shareholders for the fiscal year 2010 totaling more than RUB 50 billion.


Owing to the successful and coordinated efforts of the Company's financial services, dividends were paid to all of the shareholders that submitted reliable and complete information necessary for the payment of dividends in a timely manner. Thus, the Company performed its obligations for the payment of dividends to the shareholders of LUKOIL.

MRC

(Trend) -- Kenan Yavuz, a board member at Turkey's leading petrochemical producer Petkim and CEO of SOCAR-Turcas Petrol, said on Monday that upon the completion of Izmir's Aliaga oil refinery field, Turkey's dependence on oil and oil products will be reduced by billions of dollars per year, Today's Zaman reported.

"When we complete the construction of the USD 5 billion Petkim Aliaga refinery, which will happen by 2015, its total oil extraction capacity will be 10 million tons a year. [At Aliaga] we will produce naphtha, fuels for jetliners, low-sulfur diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas and other petrochemicals of which Turkey is presently a net importer, which should reduce Turkey's current account deficit (CAD) by billions of dollars," Yavuz said.

It is planned to start construction of a new oil refinery in Aliaga Industrial Zone in the Turkish city of Izmir in October 2011. This plant is needed to meet the Turkish Petkim Petrochemical Complex's needs in raw materials, in which SOCAR has a share.

MRC

This year the peak of PVC-S imports to the Ukrainian market was observed in April (17.75 KT), and after that it was gradually diminishing. April peak of resin imports was primarily stipulated by intentions of some market players to contract PVC at the minimum price in January- February.

A launch of a new facility of PVC-S production by Karpatneftechem in Kalush (300 KT) also contributed to the import reduction.

In July, US suspension supplies made only 1.8 KT, while in the peak month total PVC imports from North America made nearly 12 KT. On the contrary, European suspension supplies increased to 5KT. Traditionally the main European suppliers are Anwil, BorsodChem, Vinnolit and Spolana.

The further decline of PVC imports in Ukraine is soon expected on the back of seasonal factors, as well as under the pressure of domestic producers. In July, Karpatneftechem produced more than 12KT of PVC-S. Totally, over less than three months, the company produced more than 22 KT of resin. In September, Karpatneftechem is expected to work at full capacity.

Full interpretation of the analytics on the Ukrainian PVC market by grades, technologies, converters is available in MRC DataScope for May, June and July, 2011

MRC

(ICIS) -- The resurgence of oil and gas drilling in the US over the last few years has fuelled tremendous growth in the proppant market, industry experts said on Monday. Proppants are used in the oil and gas industry for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which is used to extract oil and natural gas from shale formations deep underground. Proppants prop open fissures in shale rock, releasing oil and gas and maximising flow capacity from the reservoir to the wellbore.

While proppants have been used in the oil and gas industry for over 30 years, they have recently surged in popularity because of the current shale boom, said James Ely, the president of petroleum engineering consulting firm Ely & Associates, which is based in Houston, Texas.

Conventional vertical wells only require one fracturing stage, whereas horizontal wells can have up to 14, with each stage using about 300,000 lbs (136 tonnes) of proppants. ⌠Instead of running 200,000 to 300,000 lbs, companies might pump 5m lbs, Ely said.

As long as companies drill horizontally, proppants are going to be in high demand, Ely said.
Several companies have benefitted from the increased demand for proppants, including Momentive Specialty Chemicals, which specialises in the resin-coated variety.

MRC

(ICIS) -- MOL's second-quarter petrochemical operating profit shrank by 38% year on year to forint (Ft) 1bn (USD 5.21m, EUR 3.65m) after it encountered flat margins and rising feedstock prices, the Hungarian oil, gas and petrochemical group said on Tuesday. Its petrochemical operating profit was Ft1.6bn in the second quarter of 2010.

The group's petrochemical sales volumes were up by 22% in the second quarter to 385 KT compared with the second quarter of 2010, but edged down slightly from the 392 KT recorded for the first quarter of this year, MOL added.

Its integrated petrochemical margin of EUR 348/tonne compared with EUR 343/tonne a year ago and the EUR 377/tonne seen in the previous quarter.

MRC