Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd to face an acute financial crisis

(Plastemart) -- The West Bengal government plans to take further steps after getting legal opinion on the aspects of the Supreme Court verdict on the share pattern of the company. With this the state government asserts that revival of the cash-starved Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) is its top priority, as per IANS. HPL, co-promoted by the West Bengal government, is currently facing an acute financial crisis.

The Supreme Court recently dismissed the petition filed by Purnendu Chatterjee-led The Chatterjee Group (TCG), which is also a principal shareholder of HPL, against the decision of the Calcutta High Court allowing the state government to retain 155 million shares in the company.

The TCG had challenged the high court verdict that set aside an order of the Company Law Board directing the state government to exit from HPL by selling its stake to the joint venture partner TCG.
The state opines that the current sickness in HPL is not only because of the share pattern, but also because of technology, marketing and decision making.

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Hyperion Systems Engineering has announced the award by Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) of the project to deliver the Borouge 3 Information Technology Strategy and Borouge 3 Information Technology FEED (Front End Engineering Design) to support the major expansion of the company's production facilities due for start-up end-2013 at its Ruwais plant in Abu Dhabi.

Hyperion is executing the IT FEED project utilizing specialist resources from several of its regional offices, and in cooperation with India's Infosys Corp. which undertook the subcontract for the IT Strategy component of the scope.

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(Business Standard) -- After the international media went abuzz last week over Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) looking to buy Valero Energy Corp, the Indian petrochem major on Monday categorically denied the move. ⌠While it is, and will remain, the policy of Reliance not to comment on market rumors, in light of the materiality of the rumored transaction, Reliance wishes to dispel the rumors and announce that it is not in discussions with Valero nor otherwise considering an acquisition of Valero, RIL said in a statement.

It said it was a company policy to not comment on market speculations but made an exception this time. The company said, ⌠Reliance undertakes no obligation to update this statement and intends to adhere to its no comment' policy in the future.

The UK's Daily Mail reported last week RIL might be in talks to buy Valero Energy Corp of the US for $48 per share, at a premium of 85 per cent, valuing the company at a whopping $27 billion. At the end of the last quarter, RIL had cash reserves of around $13 billion. Valero has 15 refineries, with a total crude oil processing capacity of around 2 million barrels per day. Analysts say RIL's aggressiveness to acquire assets in North America might have fueled the rumour.

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(Reuters) -- Taiwan's government has accepted a plan by the Formosa Plastics group for safety checks at its fire-hit Mailiao complex that will see operations suspended in stages until the end of August 2012.

The government had ordered some facilities at the complex, which houses naphtha cracking and plastics manufacturing facilities and is one of Asia's largest refineries, closed after a series of fires between July 2010 and August 2011. The blazes triggered public protests over safety standards.

It had also ordered Formosa to come up with a plan to conduct safety checks on the entire complex in stages. The plan agreed at a weekend meeting should be complete by the end of August 2012, the government's Industrial Development Bureau said.

The partial shutdowns had roiled oil markets and cut Taiwan's export growth in August. Some of the refining units that were ordered closed have since reopened.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US butadiene (BD) contracts for November fell on average by 18% in the first single settlement for the US contract in eight months, market sources said on Monday. The reduction to $1.15/lb ($2,535/tonne, ┬1,800/tonne) marks a return to the way US BD used to settle, with the four main producers agreeing to match the lowest price nominated for the month.

The last time BD settled at a single price in the US was in March 2011, when contracts rose by 5 cents/lb to $1.04/lb FOB (free on board) USG (US Gulf).

In September 2010, a producer did not match nominations from two other suppliers, ushering in a series of split settlements for US BD contracts.

The market has since been mostly split between a group of three producers, which tends to converge to a single price, and a stand-alone fourth supplier that sets its own contract value. Prior to 2010, there were only two split BD settlements going back to 1994.


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