BP beats forecasts, hikes dividend as big oil Q3 kicks off

(MRC) - BP Plc kicked off the results season for top global oil firms on Tuesday with forecast-beating profits and a dose of what the industry's investors want - a dividend hike, plans for asset sales, and a promise to keep a lid on spending, said Reuters.

The world No. 5 among investor-controlled oil and gas groups worldwide scaled back its guidance on capital spending next year to USD24-25 billion compared with previous guidance of USD24-27 billion for the years up to 2020.

BP also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.6% to 9.5 cents a share and said it would sell USD10 billion (6.2 billion pounds) of assets over the next two years, returning most of the proceeds to shareholders - a higher rate of disposals than previously promised under a programme aimed at jettisoning USD2 to USD3 billion dollars worth of assets per year until 2020.

BP's underlying replacement cost net profit for the third quarter of 2013 was USD3.692 billion compared with a company-supplied consensus analyst forecast of USD3.170 billion.

The figure was sharply lower than the USD5.017 billion a year earlier - mainly because of much weaker refining margins, divestment of refineries and reduced income from its Russian business, but it was more than the second quarter's USD2.712 billion when a big Russian tax charge hit the bottom line.

BP has already sold USD38 billion of assets - mainly to pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 - but asset sales have become a theme throughout the sector as it struggles with rising costs and eyes potentially lower oil prices in future.

Most of the top oil companies have been making noises this year about "active portfolio management" and "value over volume". BP recently won a small victory in its sea of legal defeats over the oil spill and to reflect that, it derecognised about USD400 million of provisions within the USD20 billion fund it has set aside for certain types of compensation.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerbaijan is expected to produce 142,500 tons of propylene in 2014 compared to 44,200 tons projected for 2013, the draft concept of socio-economic development in 2014 and the next three years reads, said Azernews.

According to the document, propylene production will reach 163,500 tons, in line with outlooks for 2015.
A reduction will be observed in 2016 and 2017, and the production of this product will amount to 24,500 tons and 23,400 tons respectively.

Also a growth in polyethylene production is forecasted in 2014 in accordance with the draft law. Thus the production of 131,800 tons of polyethylene is expected in the next year, versus 105,300 this year.

In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the production of polyethylene in the country will be at 152,900 tons, 151,800 tons and 150,900 tons, respectively. According to outlooks in 2016, Azerbaijan will start production of polypropylene, and this production will be at 150,000 tons in 2016 and 2017.

Azerkimya production association of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is engaged in the manufacture of basic chemical products in the country.

As MRC wrote before, Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, owned by SOCAR ,plans to invest as much as USD8 billion by 2016 on projects including a refinery, a new port and power plants.

SOCAR includes production association Azneft (companies producing oil and gas on land and sea) and Production Association Azerkimya (chemical industry), production association Azerigas (gas distribution).
The State Oil Company is the only producer of oil products in the country (it has two refineries on its balance sheet) and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania. SOCAR possesses a network of petrol stations in Switzerland and is the co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation, polymer compounder and distributor, has reported USD1.0 billion of revenue for the third quarter of 2013, a 43% increase compared to USD708 million in the third quarter of 2012, according to the company's press release.

Revenue growth was driven by the acquisitions of Spartech and Glasforms, as well as organic growth in Specialty and Distribution.

Adjusted earnings per share grew 29% to USD0.36 from USD0.28 in the prior year quarter, bringing year-to-date adjusted EPS to 28% above 2012. Earnings per share from continuing operations totaled USD0.24 in the third quarter of 2013 compared to USD0.22 in the third quarter of 2012.

"I am pleased to announce our strong third quarter results and our 16th consecutive quarter of double-digit adjusted earnings per share expansion. Four consecutive years of substantial growth has resulted from excellence in executing our four-pillar strategy," said Stephen D. Newlin, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Newlin added, "Specialization, globalization and commercial and operational excellence are woven into the culture of our organic businesses and are quickly being adopted by the recently acquired Spartech and Glasforms. Our Specialty Platform has been the cornerstone of our transformation, and this quarter was no different, as specialty growth drove our strong results. With 64% of our segment operating income from our Specialty Platform, our mix of earnings has never been stronger."

Speaking about the Spartech acquisition, Robert M. Patterson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer said, "When we announced our acquisition of Spartech we assumed we would deliver USD65 million of synergies or profit expansion by the end of year three following the deal. We have seen excellent progress in accelerating our integration efforts, and year to date, we have delivered USD0.06 of EPS accretion from Spartech." Patterson added, "We now expect to deliver the full USD65 million in synergies and USD0.50 of EPS accretion in calendar year 2015."

As MRC informed previously, last year PolyOne bought Spartech Corp. By this aquistion, PolyOne intend to turn Spartech's businesses into higher value added operations. Spartech has a presence in aerospace and security markets, ones in which PolyOne wants to expand. Spartech's aerospace and security markets are wedded to its cast acrylic and PVC multilayer sheet operations for applications such as aircraft windows and canopies, bullet-resistant armor for banks, and aircraft interior components. These operations, however, are small compared with Spartech's predominant commodity sheet business of filled polypropylene. Along with its aerospace and security products, Spartech makes consumer and medical packaging products. It makes plastic sheet, specialty film laminates, specialty plastic alloys, color concentrates and blended resin compounds and has annual revenues of about USD1.2 bln.

PolyOne Corporation is a global leader offering a comprehensive array of specialized polymer materials, tailored services and end-to-end solutions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont, an international chemical major, has opened the second phase of its China research and development (R&D) center, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's statement.

With this expansion, the DuPont China R&D Center adds 17,500 square meters and will house an additional 150 researchers, focusing on new material applications in solar energy, bio-based materials and automotive materials and testing capabilities.

"Science is the engine that drives DuPont," said CEO Ellen Kullman, who spoke at the opening ceremony.

"Our integrated science today combines biological sciences with chemistry, materials science and engineering to drive new growth opportunities for the corporation and our customers," she added.

The DuPont China R&D Center plays an important role in the company’s global business strategy, according to DuPont officials, delivering innovative offerings to meet local market needs since its opening in 2005.

As one of the company’s major R&D facilities outside the US, the China center currently provides technical expertise to customers in this region and globally for research, application development, training, technology transfer, and sales of DuPont technologies and products.

DuPont invested more than USD2.1 billion in research and development in 2012 and has 150 R&D facilities around the world.

The DuPont China R&D Center is located in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park of Shanghai, one of China’s national level technical parks dedicated to high-tech start-ups and research organizations.

As MRC wrote previously, in late August 2013, DuPont opened an Application Development Center in Hyderabad, India, focused on integrating advanced material science with other scientific disciplines for the automotive industry, enabling solutions for light-weighting, engine performance, comfort and safety. The new center houses thermoplastic and elastomer processing and testing equipment and leverages existing analytic equipment shared with several DuPont science disciplines. It complements the manufacturing facilities in Savli, Gujarat, and the DuPont India Innovation Center in Pune.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802. It is the world's ninth largest chemical company based on revenue in 2012. DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry, and later more environmentally friendly refrigerants. It developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In Asia, several PE capacities started resuming operations over the past week while some PP plants were shut for planned maintenance shutdowns, as per Apic-online.

Over 1 million tons/year of PE capacity in the region returned from maintenance shutdowns this past week while similar amounts of PP capacities were either recently shut or continued to undergo turnarounds.

China’s Lanzhou Petrochemical restarted its 200,000 tons/year LDPE plant in Gansu on October 24 after shutting it on October 14 due to an outage. SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical also restarted its 300,000 tons/year HDPE plant at Tianjin on October 24 following a few days of being shut down. China’s Jiling Petrochemical was expected to restart its HDPE plant at Jilin on October 28. The 300,000 tons/year was shut for a week-long planned maintenance on October 21.

In the PP market, Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry shut its 500,000 tons/year PP plant at Ningxia on October 27. The plant is expected to resume operations on November 6. Fujian Refining & Petrochemical shut its 120,000 tons/year PP unit at Fujian on October 25 for a turnaround which will last until December 5. Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical also reportedly shut its 300,000 tons/year plant in Guangdong for scheduled maintenance. China’s Fushun Petrochemical’s PP plants remain offline following a shutdown on May 15. The 300,000 tons/year and 90,000 tons/year plants are expected to be restarted along with the company’s crackers in the middle of November.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (Petlin) restarted its LDPE plant at Kerteh on October 25 following a turnaround that started on September 1. The 255,000 tons/year plant is expected to reach full capacity in early November. Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical’s 300,000 tons/year LDPE plant at Map Ta Phut is running at 50% of capacity after resuming operations in the second half of October. The plant was unexpectedly shut on July 10. Indonesia’s Polytama Propindo’s 380,000 tons/year PP plant at West Java is expected to remain offline until November 3. The plant was shut for maintenance on October 7.

We remind that, ss MRC informed previously, Henan Jiyuan Fangsheng expected to restart its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant on October 29, 2013, following maintenance turnaround . It was shut for five days of maintenance turnaround. Located in Henan province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.
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