BASF to divest its PVC modifier business to Kaneka

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The German chemicals giant BASF has signed a contract to sell its Vinuran PVC modifier business to Kaneka Belgium N.V., a subsidiary of Kaneka Corporation, Japan, according to the company's press release.

The transaction comprises intangible assets and inventory. It does not include a transfer of the production assets or employees in Ludwigshafen.

Subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities, the closing of the transaction is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2014. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or any further financial details.

The acrylate-based Vinuran PVC modifier business is not a core business for BASF. The transaction allows BASF to focus on growth of its acrylate-based dispersions portfolio.

The deal represents a good strategic fit for Kaneka and will enable Kaneka to expand its services to the PVC processing industry.

Vinuran products are PVC modifiers based on acrylate that improve impact resistance and processing properties in transparent and opaque PVC applications. Vinuran-modified PVC grades are suitable for the production of dimensionally stable, weatherproof panels, films and profile sections frequently used in the construction sector.

As MRC informed before, in September 2013, SIBUR, a leading Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, and BASF signed a Long-Term Cooperation Memorandum to supply additives used for polymer production and processing at SIBUR’s production facilities. The deal provides for supplies of additives used to produce polypropylene, polyethylene, synthetic rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), and ABS plastics at SIBUR's production facilities, with BASF ensuring also technical support.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Chinese billionaire plans USD10 billion to develop Ukrainian port

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wang Jing, the Chinese billionaire behind a USD40 billion plan to cut a canal through Nicaragua, wants to invest USD10 billion in a deepwater port in Ukraine, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Wang will team up with Ukrainian partner Kievgidroinvest to work on a port and economic development zone on the Crimean peninsula, Wang’s Beijing Interoceanic Canal Investment Management Co. said.

The project’s first phase, estimated at USD3 billion, includes building a new deepwater port, reconstructing Sevastopol port and developing an economic zone that will house technology-focused companies, the company said in a statement.

The second phase will include an airport, a liquefied natural gas terminal and a shipyard, and will cost about USD7 billion, according to the statement.

Funding for phase one has been secured and includes Wang’s own money, bank loans and investments from partners, the company said. Construction will start at the end of 2014.

Wang is the chairman of closely held mobile phone technology provider Beijing Xinwei Telecom Technology and owns HKND Group, an infrastructure developer. He has a net worth of about USD1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He unveiled the investment plan as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was visiting China’s capital.

Wang, said in June he will spend USD40 billion to build 286 km canal in Nicaragua. Work on the waterway should start by the end of 2014 and be completed within six years, he said.

The Central American country has attempted to construct an inter-oceanic channel on several occasions since the mid-1800s without success. Wang said in June he’d successfully attracted global investors, without identifying any of them.

As MRC informed previously, Ukraine took its first major step away from dependency on Russian gas imports when it signed a USD10 billion shale gas deal with Shell in early 2013.

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Shell halts USD20 billion Louisiana gas-to-liquids project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell, halted plans to build a USD20 billion gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, citing the potential cost and uncertainty about future crude and natural gas prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project would have used natural gas to produce 140,000 bpd of liquid fuels and other products normally made from oil, the company said in a statement.

Despite ample United States gas supplies from a boom in shale production, gas-to-liquids isn’t "a viable option for Shell in North America," the company said.

Shell started the first commercial gas-to-liquids plant in 1993, using a process developed in Germany and used to make fuels during World War II. The company completed the USD19 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids facility, the world’s largest, in Qatar in 2011. Sasol, the largest producer of motor fuel from coal, announced plans last year to build a USD14 billion gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana.

"While we cannot speak to another company’s plans, we continue to view our proposed GTL facility in Louisiana as a very attractive opportunity as we advance it through the front-end engineering and design phase," Russell Johnson, a spokesman for Sasol, said in an e-mail.

The economic viability of turning natural gas into fuels depends on the relationship between oil and gas prices. For a gas-to-liquids plant to make money, a barrel of oil has to trade at a ratio of about 16 times the cost of a million British thermal units of natural gas, Sasol CEO David Constable said in an interview last year.

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is also one of the world's most valuable companies.
MRC

Gazprom appoints WorleyParsons as contractor for Vladivostok LNG

MOSCOW (MRC) -- VNIPIgazdobycha, a Gazprom subsidiary, has appointed WorleyParsons as their engineering contractor for the development of a major Russian LNG production and export facility, Vladivostok LNG, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The development forms part of the Russian government’s strategy to substantially expand the eastern portion of the country’s unified gas supply system.

The expected revenue to WorleyParsons from the project is RUR 2.19 billion (USD66 million), which includes the FEED deliverables for two 5 million tpy LNG trains with supporting utilities and infrastructure including loading terminal topsides.

WorleyParsons’ task is to deliver the FEED documentation and provide on-going technical support during the State Expertiza review phase. FEED deliverables are expected to be completed in the third and fourth quarters of 2014.

"The Vladivostock LNG facility will provide a major boost to Gazprom’s supply to key Asia-Pacific markets and customers. Naturally, we are honored to have been selected for such a critical project," said Andrew Wood, CEO of WorleyParsons.

"We look forward to working with VNIPIgazdobycha and Gazprom helping them achieve their important goals."

Gazprom plans to complete the first Vladivostok train by the end of 2018, with a throughput capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG. A second train is due on line in 2020, doubling the available capacity. However, industry observers in Moscow warned that the project’s LNG may be very expensive to produce and the scheme may never break even, because its main source of gas is more than 3000 kilometres away at the Chayanda field in East Siberia.
MRC

Indian Oil to expand its refinery in Gujarat

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Company (IOC) is likely to expand the production capacity of its refinery in the western Indian state of Gujarat, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that production capacity of the refinery is planned to be increased from 13.5 million mt/year to 18 million mt/year. The capacity expansion will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 5,500.

The expansion is likely to be completed in 2016-2017.

The refinery is located in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corp is planning a Rs 30,000 crore refinery on the west coast in Gujarat or Maharashtra as part of its plans to raise the refining capacity to 100 mln tons. IOC has seven refineries totalling 54.2 mln tons and a 11.5 mln ton subsidiary - Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL).

Besides, India may offer a stake to Iraq in state-run Indian Oil's upcoming refinery in eastern India as part of a long-term oil-supply arrangement with the Middle Eastern country. At present, Indian Oil is building the refinery in the eastern state of Orissa with a crude-processing capacity of 15 million tpy. It is expected to cost about 298 billion rupees (USD4.38 billion), according to Indian Oil's website.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
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