Shell eyes North Sea asset sales

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell is looking to sell off some of its North Sea field interests as it targets asset divestments totalling USD15 billion over the next two years, according to Upstreamonline.

It follows the recent appointment of new chief executive Ben van Beurden who is expected to take a more investor-friendly approach than his predecessor Peter Voser, likely to involve generating cash from asset sales as Shell seeks to boost returns for shareholders while carrying out major investments.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor said in October that it would step up divestments "significantly" in 2014 and 2015 to keep cash flowing in, having made record capital expenditure last year of USD45 billion that was USD5 billion over guidance.

A source close to the company told the Financial Times it would divest mature upstream assets in the North Sea and elsewhere, more of its refining portfolio and some projects that have not yet reached final investment decisions and "make sense for others to develop".

Some analysts have suggested the supermajor could go even further, with JP Morgan Cazenove analyst Fred Lucas stating in a note the company could divest as much as USD30 billion in non-core assets.

Shell has insisted that it intends to meet its spending target of USD130 billion between 2012 and 2015, despite last year’s record outlay, but this is dependent on making asset disposals.

Major oil companies such as Shell and Statoil are facing increasing investor pressure to hold down spending as costs rise and prospects for oil prices wane.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2013, Ukraine took its first major step away from dependency on Russian gas imports when it signed a USD10 billion shale gas deal with Shell. The 50-year production sharing agreement marked the biggest contract yet to tap shale gas in Europe and the largest foreign investment in the former Soviet republic.

Royal Dutch Shell plc 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 vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkey's Petkim Petrochemical Holding, in which Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR owns equity shares, will increase its production capacity from 3.2 million tons to 3.6 million tons in 2014, said Azernews.

An increase in production capacity will be possible thanks to the improved capacity of ethylene and purified terephthalic acid production enterprises. In particular, the ethylene production enterprise's capacity will increase from current 520,000 tons to 587,000 tons by late 2014. The purified terephthalic acid production capacity will increase from 70,000 tons to 105,000 tons which will require investments worth USD25 million.

Petkim also said the first stage of construction of a wind power station will be completed in November 2014 in the petrochemical complex.

The technical evaluation process of the power station establishment project has already been completed. The implementation of the first phase is planned to be launched this year. The total capacity of the power station will reach 50 MW and the output will be 25 MW in the first phase.

As MRC wrote earlier, Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, Turkey's biggest petrochemicals maker, plans to invest as much as USD8 billion by 2016 on projects including a refinery, a new port and power plants.

Petkim Petrochemical Holding manufactures plastic packages, fabrics, PVC, detergents, and is the only Turkish producer of such products. A quarter of Petkim's products are exported to foreign markets. Petkim said earlier that its net profit amounted to 48.6 million Turkish liras in January - September 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals has held a ceremony to commemorate the first barrels of ethane sourced from the Marcellus Shale being utilized at its Canadian cracker in Corunna, Ontario, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

NOVA began consuming the new feedstock in late December 2013 as part of a project to revamp its Corunna cracker to utilize up to 100% natural gas liquid feedstock.

"The introduction of Marcellus Shale ethane into the feedstock diet at our Corunna cracker marks a tremendous milestone in our journey to utilize more cost-competitive feedstock in Ontario, which should result in stronger and more consistent financial performance for our Ontario-based assets," said NOVA Chemicals CEO Randy Woelfel.

"This is a critical component to our NOVA 2020 growth strategy of capitalizing on new feedstock sources to meet our current needs and expanding customer demands," he added.

The company says the move is in line with its strategy to ensure the long-term economic viability of its Ontario assets.

"We are excited to be the first petrochemical company to use this emerging feedstock source as we move toward the completion of our cracker revamp and increase the volumes of ethane consumed through the quarter," said Tom Thompson, manufacturing leader for NOVA Chemicals in Sarnia.

"Our cracker revamp coupled with the availability of new, cost-competitive feedstock sources creates a great foundation for our recently announced growth plans in the Sarnia, Ontario region," he added.

As MRC informed before, in early 2013 NOVA Chemicals decided build two polyethylene (PE) plants and expand its ethylene capacity. NOVA has taken several actions to secure additional ethane feedstock supply for its crackers in Corunna, Ontario, and Joffre, Alberta. The company remains on target for a late-2015 startup for its Polyethylene 1 expansion project in Alberta, expected to add at least 950 million lbs/year of linear low density (LLDPE) production the plant.

Nova Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. is in plans to restart a low density polyethylene(LDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be restarted by this weekend. The plant was shut for a maintenance turnaround.

Located in Nanjing, Jiangsu province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, BASF and SINOPEC (China Petroleum & Chemical Corp) are considering the extension of their Nanjing joint venture BASF-YPC Company with the expansion of existing ethylene oxide (EO) production, and a new plant for neopentylglycol (NPG). BASF-YPC will further expand its acrylic acid value chain with additional acrylic acid and butyl acrylate plants. Production is expected to commence in 2014.

BASF-YPC Company Limited is a 50-50 joint venture formed in 2000 between BASF and SINOPEC.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) is a large scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. SINOPEC is China"s largest manufacturer and supplier of major petrochemical products.

BASF is the worldпїЅs leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) posted a rise in output during 2013, driven mainly by an increase in overseas production, said Upstreamonline.

China's Xinhua news agency reported the company's output had risen 10.2%, compared to 2012, to 306.65 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

It added that the increase was largely due to an 18.1% increase, year-on-year, from overseas production which totalled 123 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

CNPC is planning to further increase production this year to 329.67 million tonnes of oil and gas Xinhua reported, citing CNPC general manager Liao Yongyuan.

The news agency also reported that trade volumes from CNPC's operating centres in Europe, Asia and North America increased 10.9%, compared to 2012, to USD266 billion in 2013. As MRC wrote before, Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook of China National Petroleum Corporation's (CNPC) from positive to stable.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is the largest oil & gas company in China in terms of reserves and production. It is wholly owned by the government, and is the largest state-owned enterprise in terms of assets, and second-largest in terms of revenue. Its oil & gas reserves of 23 billion boe and production of 1.67 billion boe also position it among the top five integrated oil and gas companies in the world.
MRC