Russia interested in MOL INA stake

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian officials have declared interest in buying half of Croatia’s former state player INA from Hungarian oil & gas group MOL, said Upstreamonline.

The officials expressed Russia’s interest in the stake on the sidelines of a visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian business weekly Figyelo reported, citing unnamed sources.

Neither the Russian nor the Hungarian government made any immediate comment on the rumours. The two leaders signed a bilateral agreement on nuclear development co-operation during their talks last week.

MOL holds a 49.1% stake with management rights in INA, while the Croatian government owns a 44.8% interest. The Hungarian explorer has been locked in a long-running dispute over the stake with the Croatian government, which wants to regain control of the company privatised in 2003.

INA holds exploration and production assets in Croatia along with eight licence interests in Angola and Egypt as well as two blocks under force majeure in Syria.

The Zagreb-headquartered company, which also holds refining, marketing and retail assets, earned revenues of USD3.62 billion in the first nine months of last year. MOL Group is a leading integrated Central and East European oil and gas corporation with an extensive international Upstream and Downstream portfolio.

As MRC wrote before, MOL Nyrt. laid the cornerstone of a butadiene plant in a move that may decrease Hungary's dependency on imports of the chemical. MOL is set to invest 120 million euros (USD162.7 million) in the plant of its petrochemical arm TVK, part of the company's 300-billion-forint (USD1.37 billion) three-year investment scheme.
MRC

SABIC expects to enter U.S. shale market this year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) is in talks with several U.S. firms to invest in the U.S. shale gas industry, and expects to enter that market this year, said Reuters, citing chief executive Mohamed al-Mady.

"We're currently in talks with a few big names in the U.S. for investment in shale gas. We expect to enter the market sometime this year. This will be great for SABIC and will globalise our operations," he said.

Mady, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, did not elaborate on the size or type of investment in U.S. shale gas.

Last year Mady said SABIC, one of the world's biggest petrochemical producers, planned to build a new shale gas cracker in the United States. As MRC wrote before, SABIC's plan for US investments comes as the economic slowdown in Europe and China ebbed demand from clients and affected earnings at the company and its affiliates.

Any investment would not be heavy in the initial stages, Mady said on Wednesday, adding the company had no urgent funding needs so he doubted it would tap the bond market this year.

"We hope our profit will increase next year. There won't be any significant investment in the coming two to three years. Most of the shale investment will come in 2017."

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

Valero forecasts 4Q results above expectations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy Corp. is forecasting fourth-quarter adjusted profit that's higher than analysts expect, as the oil refiner benefits from higher volumes and wider discounts for certain crude oils, said Cnbc.

The company also announced an 11% increase in its dividend, and shares of Valero rallied in late trading. The company said that fourth-quarter earnings after a one-time gain would be in the range of USD1.60 to USD1.80 per share.

That excludes a nontaxable gain of USD325 million related to sale of an interest in CST Brands Inc. Including that gain, net income will be between USD2.20 and USD2.40 per share, the company said.

Analysts, who usually exclude items, expected 96 cents per share, according to FactSet. Valero said that operating income from refining would be nearly as high as it was in the fourth quarter of 2012 due to higher volume and slightly wider discounts for so-called sour crude oil. The San Antonio company also said operating income in its ethanol business would rise "significantly" from a year earlier on higher gross margins and production volumes.

The company said separately it is raising its regular quarterly dividend 11% to 25 cents per share from 22.5 cents per share. The dividend will be payable on March 12 to shareholders as of Feb. 12, the company said. It was Valero's third dividend increase in a year.

We remind that Valero Energy Corp. plans to become a major player in the production of petrochemicals by building a USD700 mln methanol plant at its St. Charles refinery near New Orleans.

Valero Energy Corporation is a a international manufacturer and a marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power that is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
MRC

Suriname selects Honeywell MES solution for refinery expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V., Suriname's state-owned oil company, will deploy Honeywell’s manufacturing execution system (MES) as part of a major expansion and efficiency project at the Tout Lui Faut crude oil refinery complex, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project will more than double the refinery’s capacity, greatly reducing the country’s dependence on imported fuel products. The refinery will produce high-quality diesel, gasoline and fuel oil.

Start-up is expected in October 2014 and will improve its reliability and mitigate safety risks, which can have a significant impact on its business results.

As MRC wrote before, Honeywell was selected by the Sinopec Maoming Company for business management and automation technology aimed at rejuvenating and improving operational performance at aging petrochemical plants in Guangdong Province, China. Honeywell's Profit Suite R400 process optimization software will be deployed at two of Maoming Company's ethylene-cracking facilities, helping to improve plant performance by increasing energy efficiency, improving flexibility of its operations, and maximizing the plants' yield of high-value products.

MRC

Demand for SPVC in Russia decreased by 4% in 2013

MOSCOW (MRC) - Demand for suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) has been reducing for the second year in a row in the Russian market.
Thus demand for SPVC dropped by 4% in 2013, the outlook for 2014 - is not optimistic, according to MRC Annual Price Report.

After a record high in 2011, with SPVC consumption of about 1.015 million tonnes, the demand for PVC in the Russian market began to decline.
SPVC consumption in 2012 had hardly exceeded 1 million tonnes, while in 2013 this figure shrank to 967,000 tonnes. The demand reduced in practically all sectors of consumption - profiled mouldings, pipes, films and plastic compounds.

Some market participants expect the demand for finished products made of PVC to reduce further in 2014. Demand for SPVC in key sectors reduced within 3-18% in 2013.
Key consumers - producers of profiled mouldings reported that their sales fell by 3-7% in 2013, compared to 2012 figures. Producers of PVC soft compounds, used for the production of cable insulation, shoes, hoses, etc., reduced their production down by 5%.

Russia's production of pipes declined by more than 18% in 2013, according to official data of Rosstat. Disappointing performance in 2013 made many Russian PVC converters make cautious outlook for 2014. According to them, the demand for SPVC in the current year will be within 0-2%.

As reported earlier, the demand for SPVC began to rapidly grow from 2004, helped by active investments in refining capacities and the reduction in the imports.

Russia's demand for SPVC has increased more than two and a half times over the last ten years, from 375,000 tonnes in 2004 to 967,000 tonnes in 2013.

MRC