Shell sells stake in Brazil oil field for USD1bn to Qatar

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday that it has sold a large stake in an offshore Brazilian oil field to Qatar for about USD1 billion, said Nst.

Shell said it has agreed to offload a 23-percent interest in the Parque das Conchas (BC-10) project offshore Brazil to Qatar Petroleum International.

The deal remains subject to regulatory approval in Brazil. The group will continue to operate the oil field, which currently produces 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Shell added that it will retain a "significant" upstream presence in Brazil.

As MRC wrote before, Shell is interested in Brazil's upcoming oil and natural gas concession auctions but has not yet decided whether to participate.

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. As of January, 2013 the largest shareholder is Capital Research Global Investors with 9.85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6.89%. Shell topped the list of largest companies in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Alfa Laval- a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has won an order to supply Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers to an integrated refinery-petrochemical complex in the Middle East, said the producer in its press release.

The order, booked in the Process Industry segment, is worth approximately SEK 65 million and delivery is scheduled for 2014 and 2015.

The Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers will be included in a process to remove non-desirable substances, such as sulfur, from the feed stock. "This order confirms the continuous investments in energy-efficiency we see in the process industry. Our Packinox heat exchanger has a proven performance and is a perfect fit for the demanding applications in the refinery and petrochemical industries," says Lars Renstrom, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group.

As MRC wrote before, Alfa Laval has won an order to supply its OLMI heat exchangers to a petrochemical plant in the US. The order, booked in the Process Industry segment has a value of approximately SEK 60 million. Deliveries are scheduled for 2014 and 2015.

Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of specialized products and engineering solutions based on its key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling. The company’s equipment, systems and services are dedicated to assisting customers in optimizing the performance of their processes. The solutions help them to heat, cool, separate and transport products in industries that produce food and beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, starch, sugar and ethanol.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay, a Belgian chemicals maker, said a natural gas shortage has emerged in southern France as suppliers bypass the region in favor of faster growing markets in Asia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The premium "represents 25% on gas prices versus the rest of Europe," Philippe Rosier, president of Solvay Energy Services, said in an interview. It’s "adding to the competitiveness problem of industry in the south of France."

The shortage of natural gas, widely used in industry applications, for furnaces and fertilizer, and in households for cooking, is adding to the woes of French industry, which is already reeling from Europe’s economic woes.

European chemical companies Solvay, Arkema and Ineos Group have operations in southern France and the Rhone Valley.

Southern France is also losing out as the main pipeline connecting the region to north European gas networks has limited capacity.

Intensive gas users in the south of France have to buy part of their gas on the spot market and "the price spread has catastrophic consequences on industrial sites" in the region, said Daniel Marini, director of economic and international affairs at French chemical makers federation UIC.

"It’s a real issue," said Gilles Galinier, a spokesman for Arkema, which makes fluoro-gases and polymers in the region.

As MRC informed earlier, in November 2013, Ineos opend one million tonne deep-sea ethylene terminal at Ineos Oxide, Zwijndrecht, Belgium. The new deep-sea terminal, at the heart of the second largest petrochemical region in the world, is now fully operational. Ineos has a very large demand for ethylene, supplied substantially by its own production from several steam crackers across Europe. To balance the shortfall the company has traditionally bought ethylene from other companies that sit on the ARG pipeline. The new one million tonne deep sea terminal now presents an opportunity for INEOS to import competitively priced ethylene from around the world, thereby improving its flexibility.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont, an international chemical major, has announced that its Board of Directors authorized a new USD5 billion share repurchase program of the company's common stock, as per the company's statement.

This program replaces the existing repurchase program. The company expects to repurchase USD2 billion in 2014 with the remainder to be repurchased over time with no required completion date.

"This USD5 billion share repurchase program reflects our commitment to shareholders and our confidence in building a higher growth, higher value company," said DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman. "Given our cash position, strong balance sheet and outlook, this program is a measured way to maintain ample financial capability, reinvest in our science-based businesses for growth, and deliver attractive cash returns to our shareholders."

Since 2008, DuPont's dividend and share repurchases have returned more cash to shareholders as a percentage of market capital than the average of its peers and the S&P 500.

As MRC informed before, DuPont declared a fourth quarter common stock dividend of 45 cents per share payable 13 December, 2013, to stockholders of record 15 November, 2013. This dividend is the same as what was paid in the third quarter 2013. This is the 437th consecutive quarterly dividend since the company’s first dividend in the fourth quarter of 1904. Regular quarterly dividends of USD1.12-1/2 per share on the USD4.50 series preferred stock and 87-1/2 cents per share on the USD3.50 series preferred stock also were declared, both payable 24 January, 2014, to stockholders of record 10 January, 2014.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia has been falling for the second consecutive year. The capacity of the Russian PET market dropped by 4%, according to MRC ScanPlast.

According to MRC analysts, the estimated PET consumption in Russia totalled about 560,000 tonnes in 2013. The market capacity did not virtually change in monetary terms and was about Rb36 billion, despite lower market capacity in tonnage terms.

The overall reduction in the average weight of PET-preforms (switching to standard PCO 1881 from an old standard PCO 1810) and falling production of beer caused lower PET consumption. According to our estimates, beer production in Russia fell by 8.6% in 2013.
As reported previously, the competition will grow in the Russian domestic market in 2014, because of lower exports, increased domestic production and a number of other factors.

MRC