Sinopec buys Lukoil Kazakh fields for USD1.2bn

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian independent Lukoil has sold its 50% stake in Kazakh venture Caspian Investment Resources to China’s Sinopec for USD1.2 billion, said Upstreamonline.

The venture was created in 2005 through Lukoil’s acquisition of Canada’s Nelson Resources. It holds stakes in four Kazakzh onshore oil projects – Alibekmola & Kozhasai, North Buzachi, Karakuduk and Arman.

Lukoil’s share of the venture’s production ran to 10.2 million barrels of oil equivalent last year. The Moscow-headquartered explorer said it aimed to optimise its Kazakh portfolio with the sale, which will leave it owning stakes in the Kumkol, Karachaganak and Tengiz projects as well as the Caspian pipeline consortium.

Lukoil chief executive Vagit Alekperov said that the independent planned to "reallocate the investments to geologic exploration projects, including those in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea".

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year subject to approval from the Kazakh authorities.

As MRC wrote before, Lukoil Overseas shut down two projects in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea after geological exploration failed to find commercial reserves of hydrocarbons. Work at the Atashsky section was performed by Atash a joint venture between KazMunayGas subsidiary KazMunayTeniz and Lukoil Overseas Atash.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has developed new emulsion products for architectural paints, reported the company on its site.

The company has also expanded its product portfolio for the coatings and adhesives industries, including Celansese's solvents, vinyl acetate monomer, EVA polymers and emulsions.

Thus, the company's new emulsion products - EcoVAE 450, Avicor 385 and Avicor 390 - represent solutions to many of the industry's issues including low-VOC primers, stain resistance and broad formulation latitude.

Celanese is adding to its EcoVAE line of EVA emulsions with EcoVAE 450 for low odor primer applications. This product has excellent wet/dry adhesion to a variety of substrates including alkyds, ceramics and aluminum.

The Avicor line of emulsions grows with a number of new products. Avicor 385 is an all new vinyl acrylic which is APE-free and designed to give superior performance in interior and exterior paints. The combination of high molecular weight, excellent film formation, and water resistance within the product results in excellent stain and scrub resistance while exhibiting great toughness and durability. The product is also designed to provide broad latitude in paint formulation across a range of sheens from flat to semi-gloss. Avicor 390 is a vinyl acrylic emulsion capable of creating very low VOC (volatile organic compounds) interior and exterior paints which exhibit excellent stain resistance.

Celanese's Polysolvan O solvent was developed for use in automotive paints. Because of its very low volatility, Polysolvan O is used chiefly as a paint additive in the form of a highly effective flow agent.

As MRC informed earlier, Celanese Corporation has recently introduced a range of detectable polymer technologies that can help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers ensure products contain components and parts that meet their material specifications.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of USD6.5 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical is restarting two polyethylene units at its Cedar Bayou Plant in Texas, according to company filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said Plastemart.

The emission events associated with the startup of each unit are expected to last until April 17. PEU-1796 and PEU-1799 units were shut Tuesday after a power failure at a substation resulted them going down, with visible flaring from the depressurizing process, according to a separate filings.

The Cedar Bayou plant produces 420 million lb/year of linear low density polyethylene, 617 million lb/year of low density polyethylene and 820 million lb/year of high density polyethylene. The Cedar Bayou plant is the largest owned by the Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips JV, and has eight process units including two olefins units.

As MRC wrote before, in early April 2014 Chevron Phillips held a groundbreaking ceremony for its U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) Petrochemicals Project at the Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. The groundbreaking ceremony signifies the start of construction for the USGC project sparked by shale resource development. The USGC project includes a 1.5 mln metric tpa (3.3 bln lbs/year) ethane cracker to be built at the Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, and two 500,000 mln metric tpa (1.1 bln lbs/year) capacity polyethylene facilities to be built in Old Ocean, Texas.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, plastic piping and polymer resins. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC is equally owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Phillips 66, and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nippon Steel Chemical Company (NSCC) has restarted its No.3 styrene monomer (SM) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant restarted on April 13, 2014. The plant was shut for maintenance in end-February 2014.

Located in Oita, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 230,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported previously, Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s largest refining and petrochemical companies, is in plans to shut its SM plant for maintenance turnaround in April 2014. It will remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Chiba, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.

Besides, last October, Tosoh Corp. said it would examine and prepare the company for a merger with its wholly-owned subsidiary Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co. (NPU), subsequently dissolving the NPU subsidiary upon completion of the merger.

The Nippon Oil Corporation, or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including olefines (ethylene, propylene) and aromatics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant Chemicals (India ) Ltd., an affiliate of Clariant AG, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced the successful closure of the acquisition of Plastichemix Industries, reported Plastichemix on its site.

On December 16 2013, Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited had announced its intent to acquire Plastichemix Industries - a Gujarat based masterbatches business in India, with production facilities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari.

Clariant in India will now be one of the leading masterbatches producer, that will offer a wide range of products like black, white, additive, filler & colour masterbatches, flushed pigments & mono-concentrates and engineering plastics
compounds.

Dr. Deepak Parikh, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd. said, "Our recent business developments are a proof of our commitment to the growing Indian market. We believe that reinvesting in our businesses will strategically align our business goals and objectives globally. In this process, we aim to reshape our portfolio and maintain profitability in our core businesses that will benefit all stakeholders."

Explained Mr. Sandeep Puri, India BU Head of Masterbatches, "This acquisition helps us enhance our product portfolio and provide the exacting needs of our customers. Our wider marketing network also enables us deliver faster and tailor-made service levels to them, ultimately resulting in a win-win situation for each other."

As MRC reported earlier, this summer, Clariant and Tasnee, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, signed an agreement to establish a masterbatches joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

Clariant's Masterbatches business unit is a recognized global leader in color and additive concentrates and performance solutions for plastics.

Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited and custom color and additive products with production of more than 10,000 color matches which are completed each year. With more than 50 manufacturing plants around the world, Clariant
Masterbatches products, technology and service deliver competitive advantages that foster long-term customer relationships.
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