Reliance profit exceeds estimates as refining margin widens

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s largest oil refining complex, reported first quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and rose the most in a year after refining margin widened, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Net income, excluding that of units, rose 5.5% to 56.5 billion rupees (USD936 million), or 17.50 rupees a share, in the three months ended June from a year earlier, Mumbai-based Reliance said on July 19. That exceeded the 53.7 billion-rupee (USD0.891 billion) median profit estimate of 25 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 10% to 963.5 billion rupees (USD15.98 billion).

The company controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani depends on earnings from its two refineries to boost profit as natural gas production from its biggest deposit remains near the lowest in four years. Higher profit is crucial for Reliance which is spending 1.8 trillion rupees (USD0.030 trillion) to expand its polyester, petrochemicals, refining and natural gas businesses and starting a new telecommunications service next year.

We remind that last year, as MRC informed previously, RIL announced that it would invest over Rs 100,000 crore in expansion of its petrochemical capacities and adding value to its refining business. Besides, in October 2012, the company unveiled its plans to expand capacity at its refineries in the western state of Gujarat.

Reliance is also building one of the world’s largest ethylene crackers taking advantage of refinery integration at Jamnagar. This project will be commissioned in H2-2016 and would nearly double the ethylene capacity to 3.3 mln tpa.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company's polymer production in 2010-11 (polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride) made 4,094 kilo tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has increased its prices for 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) in Europe with immediate effect or as contracts allow by EUR150/tonne, as per the company's statement.

The price adjustment will be done to reflect the increased operating, logistics as well as raw material costs and to assure highest levels of product and service quality to its customers.

BASF’s customers use HDO to manufacture industrial coatings including lower volatile organic compound formulations, polyurethanes, adhesives and cosmetics. HDO also serves as a reactive thinner in the formulation of epoxy systems which are used for the efficient production of rotor blades for modern wind turbines as well as construction components for automotive lightweight applications.

BASF operates HDO production facilities at its Verbund sites in Freeport, Texas, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, with an annual production capacity of more than 50,000 tons of HDO.

As MRC wrote before, in late June 2014, BASF has increased its European sales prices for Ethyleneamines (EEA). The price increase will be as follows: ethylenediamine (EDA) - by EUR50/tonne, diethylenetriamine (DETA) - EUR50/tonne or by the equivalent amounts in local currency.

Ethyleneamines are high-class intermediates used in the manufacture of crop protection agents and paper chemicals, surfactants for detergents and cleaning products, process chemicals for gas treatment, lubricants and cement additives as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP Zhuhai is in plans to start a new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in China, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to start in Q4, 2014. The exact start-up schedule of the plant could not be ascertained.

To be located in Zhuhai province, China, the plant will have a production capacity of 1.25 million mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, China based company Xianglu Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in end-November 2013. Located in Xiamen, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft has proved its leadership in national GTL (gas-to-liquid) technologies development. First pilot batches of Fischer Tropsch synthesis catalysts have been produced at Angarsk catalyst and organic synthesis plant, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Angarsk plant is the first Russian enterprise capable of producing such catalysts on a commercial scale.

The implementation of FT synthesis catalysts production national technologies has been performed as part of Program of the Company’s innovation development by scientists of RN-RDC corporate scientific center, a resident of Skolkovo foundation. The catalysts produced provide natural and oil-dissolved gas to be processed into synthetic hydrocarbons. They were tested in laboratory and have already proved its high performance properties.

Possessing commercial technologies of high-performance technologies of FT synthesis catalysts production enable Rosneft to finish the project on creating the first GTL pilot plant equipment in Russia, which is scheduled to put into operation at “Novokuybyshevsky plant” site in 2018. The results of the test performed for GTL PPE will form a base for construction of plant equipment aimed at natural oil-dissolved gas processing into synthetic oil and components of synthetic fuels, including aviation fuel.

The successful implementation of GTL technology in Rosneft is an important step towards gas processing technologies advancement, as well as resource base expansion of oil processing and petrochemical enterprises of the Company.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in February 2014, SIBUR, the giant Russian petrochemicals company, reached an agreement with state owned Russian oil company Rosneft to acquire its’ 49% interest in their Yugragazpererabotka gas processing joint venture. The interest has been held by Rosneft-owned RN-Holding, formerly TNK-BP.

After the deal closes SIBUR will own 100% of the venture, and will continue to have access to guaranteed gas supply from Rosneft of up to 10 billion cubic metres/year of gas as feedstock for their plants under a new supply agreement now extending to 2032. The sale of the plant, which processes gas co-produced at some of Rosneft’s oil fields, known as APG, which stands for associated petroleum gas, will be among the first sale by Rosneft of assets it picked up in the USD55 billion acquisition of the TNK-BP joint venture last year.

Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian producers of low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased their exports by 23% over the first six months of 2014. As expected, the first months of the year accounted for the peak export sales, according to MRC ScanPlast.

June LDPE exports from Russia rose to 16,00 tonnes after a May reduction of 10,700 tonnes (Kazanorgsintez minimized its export contracts because of a scheduled shutdown for maintenance). Overall, Russian producers increased their LDPE sales in foreign markets (including the countries of the Customs Union) to 102,800 tonnes in the first half of 2014 versus 83,700 tonnes a year earlier. The first three months of the year accounted for the peak export sales, which was caused by weak seasonal demand in the domestic market and the rouble devaluation, which made exports more attractive for Russian producers.

Tomskneftekhim (SIBUR) and Angarsk Polymer Plant (Rosneft) are the main LDPE exporters. These plants' LDPE sales to foreign markets totalled 48,900 tonnes and 30,600 tonnes over the stated period versus 52,000 tonnes and 13,000 tonnes, respectively. Angarsk PP managed to reach such a serious growth in exports because of increased capacity utilisation (the plant's LDPE production rose by 43% to 32,800 tonnes).

Top-5 countries-importers of Russian LDPE are as follows: China (57,400 tonnes), Ukraine (12,800 tonnes), Kazakhstan (8,200 tonnes), Lithuania (5,900 tonnes) and Belgium (5,500 tonnes).

MRC