Occidental Petroleum approves spin-off of California Resources

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation announced that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend, authorized the spin-off of its California oil and gas business and increased the company’s share repurchase program, said the company in its press release.

The Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of USD.72 per share on common stock payable on January 15, 2015, to stockholders of record as of December 10, 2014. Occidental has paid quarterly dividends continuously since 1975 and has increased its dividend each year since 2002. The current annual rate is USD2.88 per share.

The Board approved the spin-off of subsidiary California Resources Corporation through the distribution of approximately 80.1% of the outstanding shares of California Resources to holders of Occidental common stock. Subject to the satisfaction of the conditions to the spin-off, the distribution is expected to occur on November 30, 2014.

The Board also authorized the repurchase of an additional 60 million shares of the company’s common stock, leaving the program with 76 million shares, as of September 30, 2014. Share repurchases will continue to be funded from available cash from operations, excess cash on hand and proceeds from asset sales as part of the previously announced strategic review, including a dividend of approximately USD6 billion from California Resources to Occidental. The program does not require purchases to be made within a particular timeframe.

As MRC wrote before, Ingleside Ethylene, the 50/50 joint venture between Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) and Mexichem, announced that it received the necessary permits for its new ethylene cracker in Ingleside, Texas. Issuance of the permits, combined with the already completed front-end engineering and design study, will enable Ingleside Ethylene to construct the 550,000 tpy cracker and start commercial operations in the first quarter of 2017.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America. Oxychem is Oxy"s Texas-based subsidiary which manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins, chlorine and caustic soda used in plastics, pharmaceuticals and water treatment chemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde is nearing completion of its first retail hydrogen fueling station in the US, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The station, which is expected to be online before the end of the year, is being installed at the Ramos Oil Company multi-fuel station in West Sacramento, California, where Ramos currently retails gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, ethanol-85, methanol, and racing fuels.

At the heart of the hydrogen fueling system is the Linde IC 90 ionic compressor -- the next generation of hydrogen compression technology. Linde says this will enable higher throughput and enhanced back-to-back fueling.

Unlike conventional piston-operated compressors, the IC 90 works with ionic liquid. Because these ionic liquids essentially have no vapor pressure, they do not evaporate or mix with the hydrogen gas. They also eliminate mechanical wear-and-tear and sealing problems inside the cylinders.

"With this compressor, Linde has made a valuable contribution to the ongoing enhancement of today's hydrogen fueling infrastructure," said Mike Beckman, head of the H2 fueling business at Linde North America.

Linde is handling the design and fabrication of the Linde 900 bar Ionic Compressor. In addition, several companies will also be involved in the hydrogen station installation: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide (QTWW) for the dispensing system; FIBA Technologies will supply some of the hydrogen gas storage tubes; and Chart Industries will supply the hydrogen storage tank.

As MRC wrote before, SIBUR, a Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, and Linde Group, a German Technology company, have signed agreements to build and operate new air separation units in Dzerzhinsk, the Nizhny Novgorod Region. On a long-term basis, SIBUR will provide Linde with a leased site and power supply while Linde, in its turn, will supply technical gases to SIBUR.

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 62,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kaustik (Volgograd) has resumed its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production after a scheduled outage for maintenance, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

A source in the company said the Volgograd plant resumed its PVC production on Wednesday, 22 October, after a scheduled turnaround. The plant with the annual production capactiy of 90,000 tonnes was shut down for maintenance works on 3 October.

The outage at Kaustik was the lastest in a series of scheduled shutdowns for maintenance of Russian PVC producers in 2014.

As reported earlier, Bashkir Soda Company (its annual capacity is 230,000 tonnes) resumed its PVC production on Monday, 20 October, after a two-week turnaround.

JSC "Kaustik" is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Russia, Russia's market leader in the Russian chemical industry for the production of synthetic hydrochloric acid, commercial chlorine, liquid and solid caustic soda. It is part of NIKOCHEM group. The plant's PVC production totalled 71,900 tonnes over the first nine months of 2014.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron, the global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, is showcasing its plastics for the LED Lighting industry at Strategies in Light Europe 2014 in Munich, Germany from October 21-23, 2014, as per the company's press release.

Styron also launches its EMERGE 8830 Advanced Resins, an innovative material that balances transparency, flame retardancy and thickness - three key performance properties necessary as the market continues to move toward thinner gauge applications. The material is UL94 rated V-0 at 1.0mm and 5VA at 2.5mm and is the next generation advancement in Styron’s EMERGE 8000 series.

Styron offers a broad portfolio for LED Lighting Applications under the CALIBRE Polycarbonate Resins and EMERGE Advanced Resins brands. This includes transparent, light diffusion and ignition resistant grades used in lenses, optics, diffusers, reflectors and housings.

"Styron’s global footprint is truly an advantage in the LED Lighting market," said Global Business Director, Philippe Belot. "We have technical and production resources that allow us to coordinate application development, product availability and technical support worldwide and this is especially critical since applications are often specified in one region and manufactured in another."

Styron previously announced plans to change the name of all Styron affiliated companies to Trinseo. Some, but not all, of the Styron companies have completed the name change process and are currently known as Trinseo; Styron companies that have not completed this process will continue to do business as Styron until their respective name changes are complete. Styron's operating companies also continue to do business as Styron at this time.

As MRC reported earlier, in February 2014, Styron announced that it would be doubling its Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) production capacity of one train, after reaching an agreement with material supplier JSR, to acquire its current production capacity rights at Styron’s world-scale rubber production hub in Schkopau, Germany.

Styron, the global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, announced today that it will be doubling its Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) production capacity of one train, after reaching an agreement with material supplier JSR, to acquire its current production capacity rights at Styron’s world-scale rubber production hub in Schkopau, Germany. As from April 1, 2014 Styron had full capacity rights to this train, enabling it to increase its capabilities to serve the global tire market.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Styron had approximately USD5.3 billion in revenue in 2013, with 19 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,100 employees.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell International Inc. and DuPont Co. were sent objections by European Union regulators for violating antitrust rules over the only car-coolant chemical that currently meets new EU standards on greenhouse-gas emissions, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As the only two suppliers of the R-1234yf chemical, cooperation between Honeywell and DuPont may have limited supplies of the coolant sold to carmakers and limited technical development, the European Commision said in an e-mailed statement.

"The commission has concerns that a series of agreements concluded between Honeywell and DuPont in 2010 may have hindered competition," regulators said in the statement.

The refrigerant for car air-conditioning systems was expected to be a cash cow for DuPont and Honeywell as it replaces ozone-depleting alternatives in new vehicles sold in the 28-nation bloc. EU industry officials have clashed with Germany after Daimler refused to use the product for safety reasons.

The antitrust complaint escalates a probe opened in 2011 that targeted Honeywell and DuPont’s pact to develop the chemical. The investigation, triggered by French company Arkema, also examined Honeywell’s alleged "deceptive conduct" when the product was endorsed by a car-industry trade group, and whether it charges "fair and reasonable" license fees to rivals who want to produce the product.

Honeywell said the EU’s allegations were "baseless and conflict with the EU’s own laws that encourage collaboration on development," according to an e-mailed statement.

"By collaborating on expensive and risky development, Honeywell and DuPont were able to develop" the coolant "in time" to meet a 2017 deadline for new EU climate rules, the company said. The product is already used in almost 2 million cars around the world, it said.

Honeywell, based in Morris Township, New Jersey, said in 2013 it was targeting USD1.5 billion of revenue from the chemical over five years.

The EU investigation, which may lead to fines of as much as 10% of a company’s yearly sales, coincides with EU demands for Germany to apply EU environmental rules that mandate lower greenhouse-gas emissions for cars. Germany has backed Daimler’s refusal to use the chemical.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in August 2014, Borealis AG announced that it was buying out DuPont Co.’s two-thirds share in their Specialty Polymers Antwerp NV joint venture. No purchase price was disclosed. Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont will continue to sell ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and acrylate compolymers made at the JV’s plant, which is in Zwijndrecht, Belgium.

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.
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