US Williams Q3 net income rises to USD1.68bn on Access acquisition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams Companies Inc. reported third-quarter 2014 net income attributable to Williams of USD1.678 billion or USD2.22 per share, compared with net income of USD141 million, or USD0.20 per share for third-quarter 2013, said Nasdaq.

The USD1.537 billion increase in net income during third-quarter 2014 was primarily the result of a USD2.522 billion pre-tax non-cash re-measurement gain related to the consolidation of its previous equity-method investment in Access Midstream Partners as of July 1, 2014.

Adjusted income from continuing operations for third-quarter 2014 was USD110 million, or USd0.15 per share, compared with USD130 million, or USD0.19 per share for third-quarter 2013. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of USD0.19 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The decrease in adjusted income for the quarter was driven by USD86 million higher net interest expense, including interest associated with debt at Access Midstream Partners, and USD28 million lower NGL margins, partially offset by the segment results of our now consolidated Access Midstream Partners business and growth in Williams Partners' fee-based revenues.

The company expects dramatically higher results for Williams Partners in the fourth quarter and 2015.

As MRC wrote before, Williams Olefins in August 2014 restated its ethylene force majeure allocation, reducing its August sales allocation from 25% to 0%. In mid-June 2013, Williams Olefins declared force majeure on ethylene supplies out of its Geismar, Louisiana, olefins complex that was impacted by an explosion and fire.

Williams is one of North America"s largest natural gas gatherers and processors. Williams also has a growing midstream business in Canada focused on processing oil sands off-gas into NGLs and olefins. It also has a domestic olefins business that provides customers in the petrochemical industry with a full suite of products and services.

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Clariant posts Q3 profit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Swiss specialty chemicals maker Clariant AG reported that its third-quarter net income was 59 million Swiss francs, compared to a loss of 204 million francs in the same quarter last year, said the producer in its press-release.

Net income from continuing operations dropped to 58 million francs from last year's 129 million francs. The decrease was entirely caused by higher tax charges compared to the year-ago period and a one-time gain from the joint venture transaction with Wilmar in the previous year.

EBIT declined to 122 million francs from 147 million francs in the previous year.

But, quarterly sales rose 4% to 1.507 billion francs from 1.443 billion francs last year. Sales from continuing operations rose 8% in local currencies.

For the full-year 2014, Clariant expects around mid single-digit sales growth in local currencies and an EBITDA margin before exceptional items above full-year 2013.

Clariant confirmed its mid-term target of achieving a position in the top tier of the specialty chemicals industry.This corresponds to an EBITDA margin before exceptional items in the range of 16 % to 19 % and a return on invested capital (ROIC) above the peer group average in 2015 and beyond.

As MRC wrote before, CB&I and Clariant announced that their new Ziegler-Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is on schedule to begin production in 2015. The plant is part of a long-term strategic partnership between Clariant’s catalysts business and CB&I’s Lummus Novolen Technology business.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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Georgia gain with new DSM plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Life sciences and material sciences company Royal DSM has confirmed that the polymerisation plant it announced earlier this year will be built in Augusta, Georgia, and will manufacture high viscous Akulon polyamide 6 polymer for film grades used in flexible food packaging and other segments, as per Plastics in Packaging.

The US plant will be built next to DSM Engineering Plastics' existing facility, which currently makes medium viscous grades of Akulon and Novamid polyamide 6 polymers for a wide variety of industries.

"DSM Engineering Plastics’ decision to locate its newest plant in Georgia speaks to our position as a global leader in the advanced manufacturing industry," said Chris Carr, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Richard Pieters, president of DSM Engineering Plastics Americas, said: "The Augusta location will offer all logistic modalities to our customers in the Americas and leverage the scale of our existing polymer operations."

The plant will be DSM’s first polymerisation plant for high viscosity grades in North America for Akulon polyamide 6s. In addition to Akulon and Novamid 6 and 6,66 polyamides, DSM serves customers with a range of specialty high performance engineering plastics including Arnitel TPC copolyester, Arnite PBT and PET polyesters, Stanyl high performance polyamide 46 and 4T, and our bio-based engineering plastics EcoPaXX polyamide 410 and Arnitel Eco copolyester.

Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2015 with completion targeted for mid-2016.

As MRC reported earlier, last October, Royal DSM signed a partnership agreement with long fibre thermoplastic (LFT) specialist Plasticomp (Winona, Minnesota / USA) to develop bio-based LFT composite materials based on DSM’s "EcoPaXX" polyamide 4.10. The lightweight materials, which include compounds reinforced with glass fiber as well as carbon fiber, will be targeted at automotive and other performance-driven markets.

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
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Williams Partners to startup manufacturubg ethylene at Geismar Olefins plant in November

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams Partners L.P. has announced it expects its expanded Geismar Olefins plant to begin manufacturing ethylene for sale in November, reported the company on its site.

That timeline is consistent with the financial guidance the partnership provided in July.

All major construction related to the rebuild of the damaged plant, the expansion project and the safety-related equipment installation is now complete. The general contractors for the expansion and rebuild projects have demobilized and Williams' operations personnel are now directing the dry-out and commissioning of the plant.

"We are in the final stages of commissioning and startup," said John Dearborn, senior vice president of NGL & Petchem Services. "We fully expect to be manufacturing ethylene for sale in November, consistent with our financial guidance. We continue to place our highest focus on restoring safe and reliable operations for our employees, contractors, community and customers."

Capacity at the plant is now 1.95 billion pounds of ethylene per year. Williams Partners' share of the total capacity of the expanded plant is approximately 1.7 billion pounds per year. Williams owns controlling interest and is the general partner of Williams Partners.

As MRC informed earlier, in late 2012, Williams Partners signed an agreement with Williams to purchase the company's 83% undivided interest in the Geismar olefins production facility, a refinery-grade propylene splitter, for USD2.264bn.

Williams, headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., is one of the leading energy infrastructure companies in North America. It owns controlling interests in both Williams Partners L.P. and Access Midstream Partners, L.P. through its ownership of 100% of the general partner of each partnership. Additionally, Williams owns approximately 66% and 50% of the limited partner units of Williams Partners L.P. and Access Midstream Partners, L.P., respectively. On June 15, 2014 Williams proposed the merger of Williams Partners and Access Midstream Partners. The proposed merger has been approved by boards of each partnership and is expected to close in early 2015.
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PetroChina Q3 net profit falls 6.2%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Net profits of PetroChina Company Ltd, China's largest oil and gas producer, edged up 0.8% year on year to 96.05 billion yuan (USD15.64 billion) in the first three quarters of 2014, said Chinadaily.

The pace was much slower than a 4% growth in the first half of this year.

During the first nine months, business revenue rose 4.3% to 1.75 trillion yuan, according to the company's quarterly report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company's slow profit growth was mainly attributable to a weak third quarter, when international oil prices declined. Its profits in the exploration and production sector dropped in the third quarter, and losses were seen in petrochemical businesses.

It produced 700 million barrels of crude oil in the first nine months, up 0.3% year on year, while its production of natural gas for sales rose 7.1% from a year earlier, according to the report.

As MRC wrote before, PetroChina plans to spend more than 10 billion yuan (USD1.6 billion) on shale gas this year. PetroChina's decision to triple its shale gas spending from expenditures on the unconventional fuel over the past few years comes just months after Sinopec lifted hopes that China is near a breakthrough by announcing a commercial find.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.

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