Petrobras CEO and five other executives resign

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The chief executive officer and five other executives of Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA have resigned, the company said in a securities filing Wednesday, capping a tumultuous period for a company mired in debt and embroiled in a vast corruption scandal, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Chief executive Maria das Gracas Silva Foster will step down effective immediately, the company said, and Petrobras’ board of directors will meet this Friday to choose replacements for Ms. Foster and the other five departing executives.

The company didn't say in the filing who the other five executives were, and Petrobras representatives didn't immediately respond for requests for comment.

The French company would deliver flexible pipes of about 100 kilometers that would support oil production, gas lift and gas injection. These pipelines will be supplied to the Sapinhoa Norte field and I5 at Lula field, in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil which lay at water depths of around 2,500 meters.

As MRC informed previously, in early Janury 2015, Petrobras was awarded two ultra-deepwater contracts to the project management, engineering and construction company, Technip. However, the value of the contracts has not been disclosed.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Badger Licensing has announced that Qingdao Soda Ash Industrial New Material & Technology Co. has selected Badger’s proprietary technology for a 500,000-tpy grassroots ethylbenzene/styrene monomer (EB/SM) plant being built in Dongjiakou Port Industrial Zone Park, in Qingdao City, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The technology license is being contracted through Badger’s affiliate, Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, which is also supplying engineering, technical services and selected critical equipment for the plant.

The new plant, one of the largest EB/SM plants in China, will utilize Badger’s proprietary EBMax technology integrated with Badger’s styrene technology.

Basic engineering design work has begun and the plant is scheduled for mechanical completion and startup in 2017.

"Qingdao Soda Ash is an important new styrene producer in China," said Stuart Agler, president of Badger. "We are proud that they have selected Badger’s technologies and we look forward to working with them on this significant project to ensure the successful design, startup and operation of the plant."

Styrene monomer, with a worldwide capacity of over 30 million tpy, is a precursor to the production of a variety of polymer derivatives, including polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR).

Badger’s EBMax and styrene technologies have been licensed more than 30 and 50 times, respectively, for plants around the world.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2014, Technip was awarded a contract by Westlake Chemical to provide detailed engineering and procurement services to expand the recovery section of Westlake’s Petro 1 ethylene plant at its complex in Sulphur, Louisiana, USA.

Badger Licensing, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is a venture of affiliates of Technip and ExxonMobil Chemical. Badger Licensing is principally engaged in marketing, licensing, and developing technologies for ethylbenzene, styrene monomer, cumene, and bisphenol A.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams Partners has announced its expanded Geismar plant is expected to begin manufacturing ethylene for sale in February after experiencing an unexpected delay in the final stages of commissioning, said the producer in its press release.

The plant was taken down from its final ramp-up procedure after it was determined that a brazed aluminum heat exchanger became plugged requiring cleaning and maintenance. This additional and unanticipated work is complete, and the plant will be turned back over to operations today to resume start-up.

"We are focused on safely bringing the plant into sustainable operations, restoring the reliable supply of olefins to our customers," said John Dearborn, senior vice president, Williams’ NGL & Petchem Services.

Capacity at the expanded Geismar plant is 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 in and is the general partner of Williams Partners. The partnership said it will provide an additional update on the status of the plant’s operations on or before a scheduled Feb. 19 investor conference call.

As MRC wrote before, in late November 2014, Williams Olefins extended its October ethylene force majeure allocation at its Geismar, Louisiana plant, keeping its sales allocation for November at 0%.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Europe's second-biggest oil company Total is preparing for the sale or listing of its rubber and insulation unit Hutchinson that could be worth up to 4 billion euros (USD4.6 billion), sources told Reuters.

Total has asked potential advisers to pitch for the business with a mandate to be awarded soon, four sources familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is private. A Total spokeswoman denied all rumours of a sale or listing of Hutchinson and denied having mandated any advisor.

Hutchinson, which began its days as a rubber manufacturer for shoes in 1853, now makes sealing systems and insulation for cars, trains and planes. It had turnover of 3.28 billion euros as of the year ended December 31, 2013 according to its website , with over 32,000 employees worldwide.

There are scant financial details about the business but bankers estimate it has EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of around 450 million euros and could fetch a multiple of between 8 and 9 times that figure or 3.6-4 billion euros.

Total could either launch an initial public offering (IPO) of the unit or could attract strategic or private equity bidders, said the sources. Total is under pressure from shareholders to improve its cash flow and protect dividends as it counts the cost of the collapse in oil prices.

Oil and gas companies around the world have put more than USD110 billion worth of assets on the block as oil prices have halved to less than USD50 a barrel since last June.

Total, which bought a majority stake in Hutchinson in 1974, has pledged to achieve free cash flow before dividends of USD7 billion in 2015 and USD15 billion in 2017, versus USD2.6 billion in 2013.

The firm has taken a more active approach to managing its business in recent years, buying and selling assets more frequently. It plans to sell USD10 billion of assets in 2015-2017, having hit a target of USD15-20 billion of sales in 2012-2014.

In September, it agreed to sell its adhesives business Bostik, to French chemicals group Arkema for 1.74 billion euros.
The French oil company also launched a process in September to sell its 17 percent stake in the Gulf of Mexico's Tahiti oil field, which could fetch between USD1.5 USD1.5 billion and USD2 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia Acetyls Co (Asacco) is in plans to shut its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant for catalyst change, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is likely to be shut in March 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Dairen Chemical Corporation is likely to shut its No.2 VAM plant in Taiwan for maintenance turnaround on March 1, 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC) is a joint venture between Chang Chun Group (Chang Chun Petrochemical and Chang Chun Plastics) and Nan Pao Resins in 1979. The main function of DCC is to manufacture and supply VAM, a main raw material for production of PVA and PVAc, to parent companies. The first VAM plant with an annual capacity of 85,000 MTY was licensed by Bayer AG (Germany).
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