LyondellBasell announces planned departure of Sergey Vasnetsov

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies, has announced the planned departure of Sergey Vasnetsov, senior vice president of Strategic Planning and Transactions. Mr. Vasnetsov will leave the company at the end of May for personal and family reasons, said the producer in its press release.

"I want to thank Sergey for his many significant contributions to our company's success," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell's CEO and chairman of the management board. "Through his knowledge of our industry, his thought leadership and his boundless energy, Sergey has played a key role in guiding the company to its leading industry position. I wish him all the very best as he enters a well-deserved next chapter."

Mr. Vasnetsov joined LyondellBasell in 2010 as senior vice president of Strategic Planning and Transactions with responsibility for financial and strategic planning, capital investments, and the Investor Relations function.

"It has been a privilege to work with Bob and the many talented individuals leading LyondellBasell into the future," said Mr. Vasnetsov. "Given the company's highly-focused executive team, great people and top-notch plants, I am confident that LyondellBasell will be very successful sustaining its position as the premier global petrochemical leader."

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in October 2015, LyondellBasell announced the acquisition of SJS Plastiblends Pvt. Ltd. (SJS), thereby advancing the company’s position in India’s expanding automotive market.

LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 56 sites in 19 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to modernize the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) in Baku, Azerbaijan, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract, awarded by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), is part of a major investment to increase the refinery’s capacity and improve the quality of the fuel produced.

Amec Foster Wheeler, in alliance with SOCAR Foster Wheeler Engineering, won the contract and will execute it in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The scope of work is for the development of a number of facilities and the integration of technologies by other providers at HAOR. This will include new facilities for diesel hydro-treatment, isomerization, methyl tertiary-butyl ether, fluid catalytic cracking gasoline treatment, sour water stripper, amine treatment and sulfur recovery.

A number of existing facilities will also be revamped, including those for crude and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and continuous catalytic reforming.

"We have successfully delivered a number of projects for SOCAR, both in Azerbaijan and in other countries, and look forward to continuing our partnership with this contract for the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery, a particularly important facility for the country," said Roberto Penno, Amec Foster Wheeler's group president for Asia, Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe.

Amec Foster Wheeler’s scope of work is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2017, while the process of modernization of the refinery is expected to be completed in several phases until early 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, Amec Foster Wheeler was awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by PetroVietnam for their Dung Quat oil refinery expansion in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam.

Amec Foster Wheeler designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers across the global energy and related sectors. Employing around 40,000 people in more than 55 countries and with 2015 revenues of GBP5.5 billion, the company operates across the oil and gas industry – from production through to refining, processing and distribution of derivative products – and in the mining, clean energy, power generation, pharma, environment and infrastructure markets.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ONGC Petro additions Ltds (OPaL) is likely to startup a new cracker at Dahej, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company is expected to begin operations at its new cracker in the first half of May 2016.

Located at Dahej in the western India state of Gujarat, the cracker has a production capacity of 1.1 million mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, OPaL planned to start up its 340,000 mt/year polypropylene plant in Dahej Special Economic Zone, in Gujarat, in late April 2016, if it can procure feedstock propylene from the spot market by then. The plant's start-up had been previously delayed due to high project costs.

The company is also building two 360,000 mt/year high density polyethylene (HDPE)/linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) swing units and a 340,000 mt/year standalone HDPE unit at the site.

OPaL is a joint venture of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC - 26%), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL - 17%) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC - 5%), with the balance held by other investors and public shares.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French energy company Total reported a better-than-expected net profit for the first quarter as high output and strong performance in refining and chemicals helped limit the impact of a prolonged fall in oil prices, said Reuters.

Net adjusted profit fell 37 percent to USD1.6 billion but beat the USD1.2 billion expected by analysts polled by Reuters. Total's shares were up 1.4 percent at 0722 GMT.

Weak oil prices have hurt the industry, with U.S. giant Exxon Mobil this week losing its Standard & Poor's top credit rating for the first time in almost 70 years.

Total said hydrocarbons production rose by 4 percent to 2.479 million barrels of oil equivalent per day compared with the same quarter last year, a level in the quarter last seen 10 years ago. Three start-up production from its Angola LNG, Bolivian Incahuasi gas field and Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan will enable grow production at 4 percent this year, Total said.

Total said in its downstream segment, although refining margins were down compared with 2015, the business had held up well and remained strong at the beginning of the second quarter.

"Refining & Chemicals improved its results compared to 2015 despite the decrease in refining margins to USD35 per tonne, thanks to a record high utilisation rate of 94 percent and favourable petrochemicals margins," Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.

The company proposed to maintain its dividend unchanged at 0.61 euros per share, payable through cash and a scrip scheme. Like its peers hurt by prolonged low prices and market oversupply, Total said it was cutting costs and aimed to spend less than the USD19 billion it had planned for investments in 2016.

It said it was on target to achieve planned savings of USD900 million in 2016. The company said it had the lowest technical cost among oil majors in the upstream division at USD23 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) compared with peers at USD26 to USD44 boe.

Its upstream division generated a net operating income of USD498 million in the first quarter. Total said it aimed to reduce its cash break-even point to USD40 per barrel compared with USD45 announced in February.

As MRC informed earlier, Total said that its refining margins in Europe had fallen to USD35.1/ton in the first quarter of the year. Europe's biggest refiner still reported a European refining margins indicator (ERMI) of USD38.1/ton in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Essen-based Evonik Industries, a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer, has introduced new solutions for greater (cost) efficiency in lightweight design, as per the company's press release.

Composite materials are light, extremely robust, and offer a wide range of design options. Although they are an essential part of modern production - for example when it comes to lighter cars or high-performance wind power plants - production at the industrial scale has so far been hampered by complex and costly processes. This may now change. Evonik assigned an interdisciplinary team to search for solutions for a three-year term in its Composites Project House. The recently completed project house came up with materials and processes that enable automated production at economical prices. Potential customers in a variety of industry sectors are already testing the developments.

"The new developments from the Composites Project House are a perfect fit for our extensive product portfolio that addresses all essential components of composite materials," said Dr. Gerd Lohden, head of Innovation Management in the Resource Efficiency Segment, which will take over seven of the nine developments for product expansion."We are well on our way to overcome the challenges of the industry together with our customers."

With this step, Evonik is positioning itself for the long term in the growing composites market, while also providing fresh impulses.

The global composites market reached a volume of approx. EUR74 billion and about 9 million metric tons in 2015, with further growth projected. Experts forecast a growth rate of six percent annually for the years to come (source: JEC Composites). This growth is driven primarily by the aerospace, wind energy, sports and leisure, and oil and gas extraction industries.

A new material system solution for the first step in the production of composites - the production of pre-impregnated fibers (prepregs) - also aimed at greater efficiency. The newly developed thermally controllable hybrid polymers combine quick and easy processing with ultra-high stress resistance-properties that were previously considered incompatible. Significant progress was also achieved in the surface quality of composite materials as well as for the production of flame-retardant prepregs and unidirectional tapes, the thin synthetic strips embedded in parallel in endless reinforcement fibers. In addition, the Project House came up with a process that allows for combining metals and fiber-reinforced polymers in composite materials.

When the term of the project house ended, the new materials and system solutions were integrated into the Resource Efficiency and Performance Materials segments.

As MRC wrote before, in mid-April 2016, Evonik Industries presented its innovative products and solutions. Thus, Evonik introduced in the US market the following innovative products and technologies: SILIKOTOP new binders for high solids protective coatings, SPUR technology for ambient cure polyurethane coatings, novel matting agents for low VOC coatings, dynasylan silanes for acrylic polymer modification, VISIOMER specialty methacrylates for post-crosslinking.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
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