Oil Search bows to ExxonMobil in battle for InterOil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia's Oil Search Ltd. has cleared the way for ExxonMobil Corp. to take over InterOil Corp. for USD2.2 B, giving the US giant access to a rich new gas field to expand its exports from Papua New Guinea, said Reuters.

The move could lead ExxonMobil and French giant Total SA to tie together their competing gas interests in the South Pacific nation, cooperating to reduce costs as they battle cheap oil and LNG prices.

Oil Search, backed by Total, had also bid for InterOil, but said on Thursday it would not raise its offer. The two companies agreed that letting ExxonMobil take over InterOil, which owns a 36.5% stake in the Elk-Antelope gas field, would help speed up development of the discovery, it said.

The majors are targeting Papua New Guinea for growth as the quality of its gas, low costs and proximity to Asia's big LNG consumers make it one of the most attractive places to develop projects following a collapse in oil and gas prices.

Total had envisioned building a new USD10 B LNG project, but said it was now committed to working with ExxonMobil's PNG LNG, which could use Elk-Antelope gas to feed an expansion. "This scenario would be the lowest cost viable supply in the Pacific Basin," said Saul Kavonic, an analyst at consultants Wood Mackenzie.

Oil Search, a partner in both PNG LNG plant and Papua LNG, estimates that around USD2 B could be saved by tying the two projects together.

Total, operator of the Elk-Antelope fields, said late on Wednesday it was committed to cooperating with the PNG LNG project to maximize the value of the gas. "It's going to come down to how you carve up that value pie. Those are the negotiations that will have to take place in order for that joint development to occur," said Kavonic.

Oil Search and Total highlighted a recent certification of the gas field's reserves at less than 6.5 Tcf, compared to InterOil's dream of 10 Tcf, as a factor in their analysis of the best development option for Elk-Antelope.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Forced to shut its USD54 B Gorgon LNG export plant twice in its first five months, Chevron Corp. now faces calls from union officials for a probe into the site's safety, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chevron denies there have been any safety breaches at the plant but is under pressure to resolve problems that have limited exports to just two cargoes since starting operations in March. The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) has told Reuters it has formally requested access to the site. A failed weld on a valve casing called a trunnion caused the gas leak that forced the plant to close on July 1, he said.

"The AMWU wants to know why it failed, and what checks were carried out to ensure it met Australian standards," McCartney said. Chevron called the leak "minor", although it did evacuate some workers. On Wednesday the company said it expected to resume production shortly.

"Chevron Australia is in discussions with the AMWU to visit the site as part of usual union engagement with its members," a spokeswoman said, adding that there had been no safety breaches at the plant.

Chevron, which is counting on Gorgon to help it become an LNG leader in Asia, reported its first shutdown in April and was forced to shut again following a gas leak on July 1.

According to information provided by one engineer at the plant, liquid propane in the refrigerant circuit flooded into a section of pipeline meant to handle gases only.

Metal debris inside the piping was propelled along at speed, damaging equipment and producing "very loud clunking noises" which prompted operators to initiate emergency shutdown procedures, according to one worker and corroborated by AMWU's McCartney.

Chevron said the problem occurred in the propane refrigerant circuit where natural gas is cooled into a liquid but declined to provide further details.

As MRC informed earlier, a USD36.8bn expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, the largest investment by private sector oil companies this decade, has been given the go-ahead by Chevron of the US, bucking the trend of delays and cancellations resulting from the slump in crude prices since mid-2014.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said Wednesday that a power outage at its second biggest refinery briefly interrupted production, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Tula refinery, which can process up to 315 Mbpd, was taken offline for around 30 minutes, according to a Pemex spokesperson who declined to be named citing company policy.

In a statement Pemex said the principal services of the refinery, located in central Hidalgo state, were operating normally and that it did not see production being affected.

As MRC informed earlier, in April 2016, a massive explosion rocked Pemex in the Gulf state of Veracruz on Wednesday, killing at least three people, injuring dozens more, and pumping a cloud of noxious chemicals into the sky. Three people had died in the blast and as many as 45 were injured.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsung Heavy Industries expects to receive an order this year from Eni to build a floating LNG platform to process huge gas reserves in Mozambique, a spokesman said on Thursday, a sign a long-delayed project is moving ahead, said Reuters.

Samsung Heavy is in exclusive talks with Eni as part of a consortium with France's Technip and Japan's JGC in a project worth around USD5.4 B. Samsung's share would be worth USD2.5 B, the spokesman said.

"We expect the order in the second half of this year," a Samsung Heavy spokesman said on Thursday. Mozambique made one of the biggest gas finds in a decade in 2010, offering the opportunity to transform one of the world's poorest countries into a major LNG exporter.

Eni is due to build offshore processing units while US firm Anadarko is planning a vast onshore development. But the projects have faced uncertainty and investors are keenly awaiting long-delayed final investment decisions.

Samsung's announcement opens the door for ENI to make its final call this year, which would make Anadarko's development more likely to proceed, industry sources said. The projects could unlock as much as USD30 B of investment.

Mozambique is mired in a deep debt crisis and gas investment is the most likely escape route after donors shunned the southern African country for hiding billions of dollars of state borrowing.

As MRC informed earlier, South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group will acquire Samsung Group's chemical businesses for more than 3 trillion won (USD2.63 billion). Lotte Group affiliate Lotte Chemical Corp will acquire various assets, including a 31% stake in Samsung Fine Chemicals and 90% of Samsung SDI Co Ltd's chemicals business.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of PET in Russia increased by 7% in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to MRC ScanPlast.

The total volume of PET chips production at four Russian plants reached 268,000 tonnes in January-June. Companies have continued to follow the policy of import substitution. The production growth was achieved by increasing the capacity utilisation at Alco-Naphtha (Kaliningrad).
Alco-Naphtha increased PET chips production by 28% in the first six months of the year, compared with the same time a year earlier. SIBUR Group plants and Senege in general have been working at the previous level of loading during the first six months of the year.

June PET production at the facilities of Russian companies was 46,800 tonnes. The total loading capacity of the sector amounted to around 92% in June.

MRC