Rosneft-led deal to buy India's Essar delayed, seen closing in April

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The purchase of Indian refiner Essar Oil by a consortium led by Russian oil company Rosneft has been delayed, the two sides said on Friday, because some Indian lenders to Essar have yet to sign off on the deal, said Reuters.

The USD12.9 B deal, in which Rosneft is set to take a 49% stake in Essar and another 49% will be split between commodities trader Trafigura and Russian investor United Capital Partners (UCP), was expected to close this month.

"The closing was postponed into April because the buyers were dealing with 28 Indian banks that had credit lines with Essar Oil," a source close to the transaction said.

The source added that separate debt of holding company Essar Global was also affecting negotiations indirectly as some banks were lenders to both Essar Global and Essar Oil.

The deal, the largest foreign acquisition of an Indian company, would give Rosneft a foothold in the growing Indian market. Essar Oil operates a 400,000-bpd refinery in Vadinar on India's west coast and sells fuels through its 2,470 filling stations across the country.

Russia's second-biggest bank VTB, which is involved in financing the deal, said this week it hoped to finish the acquisition this week, but that 19 more days would be needed to settle all the payments. "The parties are working towards obtaining the requisite approvals to complete the transaction. We are hopeful that the deal will be completed in the upcoming few weeks," Essar said on Friday.

Two Russian sources close to the deal, announced during a visit to India by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year, had said the deal was set to complete on March 15.

Officially, all the parties had previously said the transaction was expected to close in the first quarter. A Rosneft spokesman confirmed on Friday the timing of the completion had slipped. UCP and Trafigura declined to comment.

The Economic Times reported last week that one of Essar's creditors, India's LIC, had demanded dues from Essar to give its clearance to the deal.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations on April prices of Russian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) began this week. Producers announced a price increase of roubles (Rb) 500-2,000/tonne from March, according to ICIS-MRC's Price report.

Negotiations on April contract prices of Russian suspension PVC (SPVC) began on Tuesday, and some converters were slow to negotiate deals. Since early 2017, producers have taken a tough stance on resin prices and announced an increase of Rb500-2,000/tonne in April prices. Demand for resin has been gradually growing from converters, although not all converters intend to increase their PVC purchasing in April.

A major strengthening of the rouble against the dollar since the beginning of the year did not lead to higher imports. PVC shipments from China remained insignificant, although Chinese producers significantly reduced their prices of acetylene resin for April shipments and deliveries are likely to increase in the upcoming months.

The situation in March was ambiguous in terms of demand for finished products from PVC. Some market participants reported stronger demand for pipes and sheets, and they planned higher purchasing of resin in April. The key consumers of resin - window profile producers - have had no significant improvement in demand so far, although in some cases, a growth in sales was still registered.

Since mid-March, restrictions on freight road transportation (restrictions on weight) have been introduced in some regions, these restrictions will be in effect in each region during the month and will be over in the country only on 15 May. Therefore, some producers were forced to introduce restrictions on April shipments of resin, which also affected the final cost of material for converters.

Deals for March shipments of Russian PVC were done in quite a wide range: Rb65,000-67,500/tonne, including VAT and delivery, for deals less than 500 tonnes. April deals were discussed in the range of Rb66,000-68,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.

A more substantial price increase was registered in the segment of resins with K = 70. Deals for April shipments were negotiated in the range of Rb68,000-71,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polyethylene (PE) into Kazakhstan increased to about 17,500 tonnes in January-February 2016, up 37% compared with the same time a year earlier. Shipments of all PE grades increased, according to MRC analysts.

February PE imports into Kazakhstan increased to 9,800 tonnes, compared with 7,700 tonnes in January because some local companies began to build additional stocks for the start of the "high season", in particular, consumers of low density polyethylene (LDPE). Total PE imports into the country were about 17,500 tonnes in January - February 2017, compared with 12,700 tonnes in the same time a year earlier. Shipments of all PE grades increased.

Structure of PE imports into the country in the reporting period was as follows.

February imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Kazakhstan increased to 5,900 tonnes, compared with 5,300 tonnes in January.
Local companies increased their purchasing of pipe grade HDPE in Russia and in Uzbekistan. Thus, overall HDPE imports exceeded 11,200 tonnes in January-February, up by 38% year on year.

February imports of LDPE into the country grew to 3,600 tonnes, compared with 2,000 tonnes in January. Local companies actively built up additional stocks of raw materials on the back of traditional restrictions on supplies from Russian producers in March-May due to preventive repairs. Total imports of LDPE into Kazakhstan were about 5,500 tonnes in January-February, up 37% year on year.

Purchases of LLDPE by local companies in January-February increased to 704 tonnes compared to 520 tonnes a month earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) plans to raise Rs1,671 crore for its associate company, ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL), as per two officials aware of the development have been reported by Business Standard.

ONGC holds 49.36%, GAIL (India) Ltd 49.21% and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) 1.43% stake in OPaL, as of March 2016. OPaL operates a US$4.5 billion mega petrochemicals complex in the Dahej special economic zone (SEZ), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 March after much delay and cost overruns.

"By next month we would be infusing equity in OPaL to the extent of Rs1,671 crore which we plan to raise through private placements of compulsory convertible debentures,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
The plant will annually produce 1.4 mln tons of polymers such as linear low density polyethylene and high density polyethylene, polypropylene and 500,000 tons of chemicals like benzene, butadiene and pyrolysis gasoline, among other products.

ONGC, GAIL (India) and GSPC also plan to bring private partners into the company. Talks are on with Kuwait-based energy company PIC, an arm of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., for a stake sale in OPaL, chief executive K. Satyanarayana has said. “We are ready to offer as much as 40% to the new partner. However, the talks have been on for about 1.5 years but nothing has been finalised as yet."

As it was written earlier, ONGC Petro Additions (OPaL) had begun exports to Singapore and intends to float a tender soon for exporting more products to other countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cuba will stop selling premium grade gasoline except to tourists starting Saturday due to a fuel crunch affecting Venezuela, its oil-rich ally and key trading partner, said Reuters.

Cuba's leadership has yet to announce the measure publicly, but a government source confirmed the contents of an official memo that has circulated on social media outlets this week.

The memo has already been "sent by official means to those implicated," said the source, who was unauthorized to speak to about the matter and requested anonymity.

Cuba has become increasingly reliant on Venezuela for refined oil products, even as the latter wrestles with shortages of those products at home. Last week, Venezuela faced its first nationwide shortage of motor fuel in five years.

The OPEC nation has one of the world's largest crude reserves but must import components for motor fuels and products crucial to dilute its extra heavy oil. Payment delays to providers have delayed deliveries.

Cuba cannot easily replace Venezuelan supplies as these are subsidized and the Communist-ruled island is strapped for cash.

Most vehicles in Cuba, including its vintage American cars and Soviet-era Ladas, use regular fuel. But modern cars, belonging to state and joint ventures as well as diplomats and other foreigners, run on higher-octane, so-called special fuel or premium.

"CUPET will not be delivering special fuel throughout April," said the memo, circulating on social media. "The special fuel remaining in stock at the gas stations from April 1 will only be sold ... to tourists, until the inventory is depleted," added the memo, using the acronym of the state oil monopoly CubaPetroleo.

One diplomat based in Havana said embassy workers had been advised to stock up on special fuel now and to carpool.

"Special fuel is going to disappear," said Victor, a worker at a gas station in the business district of Vedado. "We have a small reserve left, but we aren't supplying any."

The government memo suggested motorists replace premium with regular grade fuel. But a worker at a joint venture, which received the memo through official channels, said an auto service provider had recommended against using regular in its Mercedes-Benz cars. "It is bad for the engines," she said. "But what can you do, if there is no special fuel?"
MRC