KBR wins Oman LNG Feed contract

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and project management services contract for Oman Liquefied Natural Gas LLC (Oman LNG) in Qalhat, Oman. Oman LNG operates three liquefaction trains with a total nameplate capacity of 10.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), as per the company's press release.

KBR is a recognized leader in LNG with over 40 years of continuous experience and depth of capability, know-how and engineering talent that is unmatched in the industry. This project represents KBR's reentry into the Oman market and supports our strategic focus on gas monetization in the Middle East region.

"This contract confirms KBR's strong reputation as one of the world's preeminent leaders in LNG facilities and demonstrates the trust that Oman LNG has placed in KBR following the successful development of the original Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) of this world-class LNG facility," said Jay Ibrahim, KBR President: Europe, Middle East & Africa. "We are committed to expanding our footprint in the Middle East and are delighted at this opportunity to reestablish KBR in Oman and contribute to Oman's In-Country Value (ICV) initiatives."

Revenue associated with this contract was undisclosed and will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Engineering & Construction business segment in the second quarter of 2017.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs over 34,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jilin Petrochemical, part of PetroChina, is likely to restart a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has planned to resume operations at the plant on May 26, 2017. The plant was shut for maintenance on May 12, 2017.

Located in Jilin province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 275,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, another major petrochemical producer in China - Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical - shut its LLDPE plant in China for maintenance in late March 2017. The exact duration of the planned turnaround could not be ascertained. Located at Guangdong in China, the plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

Petrochina Jilin Petrochemical Company was established in Jilin. It was registered as a state-run company.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika has appointed Paul Schuler, currently Regional Manager Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA), as Chief Executive Officer as of July 1, 2017. He succeeds Jan Jenisch who has accepted to become the new CEO at LafargeHolcim, as per the company's press release.

Paul Schuler has been with Sika for 29 years and has been a member of the Group Management since 2007. He served as Regional Manager North America from 2007 to 2012 and as Regional Manager EMEA from 2013 until now. Paul Schuler has played a key role in developing and executing Sika's successful growth strategy. His contributions to Sika's success include high growth rates, significant improvements in efficiency and profitability as well as responsibility for major acquisitions.

Paul Halg, Chairman of the Board: "I am delighted that the Board has appointed Paul Schuler as our new CEO. He has been a member of the Group Management for more than 10 years and has a highly successful track record in his leadership of two out of four Sika regions. His competent and energetic leadership style will ensure the continuation of Sika's growth strategy. I look forward to working together with him and in achieving our strategic targets 2020."

Paul Schuler: "I am excited about my new role and look forward to working with Sika's global leadership team. I am committed to continuing our growth strategy, meeting our targets for 2020 and further developing Sika's global business."

Jan Jenisch has been with Sika for more than 20 years and has been the CEO for the past five-and-a-half years. Under his leadership, Sika has seen significant profitable growth and an accelerated expansion into new markets, with a build-up of supply chains and new national subsidiaries.

Paul Halg: "I would like to thank Jan Jenisch for his outstanding leadership and accomplishments over the past 20 years. As CEO he has led Sika to an accelerated growth strategy and to a new performance level. While I regret his departure I wish him all the best for his future."

Sika confirms its guidance for 2017 with sales growth of 6-8% to more than CHF 6 billion for the first time. EBIT and net profit should continue to increase at disproportionately high rates. The growth strategy will be pursued with the opening of eight new factories and the founding of a further three national subsidiaries.

As MRC informed earlier, in March 2016, Sika has opened a new mortars and concrete admixtures plant in Vancouver, Canada. Besides, in eary 2016, Sika announced the opening of two new concrete admixtures plants in Southeast Asia, one in Myanmar, the other in Cambodia.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and the motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 90 countries around the world and manufactures in over 160 factories.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- National oil firm Saudi Aramco is looking for opportunities to expand in the United States over the next 10 years, and wants to develop the business of its Motiva refinery in that country, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Saturday, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"Motiva is something we are considering seriously to look at expanding its footprint in the United States," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of US and Saudi business executives, coinciding with the visit of President Donald Trump to Riyadh.

Nasser added, "Through our investment there we are looking at the next 10 years for expansion in the US and identifying greater opportunities for growth...We are looking at both refining and petrochemicals."

Motiva was originally a joint venture between Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell but, as MRC wrote before, the partners plan to divide up the venture in the second quarter of 2017. As part of the deal, Aramco will make a USD2.2 B balancing payment to Shell.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Mexico supports an extension of OPEC's supply cuts as a way to stabilize oil markets and bring fresh investment into the country's growing energy sector, the Mexican deputy secretary for hydrocarbons said, as per Reuters.

Aldo Flores-Quiroga said he believed members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should and would continue plans to coordinate oil production cuts into at least 2018. He did not say whether he preferred a six- or nine-month extension, which OPEC members are debating.

"Stable markets help provide a stable framework for investment, and that helps Mexico," said Flores-Quiroga, who assumed his post last summer.

Oil ministers from OPEC and non-member producers meet on Thursday in Vienna. Mexico, which is not in OPEC, has seen its oil industry atrophy in the past 50 years due to underinvestment and hostile regulation of foreign partners.

Constitutional changes in 2013 have slowly begun to attract capital to the second-largest Latin American economy, but low oil prices have hindered Mexico City's efforts.

ExxonMobil Corp, for example, plans to invest USD300 MM in retail filling stations through the next decade in Mexico, but will import fuel due to a lack of local crude supply and refining capacity.
MRC