Rosneft elects German ex-chancellor Schroeder as chairman

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is set to face a fresh backlash at home after he was elected as chairman of Russia’s biggest oil producer Rosneft on Friday, reported Reuters.

Schroeder, a Social Democrat who led Germany from 1998 to 2005, prompted widespread criticism in his homeland in August when he was nominated to Rosneft’s board, given Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis and current Chancellor Angela Merkel’s frosty relations with the Kremlin.

Shareholders in state-controlled Rosneft, which is subject to the sanctions, elected Schroeder to its board at a meeting on Friday, and shortly afterwards Schroeder told a news briefing he had been chosen by the board to be its chairman.

"Schroeder is a reputed and renowned politician, who has persistently advocated strategic cooperation between Germany, Europe and Russia," Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told the company’s shareholders before the vote.

Schroeder is currently chairman of the shareholders’ committee at Nord Stream AG, a Gazprom-led consortium established to build a pipeline carrying Russian natural gas across the Baltic Sea.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, Privately-run conglomerate CEFC China Energy has recently obtained preliminary state approval for its proposed USD9.1 billion investment in Russian oil major Rosneft. CEFC said earlier this month it will buy a 14.16 percent stake in Rosneft from a consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority, strengthening energy ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Effective November 1, 2017, or as contract terms permit, Evonik will increase globally prices for all polyurethane additives, said the producer in its press release.

The increase will be 5-10% depending on product type including DABCO, POLYCAT, TEGOSTAB, TEGOAMIN, KOSMOS, GORAPUR release agents and ORTEGOL products.

Stannous Octoate (KOSMOS 29, DABCO T9) will be dealt with separately.

Evonik has worked diligently and will continue working to offset continuously rising raw material, energy, labour and transportation costs, however it is not possible to absorb all of these rising cost. Evonik will increase polyurethane additive prices in order to continue to meet the needs of its customers in the future.

As MRC wrote previously, Evonik Resource Efficiency has invest in a capacity expansion of its performance foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany. The investment will increase the output of the facility by about 20% as a first step. The group will be adding production equipment to its operations complex that manufactures products marketed under the Rohacell brand. The expanded production capacity was expected to be operational by the second half of 2017.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) issued several tenders to buy and sell Iraqi crude from its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) this week, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, as per Reuters.

KNOC earlier this week bought just under 3 MMbbl of Basra Light crude from a South Korean company to fill its SPR, they said.

In a separate tender that closed on Friday, KNOC sold 2 MMbbl each of Basra Light crude to Mercuria and Vitol to be loaded during October to December, the sources said.

The cargoes were sold on the condition that the supplies will have to be returned to KNOC’s storage between August and October 2019, they said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez (part of TAIF Group) has shut down its high density polyethylene (HDPE) production for a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Kazanorgsintez had completely shut its polyethylene (PE) production for the planned maintenance by 28 September. The plant's representatives said the outage would be quite long, the full resumption of HDPE production is scheduled for 19 October. Along with HDPE production, some production capacities of low density polyethylene (LDPE) were also taken off-stream for a 5-day turnaround.

Thus, as of 28 September, production capacities of Russia's two largest HDPE manufacturers - Stavrolen and Kazanorgsitez - were shut for maintenance. Stavrolen took off-stream some of its production capacities for turnaround and modernization on 16 September, the plant's annual capacity is 300,000 tonnes.

PJSC "Kazanorgsintez" is one of the largest plants of the Russian Federation (TAIF Group). Kazanorgsintez produces over 38% of all Russian PE and is its largest exporter. To date, the plant produces PE, polycarbonate (PC), PE pipes, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A. Kazanorgsintez is Russia's only PC producer. It manufactures a total of 170 items of products. Kazanorgsintez's annual output is 1.6 million tonnes. The plant is Russia's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE). The plant's annual HDPE production capacity is 540,000 tonnes and its annual LDPE capacity is 225,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical has completed commissioning and begun startup of new polyethylene (PE) units at Old Ocean, Texas, reported Apic-online with reference to the company's statement.

The two units are the first in a wave of new US polyethylene to startup as part of unprecedented investment in the US designed to take advantage of cheaper ethane feedstock. Each will produce up to 500,000 mt/year of PE resins ranging from metallocene linear low-density polyethylene film to high density bi-modal film and pipe grades.

"Abundant shale gas resources are fueling an economic revival that extends across the nation and supports economic growth around the globe," Mark Lashier, president and CEO, said in a statement. "Chevron Phillips Chemical is proud to be a leading contributor to the nation's growing workforce and strengthening economy."

By the end of 2017, the first phase of these world-scale assets is slated to be up and running.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2017, Chevron Phillips Chemical completed a low viscosity polyalphaolefins (PAO) capacity expansion at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. The 20% capacity expansion enables the company to meet the increasing demand for lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Chevron Phillips Chemical develops and produces PAOs, marketed under the brand name Synfluid PAO, which are used for a variety of applications including engine oils, gear oils and greases. The project improves process safety and overall unit efficiencies while reducing waste generation for Cedar Bayou’s PAO unit. The feedstock for the new unit will be provided from Cedar Bayou’s recent 100,000-metric-tpy expansion of its normal alpha olefins capacity.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC