Algerian Sonatrach may invest in Iraq oil and gas

MOSCOW (MRC) - Algerian state energy company Sonatrach will study possible investments in oil exploration and natural gas projects in Iraq, the Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement, as per Reuters.

The statement cited comments by Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi and Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni, who arrived in Baghdad on Sunday. The Algerian delegation will hold meetings with Iraqi energy companies "to achieve concrete steps toward sealing a cooperation agreement with Sonatrach", said Luaibi, mentionning specifically projects to develop Iraq's gas wealth.

Iraq continues to flare some of the gas extracted alongside crude oil at its fields because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel for local consumption or exports.

Algeria is a main supplier of gas to Europe, exporting it by pipelines to the continent and also shipping it on tankers after liquefying the gas in special plants.

Guitouni expressed hope of strengthening cooperation in oil exploration and natural gas, the Iraqi ministry statement said.

Iraq is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' second-largest crude producer behind Saudi Arabia, with output of 4.4 million barrels per day. Fellow OPEC member Algeria has estimated output of 1 million bpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Keiyo Monomer is likely to take its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant off-stream for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is planned to be taken off-line for maintenance over the period of February-March 2018. The exact date and duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

Located in Chiba, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, Keiyo Monomer shut its VCM plant in Chiba for maintenance turnaround in mid-February 2015. It remained off-stream for around one month.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni has sold the license and basic engineering project to the Chinese company Sinopec, for the construction of a refining plant based on the Eni Slurry Technology (EST), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant will be built at the Sinopec refinery in Maoming, in Guandong province.

Sinopec, the world’s largest operator in the refining sector, will consequently be the first international company to make full use of the EST, which Eni developed through its research and industrial developments. EST is able to convert refining residues entirely into high-quality light products, eliminating both liquid and solid refining residues with significant environmental benefits.

Sinopec will build an EST plant with the design capacity of 46,000 barrels per day of heavy refining residue (310 tonnes per hour). The plant will replace the existing pet-coke production line, with significant environmental benefits in compliance with the new IMO (International Maritime Organization) regulations concerning sulfur contained in bunker fuel. The elimination of pet-coke production is part of global efforts to contain CO2 emissions. As part of the licensing agreement, Eni will provide Sinopec with the basic engineering project (Process Design Package) and other services, such as operational and technical training, as well as assistance during the development phase and the implementation of detailed engineering, and during the pre-commissioning and start up phases. Sinopec will be responsible for detailed engineering and construction operations.

The plant is due to be completed by 2020.

For Eni, technological research and development is of strategic importance in all its business areas, and this result is highly significant for a number of reasons, primarily that the world’s leading refiner has chosen EST above all other available technologies. Moreover, this agreement sees the refining sector benefiting from an Italian technological innovation for the first time.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2016, Eni, Italy’s major energy group, announced that it could not reach an agreement with the US private equity firm SK Capital to sell a majority stake in Eni’s chemicals subsidiary Versalis (Milan) and has terminated the discussions.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of EUR68 billion (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - SOCO International, an oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange, said on Monday it was evaluating a merger with Middle East oil and gas firm Kuwait Energy, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Its statement confirmed a Reuters report earlier on Monday that the two companies were in merger talks. A merger would provide a way for the Kuwaiti company to go public after it failed last year to complete an initial public offer of its shares on the London exchange, through which it hoped to raise about USD150 million.

SOCO, which has a market capitalisation of about USD500 million, said discussions with Kuwait Energy's newly constituted board were preliminary and no deal terms had been agreed. "SOCO confirms that, in the context of its stated objective to strategically reshape its business and grow its portfolio, it is evaluating a potential merger of equals with Kuwait Energy," the company said in a statement issued via the London Stock Exchange. Kuwait Energy declined to comment on the merger discussions.

SOCO's shares rose as much as 15 percent on news of merger talks and were up 9.9 percent at 123.4 pence at 1224 GMT.

Kuwait Energy has assets in Iraq, Oman, Egypt and Yemen. SOCO has a very different geographic exposure, with interests in Vietnam, Congo and Angola but no major assets in the Middle East.

Thomas Streater, head of investment research at MB Commodities Capital in Dubai, said the merger could benefit both companies.

"With volatile oil prices, it makes sense for small oil companies to merge as getting bigger scale gives them balance sheet to face volatility. SOCO would get a portfolio of low cost, attractive assets, and for Kuwait Energy it would be a way to monetise some of their holdings," he said. Streater added that Kuwait Energy's portfolio was quite attractive "but assets are in Iraq so straight away from an IPO perspective it’s seen as too risky. With the merger, the company’s shareholders will probably get SOCO stock, and then they’ll be able to sell at a later stage."

SOCO had USD132 million in cash as of September last year. Kuwait Energy had USD43 million in cash at the end of September.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded a contract to complete a front end engineering design (FEED) study for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant located at the existing Borealis production site in Kallo, Belgium, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract award follows the successful completion of the feasibility study for the plant. When complete, the new PDH plant will have a targeted annual production capacity of 740 kilotons, making it one of the largest and most efficient facilities in the world.

As part of the FEED study, Jacobs is preparing the basic design package for both the inside battery limit areas as well as the outside battery limit areas of the new PDH plant. The FEED phase is scheduled for completion by mid-2018.

As MRC informed earlier, in April 2016, Borealis AG and PAO Gazprom, the world's gas major, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The document reflects the parties' interest in evaluating opportunities to develop joint gas chemical projects in Russia.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC