BP view to 2021: five things to know

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With its full-year results for 2017, BP turns investors' attention to the future, with a reminder of its priorities in the years ahead, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The strategy remains the same: pursuing advantaged oil and gas - be it low cost or higher margin, market-led growth in the downstream, and venturing and low carbon opportunities, all underpinned by safe and reliable operations.

Here are five things to know about BP's plans out to 2021:

1. Whether in 2018 or 2021, safe, reliable and efficient operations remain at the core of BP’s business. The focus on systematic, disciplined and process-driven operations will be constant. Results from 2017 revealed a continued reduction in the overall number of process safety incidents, while personal safety data showed that the frequency of recordable injuries remained below BP’s five-year average.

2. BP expects to add 900,000 bpd from new major projects by 2021, with 35% higher margins on average than its 2015 portfolio. This growth will come from its list of quality upstream projects in advantaged oil basins and gas regions, with developments selected for their lower costs or higher margins.

3. BP’s downstream businesses - including its refineries, petrochemicals operations and fuels marketing and lubricants brands - expect to deliver more than a USD3 billion increase in earnings between 2016 and 2021. More than two-thirds of this growth should come from BP’s marketing businesses, with the remainder from manufacturing.

4. BP is also preparing for a lower carbon future. Activities across the business reflect the commitment to help advance the energy transition, through a strategy and investment choices that are flexible to many different scenarios.

5. The business will keep its focus on returns for shareholders. With disciplined cost and capital spending and a simpler, more efficient organization, BP is already delivering what it outlined in the five-year plan announced in 2017.

As MRC informed previously, British oil and gas company BP will increase investment in the United States after the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in February 2018.
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Clariant launches Telasperse PVC pigment preparations for plasticized and non-plasticized PVC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has added an important new family to its range of colorants for plastics, with the introduction of Telasperse PVC for plasticized and non-plasticized PVC, as per the company's press release.

The new family currently comprises seven colours - one blue, three reds and three yellows - as well as two blacks and a white. More colors will be added in the coming months.

Until now, plasticized PVC compounders and processors have had a limited choice of global suppliers of high quality pigment preparations. The entry of Clariant into this important market will provide a welcome addition to their options.

Telasperse PVC products are free-flowing, dust-free powder pigment preparations, fully dispersed with approximately 40-50% organic pigment. If requested, they can also be supplied in pellet form. They are based on a PVC containing a non-phthalate plasticizer; the stabilization is lead-free.

"With Telasperse PVC pigment preparations, we are opening up new opportunities for PVC compounders and customers manufacturing such products as films and sheets," says Philippe Lazerme, Head of Strategic Marketing Plastics at Clariant BU Pigments. The preparations are also suitable for cables, profiles, and flooring.

"The new pigment preparations keep processing costs low with their ease of incorporation into PVC and their high pigment concentration, while their dust-free form makes them safe to process," Stefan Wannemacher, Head of Technical Marketing at Clariant BU Pigments, adds. "Quality of the pigments is consistently high, ensuring excellent reproducibility in finished products. Especially important for film makers, the excellent dispersion of the pigment yields smooth surface appearance, free of specks, while their high chroma ensures a brilliant shade."

Depending on the size of the business, Clariant can offer specific shades based on existing colorants, and also provide in-depth service, technical advice and support, Lazerme points out.

Selected products in the Telasperse PVC range are suitable for food-contact applications and for toys; they have wide regulatory compliance, including RoHS, EN71-3, 94/62/EG, AP89 (I), and EU 10/2011. Although developed specifically for plasticized PVC, Telasperse PVC can also be used in some rigid PVC formulations.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Clariant was awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The project includes the license and engineering design of the unit, which is to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
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KBR to support ongoing project activities at Covestros site in Baytown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc.announced it has been awarded a multiple year Master Engineering Services Agreement by Covestro LLC, a world-leading manufacturer of high-tech polymer materials for key industries, as per KBR.

KBR will support ongoing project activities at Covestro's site in Baytown, TX and across Covestro's other North American facilities.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide project management and engineering services to support multiple sites in North America. KBR will perform services across all engineering disciplines, project controls, project management and other support services to Covestro facilities and their capital programs.

KBR has extensive history with long term strategic relationships across various client markets. A leader in the engineering and construction industry, KBR's depth of knowledge and experience translates into providing optimized solutions to meet a customer's specific needs.

"We are excited about the opportunity to work with Covestro," said Farhan Mujib, KBR President, Engineering and Construction Americas. "KBR looks forward to delivering innovative and effective professional services across the entire life cycle."

Revenue associated with this project will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's E&C Business Segment as work orders are awarded.
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US leads globally in planned ethylene capacity additions by 2022, says GlobalData

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Analysis of global planned ethylene capacity shows that the US has the highest planned ethylene capacity additions with 10 Mmtpy during 2018 to 2022, followed by China and Iran with 8 Mmtpy and 6 Mmtpy, respectively, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Presently, the US accounts for 33 percent of total global planned ethylene capacity additions in 2022. The country has eight planned ethylene plants. Among these, Formosa Plastics Corporation Point Comfort Ethylene Plant 3 and Exxon Mobil Corporation Baytown Ethylene Plant 2 have the highest capacity with 2.3 Mmtpy each.

China has 27 percent share in the global planned ethylene capacity additions in 2022. China has 18 planned ethylene plants. The top three planned plants in terms of capacity are Zhejiang Petrochemical Daishan Ethylene Plant 1 with a capacity of 1.4 Mmtpy, followed by Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company Ningbo Ethylene Plant 2 and Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical Quanzhou Ethylene Plant with capacities of 1.3 mtpa and 1.0 Mmtpy, respectively.

Iran is expected to contribute about 19 percent to the total global planned ethylene capacity additions in 2022. The country has nine planned ethylene plants. Sepid Mehr Chabahar Ethylene Plant leads with a capacity of 1.1 Mmtpy. Gachsaran Petrochemical Company Gachsaran Ethylene Plant, Bushehr Petrochemical Company Assaluyeh Ethylene Plant and Firouzabad Petrochemical Company Firouzabad Ethylene Plant are jointly in second, each with a capacity of 1.0 Mmtpy.

Russia has 7 percent share in the global planned ethylene capacity additions in 2022. Russia has only two planned plants, ZapSibNeftekhim Tobolsk Ethylene Plant and Novy Urengoy Gas-chemical Novy Urengoy Ethylene Plant, with capacities of 1.5 Mmtpy and 0.4 Mmtpy, respectively.

Malaysia, Vietnam, Oman, and Venezuela are jointly in fifth, each with a capacity of 1 Mmtpy, contributing around 3 percent of the total global planned ethylene capacity additions in 2022.
MRC

Saipem awarded a new Onshore E&C contract in Oman

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saipem has been awarded a new contract in the onshore E&C sector worth approximately USD 750 million. Work involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning under Package 3 "Offsite Facilities" in the framework of the development of the Duqm Refinery situated near the coast in the north east of Oman, as per the company's press release.

The contract was awarded by Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company L.L.C, a Joint Venture between the Oman Oil Company (OOC), the national oil company, and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI). Once completed, the refinery will have a capacity of around 230 Mbpd.

Stefano Cao, Saipem CEO, commented: "We welcome with particular satisfaction the awarding of this new contract which signals the relaunch of our activities in Oman, a country in which Saipem has operated successfully in the past".

As MRC informed before, in June 2016, Saudi Arabia's PetroRabigh awarded a construction contract for its II expansion project to Italian oil service group Saipem. PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, said the total cost of the 30-month contract to expand its petrochemicals complex was 782 million Saudi riyals (USD208.5 million). The contract includes a plant to process and recover vanadium and a unit to dispose of caustic soda. The contract also includes some other facilities to handle and store chemicals.

Saipem is one of the world leaders in drilling services, as well as in the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of pipelines and complex projects, onshore and offshore, in the oil & gas market. The company has distinctive competences in operations in harsh environments, remote areas and deepwater. Saipem provides a full range of services with "EPC" and "EPCI" contracts (on a "turn-key" basis) and has distinctive capabilities and unique assets with a high technological content.
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