Nova partners with distributors to expand reach in Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Calgary-based polyethylene supplier Nova Chemicals Corp. is partnering with M. Holland Company and Osterman & Company to expand its reach in North America, as per Canplastics.

The two firms will distribute Nova’s butene linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) in Mexico. In December 2016, Nova started up its expanded PE1 LLDPE facility in Joffre, Alberta; the new capacity will help meet the growing demand for polyethylene in Mexico and customers throughout the Americas.

"We greatly value our relationships with M. Holland and Osterman & Company, and we are excited to expand our Mexico sales with both of them,” said Todd Becker, vice president of sales for Nova’s polyethylene business. “This is another critical step in our journey to provide the best products and service to customers and converters in Mexico."

Both distributors have “strong ties” to Mexico, Nova said in a statement. “M. Holland, a North American distributor of thermoplastic resins, formed M. Holland Latinoamerica, S.de R.L. de C.V. after acquiring Mexican plastics and chemicals distributor Grupo Solquim of Mexico City. Osterman & Company, a global plastic resin distributor, formed Osterman Plastics de Mexico S. de R.L. in 2015."

"The addition of Nova’s LLDPE butene resins to our product line fills an important need in the Mexican market," said John Dwyer, president of Osterman & Company. "Offering this high-quality Nova product, as well as having access to their top-notch technical support, will allow us to further expand our Mexico sales and round out our Latin America supply offering."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cyberhawk has been awarded a three-year contract by an oil and gas supermajor to provide a digital asset management solution during the construction of its new world-scale petrochemical complex in the USA, as per Yourpetrochemicalnews.

The main construction phase of the project is already underway, which involves the construction of processing units, cooling towers, rail and truck loading facilities, water treatment plant, office buildings and laboratory at the new petrochemical site.

As part of the construction, the operator sought a comprehensive, detailed software solution which would allow a digitised view of drone (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles) captured data such as orthophotos, spherical images, 3D point cloud models and videos collected on-site on a weekly basis.

Following a rigorous tender process, Cyberhawk was chosen to provide drone content management and distribution services thanks to its industry-leading visual asset management software, iHawk. This intuitive, cloud-based software has been developed to host inspection and survey data from various sources and has industry specific solutions for the wind, utilities, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors.

For this project, iHawk Construction is providing all stakeholders with an up-to-date, at-a-glance visual overview of the project at any given time and from anywhere in the world.

Unlike similar asset management software solutions in the market, the operator was impressed with iHawk’s high level of adaptability and deep industry focus. This meant the software could be customised to meet the client’s detailed requirements, which was a crucial factor in its decision.

iHawk is being now being used by hundreds of engineers, designers, managers and consultants involved in the construction project, in various entities across four continents. It is already proving its worth by improving safety, tracking progress and improving decision making on this complex construction project.

This iHawk solution has been specifically developed to grow as the project progresses, creating a central repository of project information which can be referenced throughout construction as well as once the plant is live.

Chris Fleming, CEO at Cyberhawk said: “Despite having worked with this oil and gas supermajor for the last eight years, in more than eight countries, this is the first time iHawk has been adopted at such large scale. The client was impressed by the functionality offered by iHawk and Cyberhawk's ability to build on this platform to create a fully customised, bespoke solution for its needs.

"Since launching iHawk in 2014, we have significantly invested in ongoing development to create a world-leading digital asset management solution. Data has become crucial part of the energy sector and whilst collecting detailed information is important, how we use this data to create efficiencies is real objective. “We are extremely encouraged that our experience and investment in iHawk has been recognised for this important project.”
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global energy giants Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil have asked US regulators for exemptions to the nation’s biofuels policy that have historically been reserved for small companies in financial distress, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with the matter.

The requests will add fuel to a raging dispute between Big Oil and Big Corn over how the Trump administration should manage the US Renewable Fuel Standard - a 2005 law that requires oil refiners to mix biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply, or buy government-awarded credits from other energy firms who the blending.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already issued an unusually high 25 hardship waivers to small refineries in recent months, according to an agency source, driving blending credit prices down and helping the oil industry reduce compliance costs.

But the agency won't name the firms receiving the exemptions, citing a concern over disclosing private company information.

Both Chevron and Exxon, among the world’s most profitable energy companies, have asked EPA for waivers for their smallest facilities - Chevron’s 54,500 MBPD refinery in Utah and the Exxon’s 60 Mbpd refinery in Montana, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The exemptions would free the plants from their obligation to hand in blending credits earned or purchased for 2017, which came due this year, the sources said.

The disclosure of the Chevron and Exxon applications, which have not been previously reported, follow a Reuters report this month that the EPA has exempted three of ten refineries owned by Andeavor, one of the biggest U.S. refining companies.

The waivers could save Andeavor USD50 million or more in regulatory costs for the company’s 2016 obligations under the biofuels law.

Husky Energy - a Canadian oil giant backed by a Hong Kong billionaire - will also be seeking an exemption, this one covering the 2018 requirements for its small Superior, Wisconsin plant, spokesman Mel Duval told Reuters, disclosing the waiver for the first time.

Duval said Husky inherited a 2017 exemption when it bought the 50 Mbpd Superior refineries from Calumet Specialty Products Partners for USD435 million in November.

The waivers are intended for facilities producing less than 75 Mbpd that can also prove compliance with the policy would cause them “disproportionate economic hardship."

The exceptions and the EPA’s refusal to disclose them have infuriated the corn lobby, which argues the waivers hurt farmers by undermining demand for corn and should be used only sparingly for tiny facilities in dire straights.

A spokesman for Chevron, Braden Reddall, declined to confirm or deny the application but said waivers provide an edge.

"Several competitors have reportedly received exemptions from the RFS," he said in a written statement to Reuters. "If true, any refinery which has not been exempted from the RFS will be at a competitive disadvantage."

Exxon spokesman Dan Carter Dan Carter declined to comment.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

Chevron is the second-largest US oil group by production and market capitalisation, after ExxonMobil. Chevron Phillips Chemical (part of Chevron), 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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Orpic Logistics Company (OLC), a joint venture created by Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos (CLH) and Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (Orpic), has inaugurated the Muscat-Sohar pipeline and the Al Jefnain terminal in Oman, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This pipeline, into which 336 million dollars have been invested, represents a key logistics infrastructure, allowing more than 50% of the country’s fuel to be transported and contributing to improved road safety and greater efficiency and sustainability by reducing the number of road tankers in and around the capital, Muscat.

The MSPP Project (Muscat Sohar Product Pipeline) is a multi-product, bi-directional pipeline that uses 290 kilometers of pipelines to connect the Mina Al Fahal and Sohar Orpic refineries to the Al Jefnain storage and distribution facility, as well as to Muscat International airport, which receives aviation fuel directly via pipeline.

In his speech, the CEO of CLH, Jorge Lanza, thanked ORPIC for the opportunity to participate in this project in Oman and stressed that "we have proven to ourselves, and to the industry, that we have cutting-edge experience and are able to develop successfully in new countries and environments such as Oman. The MSPP project is a significant milestone in the history of our company and we believe that it will open doors to new opportunities. CLH is committed to the development of the economy and talent of Oman, and we hope to continue to undertake more projects together, both in Oman and the surrounding area".

The Vice President of Orpic, H.E. Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, said "We are proud to inaugurate such an important strategic project as the Muscat Sohar Product Pipeline (MSPP) and the Al Jefnain terminal. This project responds to the government’s strategic goals for the development of logistics systems for petroleum products in the Sultanate which will cover the growing demand for fuels."

The MSPP pipeline is divided into three sections: from the Mina Al Fahal refinery to the facility in Al Jefnain, measuring 45 km (10 inches); from the Sohar refinery to the Al Jefnain facility, measuring 220 km (18 inches), and a third branch that goes from the Al Jefnain facility to Muscat International Airport, measuring 25 km (10 inches). In addition, this new network has satellite control systems and advanced safety and environmental protection.

On the other hand, the Al Jefnain storage facility, located in the vicinity of Muscat, is a center for storage and distribution of petroleum products with a capacity of more than 170,000 cubic meters and 16 loading racks. At this facility, an average of 700 trucks are loaded every day, carrying fuel to service stations. This new infrastructure increases the country’s refined products storage capacity by 70%.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) announced plans to raise capacity of its polypropylene (PP) plant to 340,000 tpa of high quality PP from 200,000 tpa.

ORPIC (Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company) is one of the leading companies in Oman and has two refineries in that country, in Sohar and Muscat. ORPIC is owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Oman Oil Company SAOC, the trading company created by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for managing investments in the energy sector.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A trial pitting materials firm A. Schulman Inc. against Citadel Plastic Holdings LLC began April 16 in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, Del., as per Plasticsnews.

A spokesperson for Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman confirmed that the trial is underway but had no further details. The firm is seeking damages related to its USD800 million acquisition of Citadel in early 2015. Issues related to the Citadel acquisition — including questions about material quality — led to financial problems at Schulman.

Schulman filed the suit in June 2016. The firm is seeking unspecified damages from former Citadel owners including Huntsman Gay Capital Partners and Charlesbank, as well as from several former Citadel executives, including Michael Huff and Matthew McDonald.

Most of Schulman's accusations center around Lucent Polymers, an Evansville, Ind.-based compounding firm that Citadel bought in late 2013. According to the original court filing, Schulman "never would have purchased, much less paid $800 million for Citadel had it know that [Lucent] was engaging in fraudulent business practices that … substantially reduced [Citadel's] profitability and growth prospects."

Schulman also has accused Citadel/Lucent of falsifying certificates of analysis given to customers that exaggerated flame retardant properties and other characteristics of the compounds that Lucent was making. "Knowledge of this pervasive fraudulent scheme … went all the way to the top," Schulman officials said in the filing. "Lucent and Citadel officers and directors knew of and condoned these wrongful practices."

Judge J. Travis Laster is hearing the case. Schulman is being represented by Wilmington lawyer Paul Lockwood. Legal information on Citadel was unavailable on the court's web site. In February, Schulman agreed to be acquired by LyondellBasell Industries for USD2.25 billion.

Separately, Schulman officials in January said that federal officials are undertaking a criminal investigation related to the lawsuit. In a Jan. 9 earnings call, Schulman President and CEO Joseph Gingo said the FBI has identified Schulman as a possible crime victim.

A November court ruling said that several former Citadel employees in October were served with subpoenas requiring them to produce documents as part of the FBI investigation. Those former employees included executives Huff, McDonald, Kevin Andrews, Jason Jimerson and Mario Sandoval.

Schulman posted sales of almost USD2.5 billion for fiscal 2017. The firm ranks as a leading compounder and concentrates maker in both North America and Europe and as one of Europe's leading resin distributors.
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