Linde, Praxair eye merger close this year after European sale

MOSCOW (MRC) - German industrial gases company Linde and peer Praxis are hoping to seal their merger this year, after agreeing to sell Praxair’s European gases business to Japanese rival Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp, per as Reuters.

Linde and Praxair need to sell assets to get regulatory approval for their USD83 billion all-share merger of equals that will create a global leader in gas distribution, with revenues of almost USD29 billion and 88,000 staff.

"We are taking a constructive approach to address regulatory concerns with the merger in the European Economic Area," Praxair CEO Steve Angel said in a statement on Thursday.

Linde shares rose 4.2 percent after the Taiyo Nippon Sanso deal was announced, and were among top gainers on the DAX index of leading German shares.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso will pay 5 billion euros (USD5.9 billion) for the Praxair European assets, which generated annual sales of approximately 1.3 billion euros in 2017, in a move aimed at boosting its global competitiveness.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said in a securities filing last Tuesday it suspended some asset sales after a Supreme Court decision ruled privatization processes must be approved by the nation’s Congress, reported Reuters.

While evaluating what legal actions to take, Petrobras decided to suspend the sale of its refineries, of the gas pipeline company Transportadora Associada de Gas and also of the Araucaria fertilizer factory.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mozambique Rovuma Venture, a JV of ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC, has submitted the development plan to the government for the first phase of the Rovuma LNG project, which will produce, liquefy and market natural gas from the Mamba fields located in the Area 4 block offshore Mozambique, as per Eni's press release.

The plan details the proposed design and construction of two liquefied natural gas trains which will each produce 7.6 million tons of LNG per year.

ExxonMobil will lead construction and operation of natural gas liquefaction and related facilities on behalf of the joint venture, and Eni will lead construction and operation of upstream facilities.

As the Rovuma LNG project progresses, every effort will be made to actively build the local workforce and supplier capabilities in Mozambique.

"We are excited to be progressing the Rovuma LNG project, working with the government and leveraging the expertise and capabilities of all of the partners," said Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Development Company.
"The Rovuma LNG Project is moving forward swiftly," said Stefano Maione, Eni’s executive vice-president for the Mozambique Program. "The size of the project makes it not only an important investment in the country, but also supports economic growth and opens new opportunities for Mozambicans."

A final investment decision by the Area 4 joint venture parties is scheduled in 2019, with LNG production expected to commence in 2024.

Marketing activities are progressing, with negotiations on sales and purchase agreements underway, targeting completion in parallel with the development plan approval process.

Rovuma LNG is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., an incorporated joint venture owned by ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC, which holds a 70 percent interest in the Area 4 concession alongside its partners Galp, KOGAS and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. (ENH), each of which hold a 10 percent interest.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kumho Petrochemical has begun adding lines for acrylonitrile butadiene latex (NB latex) at its facility in Ulsan, South Korea, in order to increase synthetic rubber production capacity to 550,000 t/y, reported Apic-online with reference to a local source citing the company.

The expansion, scheduled for completion in March 2019, will help solidify the company's position as the "world's number one NB latex maker," said the report quoting a company official.

As MRC informed before, in H1 2016, Kumho P&B Chemicals (KPB) completed its phenol, acetone and cumene capacity expansion. KPB is one of the largest producers of benzene derivatives such as phenol, bisphenol-A (BPA), acetone and cumene in South Korea.

Before the expansion, the company operated two phenol/acetone units in Yeosu that were able to produce 380,000 mt/year of phenol 450,000 mt/year of BPA, 235,000 mt/year of acetone and 430,000 mt/year of cumene. With the completion of the capacity expansion, the company had added 300,000 mt/year of phenol, 470,000 mt/year of cumene and 185,000 mt/year of acetone by June 2016.

KPB is an offshore joint venture created by the joint investment of South Korea’s Kumho Petrochemical and Japan’s Nippon Steel Chemical Company in 1976.
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