Air Liquide Engineering & Construction wins China chemical contract

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has signed a contract to supply an air separation unit (ASU) to Shandong Runyin Bio-Chemical Industry Co. Ltd (Runyin), a subsidiary of Shandong Ruixing Group, a large chemical company and one of the key high-tech players in China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the contract, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will design and build a large ASU with a production capacity of 2,950 tons of oxygen per day.

The ASU will be an integral part of the customers’ key research and development project for chemical production. In support of this project, ?Air Liquide will provide its strong expertise and best-in-class oxygen production technologies which enable maximized energy efficiency and reduced environmental footprint.

The first industrial production is expected in 2020. Founded in 1970, Ruixing Group specializes in biochemical, fine chemical, thermal power generation and equipment manufacturing. Domenico D’Elia?, Senior Vice President, Sales and Technology, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction commented: “"Air Liquide demonstrates the commitment to contribute to the upgrading of China industries. This success with our new customer, Shandong Runyin Bio-Chemical, reaffirms our ability to provide competitive solutions that are safe, reliable and highly efficient?.?"
MRC

Unipec, Vitol poised to win tender to supply fuels to Bangladesh

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) has received offers from a mix of traders and state oil companies in its tender for over 1.4 million tonnes of oil products for the first half of 2019, with Unipec and Vitol giving the best quotations, as per Reuters.

"Unipec is supposed to win the tender for both gasoil and jet fuel as they came up with the lowest offers. And Vitol is likely to secure the tender for fuel oil and gasoline as their offers are (the) lowest," said a senior official of BPC.

The deals with Unipec and Vitol will be finalised within a short time after verifying all other details, the official said.

China's Unipec - trading arm of Chinese state major Sinopec - gave the lowest offer for gasoil and jet fuel at premiums to Middle East quotes of slightly below USD2.90 and USD3.70 a barrel respectively, according to the official.

The Asian unit of trading house Vitol submitted gasoil and jet fuel offers that were slightly higher. Vitol Asia gave the lowest offers, however, at premiums to Middle East quotes for gasoline slightly under USD4.25 a barrel and fuel oil at about USD22.30 a tonne, the BPC official said.

Other sellers who participated in BPC's import tender include PetroChina, Sinochem, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Trafigura, PTT and Gunvor.

Bangladesh typically imports about 3.2 million tonnes of diesel and 2.5 million tonnes of fuel oil annually, making it one of the top 10 importers for those fuels in Asia.
MRC

Galp lifts earnings outlook on oil price, improved output

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Portugal's Galp Energia raised its 2018 pre-tax earnings estimate to 2.3 billion euros (USD2.6 billion) from a previous forecast of 1.8-1.9 billion on Monday, as a jump in oil prices and stronger output boosted its third-quarter results, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Galp shares rose by more than 3 percent to 15.5 euros, outperforming the broader Lisbon, which was up by 1.3 percent, and the Stoxx 600 oil and gas index, which was 1.4 percent higher. Oil and gas output rose 10 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to around 104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, but Galp's new projection for a full-year output increase of 15 percent came at the lower end of its previous forecast range of 15-20 percent.

International oil prices surged over 40 percent in the quarter from a year ago. Third-quarter net income and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose 35 percent and 38 percent respectively, in line with market expectations, even as refining margin fell 21 percent and refinery throughput declined 7 percent due to scheduled maintenance.

Galp's refining margin of USD5.8 per barrel was nevertheless well above the industry's benchmark of USD3.2 in the quarter. The rise in projected EBITDA came despite expectations of a "weaker refining environment in the fourth quarter".

The company, which is a relative newcomer in the world of big oil, plans to boost output to 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020.

Most of Galp's production growth will come from Brazil, where it has stakes in large offshore oil fields and is looking for further expansion opportunities.
MRC

Chevron in talks to buy Brazilian oil companys Texas refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp has held talks to acquire Pasadena Refining System Inc (PRSI), a Texas oil refining unit of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, three people familiar with the matter said this week, as per Reuters.

U.S. oil companies are looking to expand refining operations to handle rising volumes of crude flowing from the country’s shale fields. A deal for PRSI would give Chevron an oil refinery that can process about 110,000 barrels-per-day of light crude.

Chevron is also discussing a gas liquids processing joint venture with Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI.N), largest energy infrastructure provider in North America, two of the sources said. Kinder Morgan operates a nearby plant that separates gas liquids into ethane, propane and other fuels.

The sources requested anonymity to discuss the confidential talks. They did not disclose the deal price. Petrobras did not respond to requests for comment. Chevron and Kinder Morgan declined to comment.

Petrobras, which is deeply in debt, has been seeking to divest USD21 billion in assets by year-end but has faced union resistance and legal obstacles. A presidential election on Sunday could raise obstacles for a sale with front-runner Jair Bolsonaro promising to install new managers at the company.

The PRSI refinery has been limited in the type of crude it can run since a 2011 fire, which left one of its processing units idle. A buyer would have to invest to upgrade the refinery, one of the people familiar with the matter said. But PRSI includes open land that could enable a future owner to easily expand the plant.

Petrobras put the plant, which is on the Houston Ship Channel leading to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and has its own export docks, on the market earlier this year after sinking more than USD1.18 billion into the operation since 2006.

Garfield Miller, chief executive of energy investment bank Aegis Energy Advisors, said the U.S. shale-oil boom has given a second chance to U.S. plants designed to process lighter crudes. Several years ago Petrobras would not have been able to sell PRSI because of its age and inability to process heavy crudes, he said.

That has changed with the growth of the Permian Basin, the nation’s largest oilfield, which now produces 3.5 million barrels per day of oil, according to U.S. government figures. “Anyone with crude in the Permian might logically want to own it,” said Miller. “This refinery today has value, whereas eight or nine years ago it had none.”

Pierre Breber, Chevron’s head of refining and chemicals, this month said the company wanted to build or buy a refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast to process oil from its West Texas operations.

Chevron’s shale output from the region jumped 51 percent in the second quarter to 270,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. By expanding its refining capacity to Houston, it would be able to process the crude closer to where it is produced.
MRC

BASF scoops second China chemicals deal in four months

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical giant BASF said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China's Sinopec Corp to build a steam cracker in east China, the second major investment pledged by the German firm in four months, as per Reuters.

China, the world's top chemicals consumer, is allowing greater access by global majors and local independents to its massive chemicals market to feed plastics, coatings and adhesives to the fast-growing consumer electronics and automotive sectors, as well as polyesters for clothing.

According to the MoU, BASF-YPC, the German group's joint venture with Sinopec in Nanjing, will invest in a 50 percent stake in the new cracker. SINOPEC Yangtzi Petrochemical (YPC) will take the other 50 percent.

"This additional investment into a new steam cracker and the expansion of our BASF-YPC joint venture in Nanjing underline the strong partnership between Sinopec and BASF and the commitment to our customers in China," BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said.

BASF said the new steam cracker will have an annual capacity of one million tonnes of ethylene, a building block for plastics, rubber and synthetic fibre. The group declined to disclose financial details.

A joint venture consisting of French oil group Total , Borealis and NOVA Chemicals last year said it would spend USD1.7 billion on an ethane steam cracker at Port Arthur, Texas, with a similar capacity.

In July, BASF landed a preliminary deal to build China's first wholly foreign-owned chemicals complex in Guangdong, worth some USD10 billion in investment to 2030, aided in part by trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The German group made 22 percent of sales in the Asia-Pacific region last year, its annual report shows. It does not break out Chinese numbers.
MRC