Mitsui Chemicals breaks ground on synthetic oil plant in Japan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant within the Ichihara Works (Ichihara City, Chiba) to manufacture hydrocarbon-based synthetic fluid marketed under the name Lucant, said the company.

The new plant is expected to reach commercial operation in February 2021.

Lucant is a hydrocarbon-based, specialty synthetic fluid used primarily as a viscosity modifier. It is used in demanding applications, including automotive driveline, industrial lubricants and greases, and is the approved choice for leading OEMs and global oil marketers. Mitsui Chemicals was the first manufacturer to offer this unique synthetic fluid which boasts industry leading efficiency and durability.

This investment in additional Lucant capacity will allow Mitsui and its strategic partner, Lubrizol Additives Segment, a segment of The Lubrizol Corporation, to meet the evolving and demanding needs of Lubricant market, whilst becoming a more reliable and secure supply partner.

Details about project costs or capacities in terms of tonnes or pounds per year were not disclosed.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corp. (HUN) released earnings for first quarter that fell from last year, said the company.

The company's earnings totaled USD119 million, or USD0.51 per share. This compares with USD274 million, or USD1.11 per share, in last year's first quarter.

Excluding items, Huntsman Corp. reported adjusted earnings of USD108 million or USD0.46 per share for the period. Analysts had expected the company to earn USD0.40 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the quarter fell 11.7% to USD2.03 billion from USD2.30 billion last year.

Huntsman Corp. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q1): USD108 Mln. vs. USD237 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q1): USD0.46 vs. USD0.96 last year. -Analysts Estimate: USD0.40 -Revenue (Q1): USD2.03 Bln vs. USD2.30 Bln last year.

Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, commented: "While global economic conditions remained challenging in the first quarter of this year, we are pleased with the relative resilience of our core downstream portfolio. The month of March ended slightly better than we projected, and while we remain cautious of certain regions of the world, notably Europe, we see momentum returning to Asia, especially in China. In 2019, we are on course to achieve our second best year ever. We remain focused on delivering consistent strong free cash flow and executing our downstream strategy through strategic investments, new products and continued globalization of recent bolt-on acquisitions. Our balance sheet is strong, our dividend yield is attractive, and we continue our balanced approach to capital allocation, including share repurchases."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant cautioned about a tough economic environment on Tuesday as the Swiss speciality chemicals maker reported first-quarter sales in line with expectations, as per Reuters.

Sales were flat at 1.72 billion Swiss francs (USD1.69 billion), matching forecasts in a company consensus of analyst forecasts. In local currencies, Clariant’s sales increased by 2 percent.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after exceptional items fell 8 percent to 236 million francs, missing expectations of 253 million francs.

“In the first three months of this year, Clariant delivered continued organic sales growth despite the challenging macroeconomic environment," Chief Executive Ernesto Occhiello said.

The Swiss speciality chemicals maker’s sales in China fell 18 percent during the quarter as automakers and plastics companies cut back on their deliveries.

Overall sales were flat at 1.72 billion Swiss francs (USD1.69 billion), matching forecasts in a company-compiled consensus. In local currencies, sales increased by 2 percent.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after exceptional items fell 8 percent to 236 million francs, missing expectations of 253 million francs.

Its shares fell 2.7 percent by 0730 GMT. ZKB analyst Philipp Gamper said he would reduce his estimates after the weak quarterly numbers.

Chief Financial Officer Patrick Jany said he expected the situation to improve this year as Beijing’s initiatives to revise the economy take effect.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil said that it has made a final investment decision to expand the Fawley refinery in the United Kingdom to increase production of ultra-low sulfur diesel by almost 45 percent, or 38,000 barrels per day, along with logistics improvements, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"ExxonMobil continues to invest in the Fawley refinery and chemical plant, Britain’s largest integrated facility," said Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Fuels and Lubricants Company. "This investment will make Fawley refinery the most efficient in the United Kingdom, supporting Esso’s industry-leading logistics and fuels marketing operations."

The investment will help reduce the need to import diesel into the United Kingdom, which imported about half of its supply in 2017.

The more than USD1 billion investment includes a hydrotreater unit to remove sulfur from fuel, supported by a hydrogen plant, which combined will also help improve the refinery’s overall energy efficiency. Ultra-low sulfur fuels lead to improved air quality when powering the latest technology engines on tractor-trailers, buses, marine vessels and off-road equipment.

Detailed engineering and design is underway. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2019, subject to regulatory approval, and startup is expected in 2021. At its peak, building activity will support up to 1,000 construction jobs.

Located on Southampton Water, the Fawley site also has strategic access to distribution logistics across southern England and export access to other markets in Europe and the Atlantic basin.

Alongside recent investments at ExxonMobil’s refineries on the US Gulf Coast, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Singapore, the project will contribute to ExxonMobil’s announced plans to significantly increase the earnings potential of its downstream production capacities.

As MRC informed previously, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The full project, part of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil’s broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant’s polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP reported first-quarter profit largely in line with expectations on Tuesday, citing tough market conditions at the start of the year, said Cnbc.

The British oil giant posted first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of USD2.4 billion, versus USD2.3 billion expected in a Reuters poll. That compared with a profit of USD2.6 billion a year earlier and USD3.5 billion in the final three months of 2018.

It marks the first significant setback in BP’s steady recovery over the past 18 months.

"It was a pretty resilient set of results actually given the environment we came into at the start of the year,” Brian Gilvary, chief financial officer at BP, told CNBC’s "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday.

Gilvary said the three-month period through to March had been particularly “tough” because of adverse weather conditions, assets being put out of action and lower oil prices in January.

"I think oil prices look pretty firm given where we are today but we are going to continue to maintain capital discipline," he added.

Shares of BP rose almost 1% during morning deals.

BP has started major upstream offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad and Egypt in 2019, with final investment decisions taken for three additional upstream projects.

The company also reported “strong progress” towards its published targets for greenhouse gas emissions following reduced operational emissions in 2018, with methane intensity “remaining on target”. In March 2019, BP established a $100m fund to reduce emissions, as well as an agreement with the Environmental Defence Fund to reduce methane emissions across its operations.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said: “BP’s performance this quarter demonstrates the strength of our strategy. With solid Upstream and Downstream delivery and strong trading results, we produced resilient earnings and cash flow through a volatile period that began with weak market conditions and included significant turnarounds. ЭMoving through the year, we will keep our focus on disciplined growth, with efficient project execution and safe and reliable operations.Э
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