Total enters USD8.8B deal with Occidental for Anadarkos Africa assets

MOSCW (MRC) -- French energy major Total said it had reached a binding agreement with Occidental to acquire Anadarko assets in Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa for a consideration of USD8.8 billion, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The firm said the transaction was contingent upon Occidental entering into and completing its proposed acquisition of Anadarko and approval of relevant authorities. The deal is expected to close in 2020.

Total said the assets represented around 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of 2P reserves, of which 70 percent is gas, plus 2 billion boe of long term natural gas resources in Mozambique.

It added that despite the capital investment in Mozambique LNG, the acquisition is expected to be free cashflow positive from 2020 even at a Brent price of less than USD50 per barrel and to generate more than USD1 billion a year of free cashflow from 2025 onwards after start-up of Mozambique LNG.

The firm confirmed its previously announced shareholder return policy from 2018 to 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producers maintained high capacity utilisation at their PVC production capacities in the first four months of the year. Overal PVC output totalled 343,400 tonnes in January-April 2019, up by 7% year on year, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

April total production of unmixed PVC was 83,200 tonnes, compared to 90,700 tonnes a month earlier, Bashkir Soda Company and RusVinyl reduced their capacity utilisation. Thus, overall PVC production reached 343,400 tonnes in the first four months of 2019, compared to 322,200 tonnes a year earlier. All plants raised their output, except for Kaustik Volgograd.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl (JV of SIBUR and SolVin) produced 26,700 tonnes of PVC in April, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,500 tonnes, compared to 31,200 tonnes a month earlier. RusVinyl's overall PVC production reached 116,100 tonnes in January-April 2019, up by 10% year on year.

SayanskKhimPlast produced 27,200 tonnes of suspension PVC (SPVC) last month, whereas this figure was 28,000 tonnes in March. The Sayansk plant managed to produce over 108,000 tonnes of PVC in the first four months of 2019, compared to 96,200 tonnes a year earlier.

Baskhir Soda Company produced 22,200 tonnes of SPVC in April versus 24,500 tonnes a month earlier. Baskhir Soda Company's overall SPVC production reached 91,100 tonnes in January-April 2019, compared to 89,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Kaustik (Volgograd) produced 6,900 tonnes of SPVC last month, whereas this figure was 7,100 tonnes in March. Kaustik's overall production of resin reached 28,200 tonnes in the first four months of 2019 versus 31,400 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Curacao’s state-owned Isla oil refinery, which is operated by Venezuelan state-run company PDVSA, has received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on PDVSA, the Caribbean island’s government said in a statement, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on PDVSA in late January in a bid to force out socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has overseen a collapse in the OPEC member nation’s economy.

The license for the refinery, along with two other related companies, will allow the facility to continue to do business with U.S. companies through Jan. 15, 2020.

The exemption comes as Curacao’s government seeks a new partner to replace PDVSA as the operator of the 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery, possibly before PDVSA’s contract to run the facility expires at the end of 2019.

Isla has been mostly idled due to a lack of crude supplied by PDVSA, but some of its units restarted last month in an attempt to resume a portion of its crude processing capacity and produce finished fuel for the island.

“This exoneration is an important step toward keeping the refinery operative, and also to attract new partners for the refinery’s future,” the government’s statement said.

A neighboring Caribbean refinery operated by PDVSA’s U.S. unit Citgo Petroleum in Aruba has also remained idled since a project to refurbish it has not been able to move forward amid sanctions blocking funds for the revamp.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Naftan oil refinery in Belarus has begun making claims against Russian suppliers because of a fall in quality oil supplies last month, Belarus’ Belta news agency cited an official at the refinery as saying, reported Reuters.

Flows through Russia’s Druzhba pipeline which runs through Belarus were suspended in late April after contaminated crude entered the system, sending shockwaves through global oil markets.

As MRC wrote previously, last week, the Russian energy ministry said that clean Russian crude oil meeting all quality requirements had arrived at the Mozyr refinery in Belarus, after contaminated crude led it to halt flows in the pipeline in early May.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC)--Solvay's net profit rose in the first quarter of this year amid higher product prices across all of its business segments, said the producer.

Shareholders voted in favor of all the resolutions proposed. More specifically, they approved the payment of a gross dividend of EUR3.75 per share for the year 2018. After deduction of the interim dividend of EUR1.44 gross per share, paid in January 2019, the balance amounts to EUR2.31 gross per share, payable as of May 23, 2019.

During the General Shareholders Meeting, shareholders also approved the re-election of Mrs. Marjan Oudeman as independent director and Mr. Charles Casimir-Lambert as director of the Board, both for a four-year term. The shareholders also confirmed the mandate of Mrs. Ilham Kadri as director. Mr. Yves-Thibault de Silguy has reached the statutory age limit and therefore did not seek re-appointment. The number of directors therefore falls from 16 to 15.

The Board has unanimously decided to appoint Mrs. Amparo Moraleda to chair the Nominations Committee, succeeding to Mr. Yves-Thibault de Silguy.

Solvay is an advanced materials and specialty chemicals company, committed to developing chemistry that addresses key societal challenges. Solvay innovates and partners with customers worldwide in many diverse end-markets. Its products are used in planes, cars, batteries, smart and medical devices, as well as in mineral and oil and gas extraction, enhancing efficiency and sustainability. Its lightweighting materials promote cleaner mobility, its formulations optimize the use of resources, and its performance chemicals improve air and water quality.
MRC