SIBUR and the Silk Road Fund sign agreement to enhance cooperation

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR and the Silk Road Fund entered into an agreement to enhance cooperation. The signing ceremony was attended by Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, said the producer on its site.

The agreement was signed by Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding, and Wang Yanzhi, President at Silk Road Fund Co, Ltd.

Under the arrangement, the parties will be looking into investment opportunities to develop relations between Northeast China and Russia’s Far East, sharing information about market opportunities in Central Asia, Middle East and other regions, and coordinating efforts for potential joint investments in petrochemical projects.

"The agreement testifies to the strong investment appeal of petrochemistry as an industry that creates cutting-edge and green materials for construction, healthcare, car making, food, and other areas. Enhanced cooperation with the Silk Road Fund will help to grow economic ties between Russia and China," said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2018, SIBUR said its plans to build a gas chemical complex in Russia's Far East will require preliminary investments of up to USD8 billion and it is still looking for Asian partners. SIBUR said a year ago that it had been in talks with a number of Chinese investors about participating in the project to build the complex in Amur.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. We own and operate Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and are a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operated 27 production sites located all over Russia, had over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide and employed over 27,000 personnel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp said that its Fos-sur-Mer refinery in France is preparing to shut down units after two unions called for a strike action over pay and bonus disputes, reported Reuters.

"For safety reasons the refinery is preparing the shutdown process," the company said, adding shutdown may take a few days.

Fos-sur-Mer refinery has a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day, according to the company’s website.

As MRC wrote earlier, 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP has entered into an agreement with IEnova for a long term contract to use its gasoline and diesel reception, storage and distribution terminals in Mexico, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

These terminals are being newly developed by IEnova in the cities of Manzanillo, Colima, and Guadalajara, the capital of Mexcian state Jalisco. With this agreement, BP will be able to store more than 1 million bbl in these terminals to supply over 150 BP service stations located in the western region of the country.

In the Manzanillo terminal, BP will have 740 000 bbl of storage, which represents 50% of the terminal’s capacity. In the Guadalajara terminal, the agreement will allow up to 290 000 bbl of gasoline and diesel storage.

Last September, BP announced that it will utilise 50% of the storage capacity of IEnova’s Baja Refinados terminal in Ensenada, Baja California, which is currently under development.

This new agreement to use the Manzanillo and Guadalajara terminals will allow BP to enhance its supply options, improve logistics, and increase fuel delivery reliability, which will contribute to energy security in Mexico’s central-western region.

Subject to executing certain agreements, BP will have the option to acquire between 20% and 25% of the equity in these projects once they reach commercial operations.

As MRC informed before, in February 2018, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said that British oil and gas company BP said it would increase investment in the United States after the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump. BP invested USD90 billion in the United States over the past decade, excluding $65 billion in fines and clean up costs over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, making it the country's biggest investor in the energy sector, Dudley added.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR and Sinopec signed a number of agreements concerning the production and sale of petrochemicals, as per SIBUR's press release.

SIBUR Holding and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a sectoral cooperation agreement setting out the details of their strategic partnership in China, Russia, and other countries, which also covers joint projects. Under the deal, SIBUR and Sinopec have agreed to join forces to process natural gas into petrochemicals in Russia and China, and to engage in R&D and personnel training cooperation to facilitate sharing of knowledge and expertise.

SIBUR International GmbH (SIBUR’s export division) and Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding (Hong Kong) Company Limited have signed a distribution agreement to supply polyethylene to China from SIBUR’s ZapSibNeftekhim site.

"The agreements are a testament to the successful cooperation that has existed for years between our company and one of the global petrochemical leaders and will drive further expansion of SIBUR and Russian petrochemical products into China", said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding.

As MRC reported previously, in late May, 2019, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev cut the ribbon of the first domestic R&D centre for the development and testing of polymer products – SIBUR PolyLab located at the Skolkovo Innovation Centre.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. We own and operate Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and are a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operated 27 production sites located all over Russia, had over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide and employed over 27,000 personnel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has increased the storage capacity at its Bukom refinery in Singapore by nearly 1.3 million barrels by building two crude oil tanks, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

Shell said the project was part of its ongoing effort to improve competitiveness by investing in storage and logistics at its core refineries.

"This project positions Shell to capture stronger margins and better manage market volatility over the coming years," said Robin Mooldijk, executive vice president for manufacturing at Shell, in a statement.

"These new facilities enable us to buy more oil when market conditions are attractive," he added.

The Pulau Bukom manufacturing site is an integrated refinery and chemicals site and can process up to 500,000 barrels per day of oil.

Singapore is Shell’s largest petrochemical production and export centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company added that demand for some oil products, including diesel, jet fuel and bitumen, is expected to increase over the next two decades as population grows and more people achieve a higher standard of living.

As MRC wrote previously, in May 2018. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) announced the official start-up of the second ethylene cracker at their Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects.
MRC