Squeezed by sanctions, Venezuela sells oil to tiny Turkish firm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With US sanctions blocking Venezuela from selling oil to the United States, state-owned energy firm PDVSA has turned to several little-known buyers that include a tiny Turkish company with no refineries but ties to President Nicolas Maduro’s government, reported Reuters with reference to internal documents and a PDVSA source.

Until recently, some of the world’s largest petroleum and refining firms, including US companies Chevron and Valero Energy, lined up to take Venezuelan oil cargoes and PDVSA had a rigorous vetting process to ensure potential buyers had the capacity to pay.

But US sanctions imposed in January in an effort to oust Maduro have driven away many of those customers. PDVSA’s exports have slumped by more than a fifth since sanctions were imposed, according to company records and Refinitiv Eikon data. Its biggest buyers today are Chinese and Indian companies.

Three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that directors at a March 14 meeting of PDVSA’s board temporarily waived some requirements for new customers or suppliers, including that of having at least two years’ experience in the oil industry.

Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela’s oil ministry responded to requests for comment for this story.

In the wake of the changes, a Turkish company called Grupo Iveex Insaat started buying Venezuelan oil in April, according to documents related to PDVSA loading plans and internal reports on exports and imports for the first half of the year reviewed by Reuters.

Istanbul Chamber of Commerce records show that Iveex Insaat was formed less than a year ago with capital of just 10,000 lira (USD1,775) and listed “residential construction” as its main activity.

It was one of only five firms that loaded tankers to take Venezuela’s upgraded crude - among its most valuable oil - from April through June, the documents showed. Iveex loaded four cargoes of Venezuelan crude and products in April - equivalent to just under 8 percent of Venezuela’s oil exports - and nothing in May or June, according to PDVSA documents.

Turkish corporate records show Iveex Insaat is owned by Miguel Silva, a Venezuelan businessman who heads the Caracas-based Venezuelan Exporters’ Chamber and also served as a housing ministry commissioner in Maduro’s administration.

Reuters was unable to determine the terms under which Iveex Insaat is receiving Venezuelan oil and was unable to confirm who would ultimately buy and refine the crude, as the company has no refineries.

Neither Iveex Insaat nor Silva responded to requests for comment.

The PDVSA source, a shipping broker and a maritime inspector - all of whom declined to be named - told Reuters that Iveex had agreed to deliver refined products to Venezuela in exchange for receiving crude. With its refinery network crippled by maintenance issues, the OPEC nation has struggled with severe fuel shortages in recent months.

The two other companies that only began chartering tankers to take PDVSA’s oil after sanctions hit are Panama-registered Melaj Offshore Corp and Sahara Energy, a unit of Nigeria-based Sahara Group. The two loaded PDVSA oil cargoes shortly after the sanctions were announced, internal company documents show.

Sahara Energy did not respond to emails and calls to request comment. Reuters was unable to find contact details for Melaj.
MRC

Tekni-Plex purchases South American closure liner manufacturer Geraldiscos

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A subsidiary of U.S.-based packaging and tubing supplier Tekni-Plex Inc. has purchased Brazilian closure liner manufacturer Geraldiscos, which will become part of Tekni-Plex’s Tri-Seal business, said Canplastics.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Santana de Parnaiba, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Geraldiscos manufactures closure liners and induction seals for a wide variety of container types – including PP, PE, HDPE, PVC, and PET – to the South American food, chemical, automotive, and healthcare marketplace.

“[The acquisition of] Geraldiscos allows us to expand our geographic footprint into South America to support the large Brazilian closure market and our multinational customers,” Paul Young, president and CEO of Tekni-Plex, said in a statement. “We have followed the company for a long period of time, and have always been interested in its high-quality innovative products, excellent manufacturing capabilities, as well as a very strong management team.”

Geraldiscos has approximately 140 workers, and Tekni-Plex plans on keeping them all. Additionally, Geraldiscos’s general manager Gabriel Sahyao Leal Dos Santos will continue to oversee the operation.

Geraldiscos is the thirteen acquisition Tekni-Plex has made in the past five years, supporting its strategy to grow its business though transformative acquisitions and strategic add-ons. Most recently, Tekni-Plex purchased Italian healthcare packaging company Lameplast SpA in early July.

Headquartered in Wayne, Pa., Tekni-Plex supplies products for such end markets as medical, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, personal care, household, and industrial.

MRC

Biesterfeld granted distribution rights for fluoroelastomers from Solvay

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Biesterfeld is expanding its partnership with Solvay Speciality Polymer and, as of August 2019, is taking on the distribution of fluoroelastomers in Europe, Russia, and Brazil, said Britishplastics.

This will include the new FKM polymers from the Tecnoflon brand, which are characterised by excellent chemical resistance to a large number of different media such as fuels, lubricants, oils, and solvents

Due to its specific properties, Tecnoflon FKM is commonly used in seals and hoses and is displayed predominantly in the automotive industry.

Jorn Thomsen, Product Manager for Specialty Polymers at Biesterfeld Performance Rubber, said: “With the new distribution rights, we are expanding our range of high-performance polymers and are adding to our specialist product portfolio."

“With Tecnoflon FKM, we are pleased to be able to offer our customers technically refined, high-quality products from market leader Solvay. Existing and new customers will benefit from our service and our efficient supply chain solutions.”

Giovanni Biressi, Tecnoflon FKM and FFKM Global Product Manager for Solvay Specialty Polymers, said: “The new agreement has now enabled us to expand our many years of successful cooperation with Biesterfeld to the area of rubber products.”

“Thanks to Biesterfeld, we have at our side an experienced and established partner with the expertise to place our products on the market in the best possible way. We are pleased that we can now join forces to drive forward the success of Tecnolon FKM.”

MRC

Total and IFPEN to accelerate carbon reduction R&D

MOSCOW (MRC) -- IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) and Total announced they signed a strategic R&D partnership that includes an agreement to endow a chair at the IFP School, on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and technologies to curb CO2 emissions, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The roughly EUR40 million partnership covers a period of five years.

The agreement has two parts: a strategic R&D partnership on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) aims to reduce the cost of infrastructure and improve the CCUS chain’s energy efficiency to secure its large-scale deployment. The partnership steps up the long-standing collaboration between Total and IFPEN by marshaling additional resources. The research will focus on fields related to new materials, process scale-up, underground carbon storage in deep saline aquifers, technical and economic feasibility studies and the quantification of environmental benefits for the entire CCUS chain.

The Carbon Management and Negative CO2 Emissions Technologies to Net-Zero Carbon Future Chair will help train a new generation of international researchers and experts who will develop technologies to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. Overseen by a scientific committee comprised of world-renowned, independent experts, the chair will bring together seven doctoral and five post-doctoral researchers for five years.

"We are delighted to accelerate the R&D partnership between Total and IFPEN. We want to pool our innovation capabilities to reduce the cost of CCUS technologies and improve their efficiency - both of which are necessary for large-scale deployment. Total wants to help make the planet carbon neutral and boost the competitiveness of an industrial-scale CCUS sector," Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total said.

Didier Houssin, Chairman and CEO of IFPEN, commented: "IFPEN has been actively researching carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies for nearly 20 years. Our strengthened partnership with Total will allow us to combine our teams’ skills and know-how with Total’s and thus to accelerate the deployment of CCUS technologies, which are a key solution for drastically cutting CO2 emissions."

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Sustainable Development Scenario, which corresponds to a less than 2°C rise in the global average temperature, it will be necessary to capture and store 6 billion tons of carbon by 2050. This will require developing viable, cost-competitive CCUS technologies.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Total inaugurated the new units at its Antwerp integrated refining & petrochemicals platform, which had progressively started up in the previous few months.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

PVC exports from Russia rose by 42% in H1 2019, imports up by 10%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) from Russia totalled 97,300 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 42% year on year. Imports also increased by 10% year on year to 13,100 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.


Russian producers have kept fairly high exports of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), even amid the upcoming scheduled shutdowns for maintenance at two major production capacities. Last month's exports of Russian suspension (excluding shipments to the countries of the Customs Union ) were 15,700 tonnes, compared to 12,800 tonnes in May. Thus, overall exports of resin from Russia totalled 97,300 tonnes in the first six months of 2019, compared to 68,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Indian buyers were the main foreign importers of Russian resin this year. Overall sales of resin were 55,200 tonnes over the stated period.


Sufficient supply of PVC from domestic producers, even given high exports and weak demand from converters, led to lower imports in the first three months of the year. But purchases in foreign markets have begun to grow gradually since April.

June SPVC imports were 5,200 tonnes, compared to 2,800 tonnes a month earlier. And if in January-May, Chinese polymer accounted for the bulk of shipments, then in June, Russian companies resumed deliveries from the United States.

Overall imports totalled slightly over 13,100 tonnes over the stated period versus 11,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC