Sinopec sets up fuel oil unit in Sri Lanka

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec Corp, said it has set up a fuel oil company in Sri Lanka as it looks to supply fuel to ships along a major maritime route, reported Reuters.

The new unit, called Fuel Oil Sri Lanka Co Ltd, has been registered in Hambantota on the southern tip of the country, according to a report on the website of Sinopec Group, parent of Sinopec Corp.

Fuel oil is a refined product mostly used as bunker fuel for ships and is also burned in power stations.

The move marks the latest investment in Sri Lanka by China, which sees the South Asian island nation as a pivotal part of its Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure plan.

Sinopec stressed the strategic location of Hambantota port on the Indian Ocean along a key shipping route between the Suez Canal and the Malacca Strait, which is transited by two-thirds of global oil shipments. The market to supply fuel to ships had "huge" potential, it said.

In March, India’s Accord Group and Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas signed a USD3.85 billion deal to build a 200,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery near Hambantota port, in the biggest single pledge of foreign direct investment ever made in Sri Lanka.

China Merchants Port Holdings, China Harbour Engineering Corp and other Chinese companies are investors in the port and industrial zone.

Sinopec has set a company-wide target of 10 million tonnes of production capacity by 2020 to supply low-sulfur bunker fuels that meet the cleaner emission standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

As MRC wrote previously, in Septermber 2018, Sinopec Corp joined a group planning to build an oil refinery in Alberta, an enterprise that would strengthen demand for the Canadian province's heavily discounted crude. Thus, Sinopec along with an Alberta indigenous group, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Alberta management company Teedrum, plan to build a refinery to process 167,000 barrels per day of crude into gasoline and other products.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrofac has inaugurated its construction skills training centre in Hassi Messaoud, Southern Algeria, following the completion of a programme to upgrade the centre’s facilities, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The centre will provide training for the next generation of Algeria’s oil and gas industry workforce, with a capacity to train up to 400 Algerian delegates annually. The centre was designed, built and will be operated by Petrofac, as part of the company’s commitment to the development of local skills. Petrofac has been active in Algeria since 1997, with more than 85% of its in-country workforce sourced locally.

The training centre’s facilities include modern, well equipped, air-conditioned classrooms and large open workshops with state-of-the art equipment. The curriculum covers five specialist trade areas – Instrumentation, Electrical, Mechanical, Pipework and Welding – all with a strong emphasis on health and safety. An applied training methodology will provide students with the theoretical knowledge and essential practical skills they need to work in their chosen professional discipline upon graduation.

The inauguration ceremony, which included a guided tour of the facilities, was attended by local government and authority representatives, along with officials from the oil and gas industry.

Graham Mac Millan, Senior Vice President – North Africa, said: “We are delighted to mark the relaunch and modernisation of this important facility which will deliver best-in-class technical training for the young people of Algeria. The first group of 45 trainees are now developing vital construction skills at the centre. Training enables Petrofac to transfer the company’s deep knowledge and experience in key trades to the local supply chain, which consequently improves the safety and quality of our own projects and of those throughout Algeria. Petrofac is an active and engaged company, and we are keen to participate in future developments in Algeria and maintain our longstanding presence in-country."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) met with Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, during a visit to Moscow, as ADNOC explores opportunities to expand its strategic partnership and investment base across its entire value chain, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

During the meeting, Dr Al Jaber conveyed the greetings of the UAE leadership to the government and people of Russia and reaffirmed the deep-rooted ties between both countries, stressing the keenness of the UAE to strengthen bilateral relations. Bilateral trade between Russia and the UAE topped 11 billion AED last year, a 21% increase on the previous year. Relations were further strengthened last year when Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces met President Putin and both leaders signed a declaration of strategic partnership covering political, security and economic spheres.

In this meeting, Dr Al Jaber noted his appreciation for Russia’s role in the OPEC/ Non OPEC Cooperation Agreement, which continues to have a positive impact on balancing oil markets. Dr Al Jaber elaborated on ADNOC’s ongoing transformation, centred on maximising value, and expanding the company’s strategic partnership base to stay ahead of the world’s growing demand for energy.

Dr Al Jaber said: “This visit reflects the strong and friendly ties between the UAE and Russia. As our countries continue to build on strong trade relations, there is significant potential for collaboration in the energy sector. ADNOC is open to exploring partnership and co-investment opportunities with Russian energy companies across the full value chain where they make economic sense and drive significant returns for both sides.

"As we respond to the evolving energy landscape, driven by growing demand particularly in Asia, ADNOC is forging ties with new partners from around the world, who share our creative vision and are prepared to put skin in the game through capital, technology and market access."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has announced the final results of its "modified Dutch Auction" tender offer, which expired one minute after 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on July 8, 2019, as per the company's press release.

Based on the final count by Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary for the tender offer (the "Depositary"), a total of 35,144,596 shares of LyondellBasell's ordinary shares, EUR0.04 par value per share, were properly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or below the purchase price of USD88.00 per share.

LyondellBasell has accepted for purchase 35,144,596 shares at a price of $88.00 per share, for an aggregate cost of approximately USD3.09 billion, excluding fees and expenses relating to the tender offer. These shares represent approximately 9.5 percent of the shares outstanding as of July 8, 2019.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as dealer managers for the tender offer.

As MRC reported previously, in August 2016, LyondellBasell made the final investment decision to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the US Gulf Coast. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons) and will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology. The start-up of the new plant is scheduled for 2019.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott announced the recent "successful" start-up of the "world's largest" catalytic dehydrogenation unit at Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co.'s site in Liaoning Province, China, as per Apic-online.

The single-train dehydrogenation plant, which utilizes McDermott's Lummus Catofin technology and Clariant's Catofin catalyst, has the capability to process 500,000 t/y of propane and 800,000 t/y of isobutene for the production of propylene and isobutylene.

McDermott also supplied the process design package, training and technical support for the facility.

PCN earlier reported that the project was part of a new 20-million-t/y integrated refining and petrochemical complex at Hengli's site that includes a 450,000-t/y polypropylene plant and a 4.5-million-t/y aromatics facility. Completion is expected this year.

"Lummus Catofin technology continues to be the dehydrogenation technology of choice, continually exceeding customer expectations for overall performance," noted Leon de Bruyn, senior vice president of McDermott's Lummus Technology business.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line. Hengli’s first three PTA lines, the first of which began operation in 2012, also utilize INVISTA’s technology and have a combined capacity of 6.6 million metric tonnes per year. The fourth line will have a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per year and will be installed at Changxing Island, Liaoning Province of China.
MRC