Emerson acquires Spence and Nicholson steam technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Emerson, a global engineering and technology company, announced it has acquired the Spence and Nicholson product lines from Circor International, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The acquisition complements Emerson’s broad portfolio of steam system solutions for process industries and commercial buildings.

The Spence and Nicholson lines are established industry-leading products that include steam regulators, control valves, safety relief valves, temperature regulators, steam traps and other steam accessories and solutions.

“This addition to our Final Control business demonstrates the continued value of bolt-on acquisitions that fill strategic gaps in our portfolio and diversify our product offerings in growth markets,” said Lal Karsanbhai, executive president of Emerson’s Automation Solutions business. “By adding Circor’s premium steam technologies and profitable product lines, we will strengthen our position to help customers optimize their operations and enhance energy efficiencies.”

“Spence and Nicholson’s capabilities will play an important role in bolstering our process offerings and expanding our opportunities with customers,” said Ram Krishnan, group president of Emerson’s Final Control business. “Enhancing these capabilities will strengthen our ability to serve customers, including automation customers, as well as hospitals, universities, commercial operations and the transportation industry, with a diverse portfolio of product offerings in the growing steam segment.”

The acquisition closed on August 30, 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Curacao’s state-run refining company Refineria di Korsou (RdK) said it has opened exclusive negotiations with industrial commodities conglomerate Klesch Group to operate the 335,000-barrel-per-day Isla refinery, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

RdK has been searching for a business to replace Venezuela’s Petroleos de Venezuela as operator of Isla. PDVSA’s contract will expire at year-end. A lack of crude shipments has left the facility largely idle.

“RdK selected ... the Klesch Group to exclusively negotiate a new agreement for the Oil Facilities,” the company said in a statement. “The negotiations are set to take place during the next 3 months with the intention to reach final definitive agreements no later than November 2019.”

The Klesch Group has offices in London and Geneva. It owns and operates the Heide refinery in Germany.

The announcement appears to bury PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo’s last-ditch effort to keep PDVSA on as operator in a July visit to the facility.

Isla began a search for a replacement to PDVSA after a dispute last year between the Venezuelan firm and U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips left the plant idled amid attempted asset seizures.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global oil demand is expected to grow by less than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019 as consumption slows, BP Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary told Reuters.

Mounting trade tensions between the United States and China and increased signs of a global economic slowdown are also set to weigh on oil refining margins, which BP expects will soften in the fourth quarter of the year, Gilvary said.

Oil demand expanded by 1.3 million bpd in 2018 to nearly 100 million bpd, the International Energy Agency says.

"The macro level is creating huge uncertainty and there is no question that is flowing through to demand," Gilvary said in an interview on the sidelines of the Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Global oil inventories have again risen above their recent average, softening the impact of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Gilvary added.

"There is a lot of dynamic going on around demand, generally, which started off fairly robust at the start of the year, softened through the mid point. We were seeing a little bit of a pick-up around our results ... but that seems to have softened off again," Gilvary said.

A change in marine fuel standards starting in 2020 has yet to affect refining margins, he added.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s Unipec is reselling some of the crude oil it imports from the United States to buyers in India and South Korea to avoid tariffs Beijing imposed in its trade war with the US, reported Reuters with reference to sources.

Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s top refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec (600028.SS), is China’s main buyer of US crude, but its imports have been disrupted after Beijing placed a 5% tariff on US crude imports from Sept. 1.

The sales to South Korea and India are an “unusual move” for Unipec and directly triggered by the tariffs, the sources said.

More Asian refiners are buying US crude because of tighter supply caused by US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

Sinopec declined to comment.

To mitigate losses from the tariffs, the company has also sought waivers from Beijing for its U. crude oil imports in September and October, Reuters reported last month.

Unipec, which usually imports 6 million barrels of US crude such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude to China per month, is reducing imports to around 2 million barrels on average each month for September and October when the tariffs start, one of the sources said.

It initially planned to store more of the oil in bonded tanks, but then moved to re-sell the oil to other US oil buyers in Asia, namely India and South Korea, the person said. It was not immediately clear what led to the change.

“Unipec offered US cargoes that they’ve already purchased to South Korean refiners after the US new tariffs kicked in,” another one of the sources said.

The very large crude carrier (VLCC) Dorra was chartered by Unipec and loaded US crude last August and is now heading to the South Korean port of Yeosu, according to ship tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon. The VLCC is expected to discharge in mid-October.

Another VLCC carrying US crude, the Kirkuk, changed its destination from China’s Shandong port to India’s Sikka on Aug. 31, one day before tariffs kicked in, according to Refinitiv shipping data.

A shipping source said the Kirkuk is carrying WTI Midland crude for Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) and is expected to arrive at Sikka by the end of September or early October.

The seller of the cargo is not immediately known.

Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp’s (BPCL.NS) head of refineries R. Ramachandran told Reuters that a Chinese trader has offered a cargo of US oil to the refiner after Beijing’s latest tariff hike. But he declined to identify the seller.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR and Russian Export Centre (REC) agreed to promote non-commodity exports, as per the company's press release.

At the Eastern Economic Forum, Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding, and Andrey Slepnev, General Director of the REC, signed a cooperation agreement on providing loans and insurance to support the Company’s major export-related projects. The support will involve interest rate and export transportation subsidies, as well as loans and insurance.

In particular, this will include the export support of the thermoplastic elastomers (SBS polymers) production facility currently under construction with a capacity of 50 ktpa for road construction, roofing and other purposes, plus the future maleic anhydride facility with a capacity of 45 ktpa for healthcare, fuel, packaging, and other industries.

Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding: "SIBUR is a major contributor to the promotion of Russian non-commodity and non-energy exports. We sell our products to 80 countries for consumer goods, automotive, construction, energy, and chemical applications. Thanks to the Russian Export Centre, Russia's future petrochemicals will receive a much-needed boost for entering the global market."

Maleic anhydride is a feedstock for the production of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, films and synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, detergents, plasticizers, maleic, succinic, fumaric and malic acids and a number of chemicals for agriculture.

Plasticizers are substances introduced into a polymeric material to give it elasticity and plasticity during processing and operation. In particular, plasticizers are used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The share of plasticizers used for the production of PVC products is about 80%.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, demand in the Russian unmixed PVC market increased only in the emulsion segment in January-July 2019, the market of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) decreased by 7%. The growth in demand for the suspension showed only producers of plastic compounds and plasticized films. Scheduled maintenance works of two Russian producers at once did not result in a significant shortage of SPVC in the market. The growth in imports helped to avoid shortages.

SIBUR is the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia. The Group sells its petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: Olefins & Polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP films, etc.) Plastics, Elastomers & Intermediates (synthetic rubbers, EPS, PET, etc.). SIBUR’s petrochemicals business utilises mainly own feedstock, which is produced by the Midstream segment using by-products purchased from oil and gas companies. More than 26,000 employees working in SIBUR contribute to the success of customers engaged in the chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction, energy and other industries in 80 countries worldwide. In 2018, SIBUR reported revenue of USD 9.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of USD 3.3 billion.
MRC