Repsol plans more M&A to get bigger in fewer countries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish energy giant Repsol plans to buy and sell more assets in a drive to get stronger in a smaller number of markets, after weak energy prices prompted it to cut capital spending and core profits forecasts, reported Reuters with reference to its CEO's statement.

CEO Josu Jon Imaz said the company now expected capital spending (capex) for 2018-2020 to be EUR12.5-13.5 billion (USD13.9-15.0 billion), including EUR500 million on renewable energy assets. That is down from EUR15 billion previously.

"Our geographical scope is not the right one," Imaz said, "We have to reduce the scope of the countries where we operate, and become more active in M&A."

He said the company would reduce its presence in the countries where it is smallest, without giving details.

Though weak energy prices dragged down Repsol’s third quarter adjusted net profit, it still beat market expectations thanks to downstream businesses such as refining and marketing.

Repsol trimmed its 2019 core earnings forecast to EUR7.5 billion from EUR7.8 billion previously, and also lowered its production forecasts for 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, the company planned to produce 710,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 720,000 previously. It expects to be somewhere between 720,000 and 750,000 bpd next year.

"We will prioritize price versus production," Imaz said.

As MRC wrote previously, in the last week of September 2019, Spain’s Repsol resumed operations at its cracker in Sines, Portugal. The news was not directly confirmed by the company while it was not clear as of the time of press whether or not Repsol lifted a force majeure at the site. The company had declared the force majeure on the output from its cracker due to a technical glitch in early September. The cracker has a production capacity of 410,000 tons/year of ethylene and 215,000 tons/year of propylene. The company also owns a butadiene unit with a production capacity of 45,000 tons/year at the same site.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis AG and NOVA Chemicals Corporation has announced they have reached an agreement for Borealis to buy NOVA Chemicals’ 50% ownership interest in Novealis Holdings LLC (Novealis), as per Borealis' press release.

Formed in 2018, Novealis is the joint venture between affiliates of Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, which subsequently formed a 50/50 joint venture with an affiliate of Total S.A. to launch Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar) in Houston, Texas, US.

Closing of the acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other conditions but is not subject to any financing condition.

The parties expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, on 9 September 2019, Borealis held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant. Located at the existing Borealis production site in Kallo, Belgium, the new facility has a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes per year of propylene, making it one of the largest and most efficient plants of its kind in the world. With a total of around EUR 1 billion invested in the course of the project, the investment is the largest ever made by Borealis in Europe. It underscores the company’s commitment to its operations on the continent, and to being the supplier of choice to its European customers.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all polycarbonate (PC) grades in Europe, as per the company's press release.

Effective January 1, 2019, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below increased as follows:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR150 per metric ton.

As MRC informed earlier, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PC grades in Europe on 3 September 2019 by EUR100 per metric ton.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to\\from Belarus) fell in January-November 2019 by 14% year on year to 70,700 tonnes (62,000 tonnes a year earlier).

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.6 billion in net sales in 2018, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,500 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Belarus’ state oil company Belorusneft has suspended supplies of its own oil to Germany this month as Minsk needs to compensate for shortages of Russia-sourced oil amid a contract dispute with Moscow, four industry sources told Reuters.

Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus on Jan. 1 in relation to a dispute over supply contract terms between Moscow and Minsk. Two Russian firms, Russneft and Neftisa, restored some supplies late on Jan. 4.

Belorusneft’s decision to suspend oil flows to Germany shows the challenges Minsk is facing while trying to negotiate the new oil supply deal with Russia. Moscow and Minsk have had several oil and gas spats over the past decade.

The Belorusneft supplies are separate from Russian oil transit to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline, part of which comes via Belarus and which so far has not been affected.

Belorusneft supplies more than 100,000 tonnes per month of its crude oil to PCK Raffinerie GmbH in the north east of Germany. The refinery is majority owned by Rosneft (54.17%). Royal Dutch Shell has 37.5% in the plant, while Italian Eni owns 8.33%.

As per MRC's ScanPlast,
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s Hengyi Petrochemical Co Ltd is operating its new 160,000 barrels per day refinery in Brunei at near full capacity after trial production began in July, two company officials told Reuters.

The plant in Palau Muara Besar is one of four greenfield refineries to begin operations in Asia in 2019. The project includes a one million tonne per year (tpy) aromatics plant and a 500,000-tpy benzene unit.

"Hengyi’s Brunei project is running at almost full capacity," a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, a Hengyi executive told Reuters that exports of refined fuels from the plant, including gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have been running smoothly.

"Almost all of our LPG exports went to the Philippines due to its geographic proximity. Indonesia is the main client for our gasoline shipments and diesel moved in the region, including Australia," said the executive.

Hengyi’s aviation fuel landed in destinations like Hong Kong and even as far as the west coast of the United States, the executive said, with specifying the volumes of each product.

The company has said the plant will produce nearly a combined 6 million tonnes of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel a year.

As MRC informed earlier, in November 2019, Hengyi Petrochemical Co Ltd, a joint petrochemical venture between China and Brunei, exported its first cargo of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from its newly commissioned refinery in Brunei.

As MRC wrote previously, in September Hengyi Industries produced qualified petrochemical (PC) products at its new refinery and petrochemical complex at Pulau Muara Besar in Brunei. The project includes a 160,000 barrels/d crude oil refinery, a 1 M tonnes/y aromatics facility and a 500,000 tonnes/y benzene unit.

Paraxylene is a raw material for the synthesis of terephthalic acid (TFA) - an intermediate for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

As per MRC ScanPlast, imports of PET chips into Russia increased by 13% in eleven months of this year compared to the same time a year ago and reached 130,800 tonnes compared to 116,100 tonnes (excluding supplies from Belarus over the past two months). Russia's PET imports almost doubled to 12,300 tonnes in November against 6,300 tonnes in October; last November, material imports amounted to 8,200 tonnes. The share of Chinese material was 78% (9,600 tonnes) in November versus 92% (5,800 tonnes) a month earlier.

Hengyi Industries is a joint venture between China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the Brunei government's Strategic Development Capital Fund. They own 70% and 30% of the shares respectively.
MRC