DuPont acquires reverse osmosis company

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont has reached a deal to acquire reverse osmosis company Desalitech, it said on Wednesday without disclosing financial terms, said the company.

The acquisition, expected to close in January, would strengthen DuPont's portfolio with “a compelling offering” to further reduce the lifecycle cost of water purification and reuse, it said.

"As a global leader in innovative water solutions, we are committed to delivering ways to solve water challenges around the world," said Rose Lee, President, DuPont Safety & Construction. "This acquisition in the high-growth water purification space reinforces our strategic intent to provide a robust portfolio of technologies to meet our customers' current and future challenges while advancing our corporate commitment to sustainability."

As MRC informed earlier, DuPont Teijin Films has launched a new depolymerisation process which upcycles post-consumer PET waste into technically-advanced BOPET films suitable for use in various applications.

As per MRC' DataScope, import deliveries of Chinese injection moulded PET chips to the Russian market decreased in September this year by 72% compared to the same month last year - to 4,430 tonnes. The same indicator in August 2018 amounted to 15,640 tonnes. Shipments from China increased by 15% to 100,000 tonnes in the nine months of this year. The share of imports from China amounted to 90% against 86% for the same period last year. The leading Chinese suppliers to the Russian market were producers Yisheng, Wankai and Sinopec.

DuPont is a leader in water purification and separation technology including ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ion exchange resins. The FilmTec™ brand is recognized globally and known for consistent and reliable performance. Each of the acquisitions announced this year, including Desalitech, supports our strategy to drive growth and innovation through access to new manufacturing capabilities, geographies and technologies.

Desalitech's globally patented and unique process technology, using standardized design and operated using proprietary software, enhances DuPont's portfolio with a compelling offering to further reduce the lifecycle cost of water purification and reuse. Desalitech has proven the value of these systems to deliver up to 90-98 percent water recovery at more than 200 blue chip customers over the past seven years.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed a Framework Agreement with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to explore development of an Ethylene Dichloride facility in Ruwais, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani, RIL Chairman and Managing Director. The agreement was signed by Mr. Abdulaziz Alhajri, Executive Director of ADNOC’s Downstream Directorate, and Mr. Nikhil R. Meswani, RIL Executive Director.

Under the terms of the agreement, ADNOC and RIL will evaluate the potential creation of a facility that manufactures EDC adjacent to ADNOC’s integrated refining and petrochemical site in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi and strengthen the companies’ existing relationship supporting future collaboration in petrochemicals.

ADNOC would supply ethylene to the potential joint venture and provide access to world-class infrastructure at Ruwais, while RIL will deliver operational expertise and entry to the large and growing Indian vinyls market, in which it is a key participant.

EDC is a basic building-block for the manufacture of PVC, a polymer product in increasingly higher demand globally. PVC plays a critical role in the housing and agriculture sectors, and demand for PVC, particularly in the Indian vinyls market, is expected to grow significantly.

"The agreement with Reliance Industries Limited is a product of our strong relationship, spanning over two decades, and a testament to ADNOC’s continued ability to cultivate smart and mutually beneficial international partnerships. We look forward to working closely with RIL to identify opportunities to capitalize on the strengths of the Ruwais ecosystem, while delivering a compelling new commercial platform for satisfying the large Indian PVC market as well as demand for other fast-growing segments in the region," Mr. Abdulaziz Alhajri said.

"This is a significant step towards Reliance’s commitment to pursue backward integration and will pave the way for enhancing PVC capacity in India to cater to the fast growing domestic market. This co-operation ideally combines advantaged feedstock and energy from the UAE with Reliance’s execution capabilities and the growing Indian market," Mr Nikhil Meswani said.

ADNOC’s expansion and new investment in downstream will accelerate the delivery of its 2030 strategy, powered by a USD45 billion investment, and create a more flexible, resilient and diverse energy business, optimizing its performance and stretching the dollar from every barrel of oil it produces. Ruwais’ appeal as a unique feedstock engine, capable of producing the full range of essential building blocks along the petrochemical value chain will see the Ruwais Derivatives and Conversion Parks become a global destination of choice for investors and manufacturers wishing to establish a strategic presence in the UAE. Such investments have the potential to generate numerous specialized local career opportunities, while significantly boosting ADNOC’s in-country value creation.

As MRC informed earlier, A USD3.1 billion project to introduce crude processing flexibility, at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) owned Ruwais oil refinery, was announced in February, 2018.

According to MRC's DataScope report, exports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) from Russia totalled 175,600 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 22% year on year. Imports increased more significantly - by 230% year on year to 48,500 tonnes.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OPEC pointed to a small deficit in the oil market next year due to restraint by Saudi Arabia even before the latest supply pact with other producers takes effect, suggesting a tighter market than previously thought, reported Reuters.

In a monthly report, OPEC said demand for its crude will average 29.58 million barrels per day (bpd) next year. OPEC pumped less oil in November than the average 2020 requirement, having in previous months supplied more.

The report retreats further from OPEC’s initial projection of a 2020 supply glut as output from rival producers such as US shale has grown more slowly than expected. This will give a tailwind to efforts by OPEC and partners led by Russia to support the market next year.

OPEC kept its 2020 economic and oil demand growth forecasts steady and was more upbeat about the outlook.

"On the positive side, the global trade slowdown has likely bottomed out, and now the negative trend in industrial production seen in 2019 is expected to reverse in 2020," the report said.

Oil prices were steady after the report’s release, trading near USD64 a barrel, below the level some OPEC officials have said they favour.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, have since Jan. 1 implemented a deal to cut output by 1.2 million bpd to support the market.

At meetings last week, OPEC+ agreed to a further cut of 500,000 bpd from Jan. 1 2020.

The report showed OPEC production falling even before the new deal takes effect.

In November, OPEC output fell by 193,000 bpd to 29.55 million bpd, according to figures the group collects from secondary sources, as Saudi Arabia cut supply.

Saudi Arabia told OPEC it made an even bigger cut in supply of over 400,000 bpd last month. The kingdom had boosted production in October after attacks on its oil facilities in September briefly more than halved output.

The November production rate suggests there would be a 2020 deficit of 30,000 bpd if OPEC kept pumping the same amount and other factors remained equal, less than the 70,000 bpd surplus implied in November’s report and an excess of over 500,000 bpd seen in July.

OPEC and its partners have been limiting supply since 2017, helping to revive prices by clearing a glut that built up in 2014 to 2016. But higher prices have also boosted US shale and other rival supplies.

In the report, OPEC said non-OPEC supply will grow by 2.17 million bpd in 2020, unchanged from the previous forecast but 270,000 less than initially thought in July as shale has not grown as quickly as first thought.

"In 2020, non-OPEC supply is expected to see a continued slowdown in growth on the back of decreased investment and lower drilling activities in US tight oil," OPEC said, using another term for shale.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Berlin Packaging has completed the acquisition of Netherlands-based Novio Packaging Group, said Packaging-gateway.

The two companies have signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition in October. The deal strengthens Berlin’s operations by positioning it as the first company in Europe that supplies packaging for all markets and substrates.

As part of the deal, Berlin has retained all Novio employees and locations. Novio’s founders and managing directors Erik Trum and Marck Jansen will also continue in their roles. As part of the acquisition, Novio Packaging has joined Berlin Packaging’s existing European companies.

Berlin’s portfolio includes speciality glass market leader Bruni Glass, closure experts Bruni Erben and four different companies.

The combined businesses will own over 130 sales and warehouse locations across North America and Europe. It will also include a portfolio of more than 40,000 glass, plastic, as well as metal container and closure items.

Berlin Packaging board executive chairman Michael Grebe said: “As with our company, Novio Packaging’s strong performance is a testament to their creative solutions, strong supply chain and emphasis on exceptional customer service.

"By combining the strengths of both companies, this acquisition helps us meet our high growth goals and solidifies our position as the largest, most comprehensive and most customer-focused rigid packaging supplier on two continents."

The deal enables Novio Packaging’s customers to use Berlin Packaging’s speciality glass expertise, services and design studios.

As MRC informed earlier, INEOS Styrolution has partnered with post-consumer plastics recycling company Agilyx to build a polystyrene (PS) chemical recycling facility in Channahon, Illinois.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, Ineos Styrolution"s general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) imports into Russia increased in the first ten months of 2019 by 2 times year on year to 10,600 tonnes. This figure was 4,900 tonnes in January-October 2018. Ineos Styrolution is the largest GPPS supplier to Russia. European material accounted for 45% of the total GPPS shipments over the stated period versus 30% in the first ten months of 2018. However, October Styrolution"s GPPS shipments to the Russian market decreased by more than 2 times to 700 tonnes from 1,500 tonnes a month earlier, the company"s imports into the country were 700 tonnes in October 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US producers ExxonMobil Corp and Hess Corp plan to export the first-ever shipments of crude oil from Guyana between January and February, a milestone for Latin America’s newest oil producer, reported Reuters with reference to sources with knowledge of the plans.

A consortium including both companies and a unit of China’s CNOOC Ltd have so far discovered more than 6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas resources off Guyana’s coast, which could eventually produce 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) for a country that has no history of crude output.

Those finds are turning Guyana, an impoverished nation bordering longtime producers Venezuela and Brazil, into a hot property for oil investment.

Exxon’s Guyana spokeswoman last week told Reuters that "key activities" on its giant Stabroek block, including early production, were running ahead of schedule. He said that coming weeks would be critical as progress could be impacted by weather and other factors.

The US company did not provide additional details. Hess declined to comment. CNOOC and Guyana’s government were not immediately available for comment.

Liza will be the first Guyanese crude grade produced and offered to the oil market. It has 32 API degrees of density and 0.5 percent of sulfur content, according to Exxon’s assay seen by Reuters.

Exxon is planning on shipping two 1-million-barrel cargoes of Liza crude in January, to be followed by similarly sized shipments from Hess and Guyana’s government in February.

Exxon plans to process the oil at its refineries, while Hess could offer it for spot sales. CNOOC, which has not yet scheduled exports, would ship it to China, whose refiners like using similar medium sweet grades, the sources said.

Interested buyers are exploring options to co-load Liza crude with other South American crudes bound for Asia, mainly Brazilian grades. Starting in March, very large crude carriers (VLCCs) could lift up to 2 million barrels each, depending on weather conditions, the sources added.

"We are expecting Liza to be traded at USD4-USD6 over Brent crude prices during the first three months of exports. First buyers would test it, and then prices could go up a little," a trader interested in purchases said.

The Liza project is expected to produce up to 120,000 bpd of oil in 2020-2022 and reach 750,000 bpd by 2025. Exxon had initially planned first production to come in early 2020, but in November it said it could be available in December.

Exxon and its partners have made 14 large discoveries at the Stabroek block since 2015.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil's cracker at Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France, had an "unexpected stoppage" on Friday, 6 December, following a technical failure this October.

As reported before, an electric fire Saturday morning, 19 October, 2019, on the ExxonMobil facilities in Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (Seine Maritime) resulted in a plume of smoke, below the regulatory thresholds, which could remain visible for several days.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

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