BP appoints new finance chief as Looney prepares to take over

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP’s finance chief Brian Gilvary is to step down in June after eight years in the role and will be replaced by a close ally of Bernard Looney who takes over as chief executive next month, reported Reuters.

Gilvary has been credited with overseeing BP’s financial recovery following the 2010 deadly Gulf of Mexico oil spill which has cost the company more than USD65 billion in fines, indemnities and clean up costs.

The London-based company saw its profits recover sharply in recent years, allowing it to remove the scrip dividend last year, an austerity measure on shareholder payouts.

However, in October, Gilvary appeared to backtrack on a previous hint that the company would boost its dividend payouts, angering investors.

His departure comes earlier than anticipated and as Looney, who will replace Bob Dudley as chief executive of BP after a decade, faces the tricky task of navigating the energy major through a rising tide of environmentalism and the move to a low-carbon economy.

"Gilvary’s departure may be associated with a more significant change in the company’s strategy including its financial strategy as the running of BP moves to a new top team," stockbroker Panmure Gordon said in a note.

It is also “likely to be associated with the problematic guidance over dividend”, Panmure Gordon said.

Gilvary, an avid triathlete who joined BP in 1986, will step down from the board on June 30. He is a non-executive director at Air Liquide (AIRP.PA), the Royal Navy Board and the Francis Crick Institute.

In his current role Auchincloss worked with Looney, who until being appointed CEO was head of BP’s oil and gas production division, known as upstream. Auchincloss oversaw a broad cost-cutting drive across the division in the wake of the 2014 oil price crash.

"I have worked side-by-side with Murray for many years and have the utmost confidence in his ability to step into this critical role," Looney said in a statement.

As MRC informed previously, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies had agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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.
MRC

Gaz Sintez chooses SynCOR Methanol for plant near Saint Petersburg

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gaz Sintez has nominated Haldor Topsoe as licensor of its methanol plant in the Leningrad Region, Russia, said the producer.

The plant will produce 1.6 million tons per year of АА grade methanol based on Topsoe’s SynCOR Methanol™ technology.

Gaz Sintez is developing the methanol plant project at the port of Vysotsk in the Leningrad Region of Russia. As announced earlier, Hyundai Engineering has started the development of the FEED-package, and NIIK has been awarded the Russian general designer contract. The plant is expected to be completed in 2023.

SynCOR Methanol™ features single-stage oxygen reforming, a methanol synthesis loop and rectification. It is the most cost-efficient large-scale methanol technology in industrial operation today. Capacities can be up to 10,000 tons per day of methanol. It also offers considerable environmental advantages, leaving a smaller CO2 footprint, and lower water consumption compared to traditional licensed technologies.

As MRC informed earlier, in August 2019, Haldor Topsoe, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, and GTM ONE have signed a licence agreement for the design, construction, and operation of a 3000 tpd methanol plant based on Topsoe’s SynCOR MethanolTM technology. The plant will be erected at the Khimprom site in Volgograd, Russia.

In January 2020, Topsoe announced the official opening of the world’s only natural gas-to-gasoline complex in Turkmenistan. The complex includes the world’s largest methanol plant based on autothermal reforming (ATR), using Topsoe’s SynCOR Methanol solution, with methanol production capacity of 5225 MTPD.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, the sale of polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from a new gas chemical complex began in the export trades of the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan on 3 September, 2018. The new gas chemical complex for production of HDPE and PP with the capacity of 386,000 tonnes/year and 81,000 tonnes/year, respectively, was built by the consortium TOYO Engineering (Japan) and LG and Hyundai (South Korea). The total cost of the project was about USD3.4 billions.

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.

Based on 70 years of experience within synthesis gas, all SynCOR™ solutions offer more than 99% availability and unsurpassed economy of scale. SynCOR™ solutions are suitable for large-scale grassroots ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, CO, TIGAS™, and gas-to-liquid (GTL) plants, as well as syngas hubs producing multiple products.
MRC

Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials acquires c-m-p GmbH

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials AG (MCAM), a leading global manufacturer of high-performance materials, announced that it has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of c-m-p GmbH (c-m-p) through its German subsidiary Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials GmbH, said the company.

The transaction is expected to close in early March 2020.

With the addition of c-m-p, both companies can further strengthen their market position in the composites world, as well as developing future composite materials. The acquired entity had been a 50:50 partnership between the original founders of c-m-p GmbH and DowAksa B.V. Through this acquisition, MCAM acquires 100% of the shares of c-m-p.

"Within Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials (MCAM), the acquisition enhances our ability to produce prepreg solutions for customers in Europe, a further step in our mission of metal to plastic conversion which began more than 80 years ago," says Michael Koch, CEO Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials. "MCAM, a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), identified c-m-p GmbH (c-m-p) as a leader in its areas of expertise and plans to preserve and enlarge c-m-p's unique market identity. Strategic corporate development activities, such as the c-m-p acquisition, contribute to MCAM's ability to grow rapidly and consistently while maintaining quality and innovation."

Following the acquisition, c-m-p can benefit from Mitsubishi Chemical's world-wide network of industry partners, customer relationships and technology developments, while bringing new technologies, specialized skills and market expertise into the group. Through the Mitsubishi Chemical network, new materials and applications will be further developed for the aviation industry, as well as automotive, sports equipment and utility services. With the acquisition of c-m-p, Mitsubishi Chemical will become capable of producing prepreg materials (resin-coated carbon fabric) in Europe, in addition to Mitsubishi Chemical's capabilities in Asia and USA.

As MRC informed earlier, Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp plans to restart ethylene cracker in Mizushima, Japan on 24 January.

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.

Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials is a leading global manufacturer of high-performance materials in the form of semi-finished products and finished parts. The company has locations in 20 countries and more than 2'800 employees. Its specialty engineering thermoplastics and composites are superior in performance to metals and other materials and are used in a wide range of applications, primarily in the capital goods industry.
MRC

Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi to restart naphtha cracker in Mizushima

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene, a joint venture of Asahi Kasei Corp and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp, said it will restart operation at its naphtha cracker in Mizushima, Okayama prefecture on 24 January, after completing planned repair of the unit’s troubled refrigeration system, reported Kemicalinfo.

The naphtha cracker automatically shut down on 14 January after it detected a malfunction in the refrigeration system. Inspection remains underway and the venture plans to complete repairs by 24 January.

The unit’s closure has also forced some derivatives units to halt operations at the Mizushima plant. The venture is planning to gradually restart those closed derivatives units after restarting the naphtha cracker.

Japanese petrochemical firms Asahi Kasei and Mitsubishi Chemical launched the joint venture in April 2016 to operate the naphtha cracker, after integrating their operations in Mizushima.

The naphtha cracker has a production capacity of 567,000 tonnes a year without any turnaround and 496,000 tonnes with turnaround, the firm said.The venture continues to assess the impact from the closure of the naphtha cracker, while maintaining regular shipments.

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.
MRC

PKN Orlen to increase monthly oil purchases from Saudi Aramco

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polish oil refiner PKN Orlen, said it would increase monthly crude oil purchases from Saudi Aramco to 400,000 from 300,000 tons as part of its efforts to diversify supply, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Poland’s biggest oil refiner, which buys most of its oil from Russia via pipeline, has been receiving oil from Saudi Aramco since 2016.

"This is another step on the way to secure work of our installations within the group and to increase Poland’s energy security," PKN Orlen Chief Executive Daniel Obajtek said in a statement.

The company said that the Arabian Light crude will be refined in its facilities in Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic.

Seaborne oil supplies from sources other than Russia helped PKN Orlen and its smaller rival Lotos keep their refineries operating in April and May when deliveries of Russian oil via the Druzbha pipeline were suspended due to contamination.

PKN said that since the start of 2018 it has concluded spot purchases of crude oil from Angola, Nigeria, Norway and the United States.

As MRC informed earlier, in H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN ORLEN facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

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

PKN ORLEN would be the first refining and petrochemicals company in Europe to use the Honeywell UOP MaxEne technology for molecule management of a naphtha stream to produce high-quality products including olefins, aromatics and gasoline.
MRC