BP downstream chief Erginbilgic to leave company

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP downstream CEO Tufan Erginbilgic is to leave the company, the UK oil and gas major said Friday, in an early change at the top after new CEO Bernard Looney took up his post last week, reported S&P Global.

BP did not name a replacement, saying in a statement that Erginbilgic had "decided to leave the company" at the end of March 2020 and that a successor would be announced separately.

Looney praised the outgoing executive's record and BP said Erginbilgic had delivered over USD5 billion in underlying annual earnings growth since taking up the role in 2014.

"Under Tufan's leadership, BP's downstream has been at the heart of our return to growth; what he has achieved in this time is extraordinary," Looney said. "He has transformed the business, leading a team that has delivered impressive results time and again. I have always appreciated his strategic thinking, expertise and understanding of the business and will miss having him on the team."

Erginbilgic, who has been with BP since 1997, said he was "very proud of what we have achieved together in the downstream. We have gone through an incredible transformation, delivered against our clear strategy and built a strong platform for continued growth."

BP reported sharply weaker adjusted earnings in its downstream segment in the fourth quarter, and noted ongoing tough conditions in the current quarter.

Looney is due to set out some of his goals at an event with journalists on February 12.

As MRC reported before, 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 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 polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has signed landmark petroleum legislation into law to help open up a new frontier market, reported Reuters with reference to the oil ministry's statement.

The upper house of Somalia’s parliament in January approved the petroleum law aimed at providing a regulatory framework that will help attract investment in exploration by major oil companies.

"The Petroleum Law demonstrates the capacity of the Somalian people to unite in an historic effort to work together to build an equitable, prosperous and peaceful nation," Farmajo said in a statement.

The new law establishes revenue-sharing between the central government and states as well as a legal framework for an industry the country hopes will bring jobs and investment after decades of conflict.

Plagued by civil strife, Somalia currently does not produce any oil but production could transform the economy as seismic data has shown there could be significant oil reserves offshore.

The government hopes the petroleum law will entice big oil companies like ExxonMobil and Shell to return to the country where they held legacy blocks from the 1990s.

Last October, the two companies paid USD1.7 million owed to Somalia for leasing these offshore blocks, although operations there remain suspended.

"The opportunities for the international exploration and development majors are enormous, with Somalia having the potential to become one of the most significant hydrocarbon plays in offshore East Africa," Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said in the statement.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow plans to install a new furnace in its steam cracker at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, increasing its ethylene capacity, currently 1.42 million metric tons/year (MMt/y), by 130,000 metric tons/year, as per Chemweek.

Dow will split the cost of the project and the incremental volume equally with an unnamed regional customer, according to CEO Jim Fitterling, who announced the news this morning during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Start-up is slated for the first half of 2021.

"This expansion leverages our unique cost-advantaged feedstock position in western Canada," Fitterling said. "The additional ethylene will be consumed by existing polyethylene assets in the region, making the investment immediately accretive once it comes online."

Fitterling also said Dow will soon begin commissioning two new furnaces at its Texas-9 steam cracker at Freeport, Texas, with start-up planned for the middle of the second quarter. The facility's ethylene capacity, currently 1.5 MMt/y, will increase to 2 MMt/y, the largest in the world.

There are three polyethylene producers in western Canada. Dow has three linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) lines totaling 705,000 metric tons/year of capacity at Fort Saskatchewan, and at Red Deer, Alberta, the company has a 75,000 metric tons/year LLDPE line and two high-density (HDPE) lines totaling 755,000 metric tons/year.

Nova Chemicals has four LLDPE lines totaling 1.482 MMt/y of capacity and a 50,000 metric tons/year HDPE line at Joffre, Alberta. Nova also operates two ethylene plants at Joffre, one with 810,000 metric tons/year of capacity, and another, co-owned equally with Dow, totaling 635,000 metric tons/year.

Celanese EVA Polymers has three low-density (LDPE) plants totaling 168,000 metric tons/year at Edmonton, Alberta, as well as a 105,000 metric tons/year ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) plant.

As MRC informed before, on 9 September 2019, Dow Chemical began major maintenance on the LHC 1 cracker at Terneuzen, Netherlands. More than 1,500 extra employees from various external companies carried out maintenance work in the subsequent period.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The HOERBIGER Group has acquired the majority stake of the Austrian oil and gas solutions provider RAGSOL GmbH, previously belonging to RAG Austria AG. RAGSOL provides comprehensive solutions and unique products for mature oil and gas fields with the goal of producing oil and gas more efficiently, at lower cost, and environmentally friendly, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

RAGSOL gives customers in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry access to more than 80 years of experience in operating and optimizing mature wells, combined with new state-of-the-art technology. This acquisition is a perfect fit for HOERBIGER’s Compression Technology Strategic Business Unit, complementing the present offerings in its Service Division.

"The unique products and smart brownfield approach of RASGSOL let the customers increase the efficiency of mature oil fields, reducing operating costs by up to 40 percent and extending the life of the fields. The RAGSOL solutions help our customers to manage their valuable natural resources in a responsible and eco-friendly way” says Wolfgang Sautter, Head of Division Service, HOERBIGER Compression Technology. "At HOERBIGER, we are looking forward to bringing this exciting new offering to a bigger, worldwide market with our global footprint" he continues.

“At RAGSOL we are very excited to get the great opportunity to line up with an innovative and highly experienced company like HOERBIGER. Based on our solutions, combined with the excellent network and know-how of HOERBIGER, I am convinced that RAGSOL will become an important technology player in the area of mature oil and gas assets worldwide” says David Doppelreiter, Managing Director of RAGSOL GmbH.

"RAG Austria AG is delighted to have found a perfect partner for the RAGSOL technologies to be applied in HOERBIGER’s world wide oil and gas activities. RAG will focus its future efforts in its growing large-scale gas storage business and the relevant activities in hydrogen storage and gas technologies" says Markus Mitteregger, CEO of RAG Austria AG.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide has signed three new long-term contracts, which include the construction and operation of a new nitrogen removal unit (NRU), in the Antwerp Basin with German chemical company BASF, said the company.

Leveraging on five existing onsite production plants in the Antwerp basin, the contracts also include a 15-year agreement for the renewal of Air Liquide’s air gas supply to existing installations and provide additional oxygen to a new ethylene oxide plant to be built by BASF.

In addition, Air Liquide will purchase part of the methane fraction generated during the BASF production process and valorise it as a feedstock in its hydrogen production plants at the site contributing to circular economy and reducing CO2 emissions by up to 15,000 tonnes per year on the Antwerp site.

The French industrial gas giant will build the NRU to supply BASF with high purity gas to enable a more efficient production of MDI, an important chemical component that is used in house insulation, helping save energy in buildings and other applications.

The new NRU is scheduled to be operational by mid-2021.

Francois Jackow, Executive Vice-President and a member of the Executive Committee supervising activities in Europe, said, “The signature of these new contracts demonstrates Air Liquide’s extensive capabilities to develop innovative and sustainable solutions and to create value for its customers over the long term."

"It also reflects our commitment to support our customers meet the challenge of the energy transition in line with our Climate Objectives."

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

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.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
MRC