MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cepsa (Madrid, Spain), a leading energy and chemicals player, said on Thursday that it is to restructure operations into five business units, exploration & production; refining; chemicals; sales; and trading, gas, power & renewables, said Chemweek.
The new organization will be managed by a team of newly hired executives with extensive international experience in the oil, gas and chemical sectors alongside Cepsa’s existing leadership team, headed by CEO Philippe Boisseau. The new structure kicks in on 1 June 2020 and aims to pursue a strategy that focuses on international expansion and the development of new businesses to drive Cepsa’s transformation and growth in the evolving energy and market environment.
Paloma Alonso will head Cepsa’s chemicals unit after a 23-year career with Dow. She succeeds Jose Manuel Martinez, who will lead a newly created technical and operations department. Alonso will also be responsible for the company’s environmental, social and governance activities. She moves to Cepsa on 15 July. Exploration & production will be led by Alex Archila, who joins Cepsa with 36 years’ experience with BHP and Chevron. Refining will be led by its current director, Antonio Joyanes, who has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, chemicals, trading and refining. Sales will be led by Pierre-Yves Sachet, who joins the company from Total and has 30 years of industry experience. He will also be responsible for the company's strategic growth area. Trading, gas, power & renewables will be managed by the CEO. Juan Vera, currently COO, transitions into overseeing special projects.
The restructuring is part of a reorganization that began in October 2019 after the US private equity firm Carlyle acquired a 37% stake in Cepsa from Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi sovereign investment group, and the appointment of the current CEO who came from Total. Mubadala continues to hold a 63% stake in Cepsa. The shuffle follows a previous reorganization in 2018 which created four business segments, exploration & production, refining, marketing, and petrochemicals. Cepsa in 2019 reported revenue of €21.06 billion ($23.08 billion) with petrochemicals accounting for 16.4% and refining for 57% of the total.
“With this new and diverse executive committee, which brings in complementary talents and expertise, and with the support of all our professionals, we aim to meet the challenges of the energy transition, drive Cepsa's international growth, and expand each of our businesses as well as develop new ones. To achieve these goals, we will optimize our integrated business model, enhance our competitiveness and continue to pursue operational excellence, said CEO Philippe Boisseau.
As it was written earlier,Cepsa Quimica has postponed planned maintenance to the turn of Q3/Q4 on unit 3 of its Huelva, Spain, phenol and acetone plant that was initially scheduled from mid May to mid June, according to a market source. Its other phenol and acetone production unit (2) at Huelva will remain operational.
Phenol is one of the main feedstocks for the production of bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used for the production of polycarbonate (PC).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) totalled 78,500 tonnes in 2019, up by 15% year on year (68,100 tonnes a year earlier).
Cepsa’s chemicals operations include the production of linear alkyl benzene (LAB), in which it is the world’s leading producer with plants in Spain, Canada and Brazil. The company is also the leading producer of cumene and the second largest in phenol and acetone with plants in Spain and China. Cepsa recently diversified into fatty alcohols through expansion of plants in Indonesia and Germany via its Sinar Mas Cepsa joint venture.
MRC