Petrobras seeks USD152 mln from Odebrecht over Braskem dispute

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras is seeking 800 million reais (USD152 million) in compensation from engineering group Odebrecht in arbitration proceedings over its alleged violation of the shareholders agreement in petrochemical company Braskem, reported Reuters.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the oil firm is known formally, said in a securities filing it had formalized the compensation request on Monday.

Odebrecht is seeking to sell its 38.3% stake in Braskem SA, while Petrobras aims to offload its 36.1% stake.

As MRC informed previously, Petrobras may need more than a year to divest its stake in Braskem, said Andrea Almeida, Petrobras CFO, in early July, 2020. She said during the company's recent webinar that Petrobras plans to give more time for potential investors to make offers for the company"s assets, including for its refineries and stakes at its petrochemical and fuel distribution affiliates. The divestment of Petrobras's stake in Braskem in 2020 would be desirable but "might not be possible" as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed market conditions, she said. The company plans to close part of its refinery sales in 2021. In December, Roberto Castello Branco, CEO of Petrobras, said that he wants to sell the company's stake in Braskem within a year. Petrobras owns 32.15% of Braskem.

We remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem"s back burner for several years.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras" activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Research suggests the amount of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans could almost triple to 29 MMtpy by 2040, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It is a bleak prediction that highlights the scale of the challenge, which must be addressed not only by governments and consumers, but also by plastics manufacturers themselves. The solution may lie in the next-generation of degradable plastics.

As we discovered through the coronavirus pandemic, the problem with trying to phase out plastics – even the single-use variety - is that there is often nothing else to replace them with (as of yet). That is why, rather than focusing on plastics consumption, we should instead be directing resources towards finding sustainable solutions that address the issue of plastic waste at source.

New technologies are currently being developed as part of an industry push to prevent non-degradable materials clogging up our oceans. Scientific research now underway into the next generation of plastics aims to create products that can degrade efficiently, and which can be reused or recycled. While biodegradable plastics already exist, conventional non-degradable plastics still dominate for two simple reasons: they are more affordable and perform better than their more environmentally-friendly counterparts.

One approach to correcting this involves applying new chemistry to existing processes, which is something we are exploring at Aramco. Part of our ongoing research involves experimenting with subtle changes to the plastics manufacturing process, as they investigate ways to create conventional plastic products that degrade under specific conditions.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. Last month"s production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tronox Holdings plc announced 27 December that chairman and CEO Jeffry Quinn will take a leave of absence effective immediately after telling the board that he had been referenced as an unnamed individual in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint regarding alleged insider in the shares of Ferro Corporation in February and March of 2016, said Chemweek.

Quinn served as a director of Ferro from May 2013 through August 2016. Neither Tronox nor Tronox’s shares are referenced in the complaints.

Tronox's board appointed John Romano, executive vice president and chief commercial and strategy officer, and Jean-Francois Turgeon, executive vice president and chief operating officer, as co-chief executive officers on an interim basis. In addition, Ilan Kaufthal, lead independent director, has been elected chairman on an interim basis.

An SEC complaint alleges that an unnamed Ferro insider, believed to be Quinn, or his fiancee provided a friend with information in February and March about a private equity firm’s interest in a transaction to acquire Ferro. The complaint alleges the friend, named as a defendant in the case, traded Ferro shares in an associate's name and tipped off other traders with the information. Media reports speculated on a private equity bid by Apollo in March 2016 and Ferro announced in May 2016 that it had retained a banker to advise on strategic alternatives.

Quinn has been a director of Tronox since 2011, was appointed president and CEO in December 2017, and was appointed chairman in March 2019.

As MRC informed earlier, Tronox Limited announced that it has received final approval from the European Commission to close its proposed acquisition of the titanium dioxide ("TiO2") business of The National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited, a privately held global chemical and mining company headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. Last month"s production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex said earlier this month that one of its refineries in the northern state of Nuevo Leon is operating normally after the state governor said the facility suffered two gas explosions, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Pemex said on Twitter that “a loud noise” was heard coming from a stretch of water drainage at Pemex’s Cadereyta refinery.

“It did not cause major damages to people or structures,” Pemex said, adding that the cause of the incident will be investigated.

Earlier on 10 December, Nuevo Leon Governor Jaime Rodriguez said in a tweet that two gas explosions struck the refinery, causing light injuries to five people.

While the Cadereyta refinery features a crude processing capacity of 275,000 barrels per day (bpd), it only processed 97,000 bpd in October, according to Pemex data.

As MRC informed earlier, Pemex is advancing a refinery rehabilitation program that will enable it to process 1.2 million b/d of crude oil by the end of 2020 and evaluating a reconfiguration of its petrochemical facility at Cangrejera, Mexico, into what would be its eighth refinery.

We also remind that in 2016, Pemex shut its steam cracker at its Cangrejera complex for maintenance on February 15. The cracker was idle for about 14 days. The conducted repairs at the cracker were a part of planned maintenance.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Glencore plans to cut 40% of total emissions by 2035 as it aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to Chemweek.

The diversified commodity producer said it would prioritise investments in metals such as cobalt, nickel and copper would contribute to the transition to the low-carbon transition.

Glencore forecasts that copper demand is likely to be at least 15% above 2019 levels along with the growth in renewables power generation capacity, EV sales and associated infrastructure. Copper demand is also projected to increase by 45% by 2035 and 95% by 2050 according to the different scenario it painted.

The demand for zinc is expected to rise to 106% of 2019 levels by 2025 and 145% by 2050.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Shell announced that it will replace the ethylene steam cracker furnaces at its Moerdijk petrochemicals complex, The Netherlands, in a move that will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Shell will install eight new furnaces in place of 16 older units without reducing capacity at the facility. The investment significantly reduces both the site’s energy consumption and its operational greenhouse gas emissions. The CO? emissions reduction is about 10 percent of Shell Moerdijk’s annual total.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC