Rosneft and CNPC agreed to cooperate in the field of low carbon development

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft Oil Company and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed the Memo on Cooperation in the field of low carbon development, said the company.

Within the visit of the delegation headed by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Beijing (PRC), PJSC Rosneft Oil Company and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed the Memo on Cooperation in the field of low carbon development.

Signatures under the document were affixed by Igor Sechin, the Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, and Dai Houliang, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CNPC.

In accordance with the Agreement of Rosneft and CNPC there are prospects of interaction worked out concerning a set of areas of low carbon development, particularly in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, technologies of energy efficiency as well as CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Parties also consider other areas of potential cooperation in the field of low carbon development as well. Low carbon technologies developed by the companies, including “smart” and digital solutions, in the future may be applied within the large-scale joint petroleum projects in Russia and China.

Rosneft and CNPC are organizers of Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum established by the instruction of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. The objective of this Forum is a development of the energy dialogue between Russia and China, increase in bidirectional commodity circulation, extension of the portfolio of joint projects, attraction of investments and funding of projects.

In May 2017 during the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China, Rosneft and CNPC signed the Agreement on the establishment of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC). The Committee was established for development of the cooperation of the companies in a number of strategic areas, including interaction in the exploration and development of oil and gas fields, oil refining and petrochemicals, trade in oil and oil products, scientific and technical research, training of personnel, as well as the implementation of promising projects in the field of supply and oil services. In November 2021 there was the fourth meeting of the JCC.

Rosneft is a member of the United Nations Global Compact thus confirming its commitment to the highest principles of the sustainable development. Rosneft annually publishes a detailed information about its ESG activities in its sustainable development reports.

Rosneft is the world's largest public oil company. The company accounts for about 5% of global oil production, and its proven reserves in the international category will exceed 5 billion tons of oil equivalent. The structure of Rosneft includes the Angarsk Polymer Plant and Ufaorgsintez (part of the structure of Bashneft) after the closing of the deal to purchase Bashneft on October 12, 2016. The main shareholder of Rosneft is the state-controlled Rosneftegaz (50% plus one share), and the British BP owns another 19.75%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical reports a steep increase in net profit to Yen 133.6 billion (USD1.1 billion) in the fiscal first nine months ended 31 December, from Yen 20.2 billion a year earlier, on sales up 24% to Yen 2.0 trillion, as per the company's press release.

Operating income was Yen 197.9 billion, higher by 71% year on year (YOY).

Sales at Sumitomo's petrochemicals and plastics business segment, the company's largest, rose by 53% YOY to Yen624.9 billion. The unit swung to an operating profit of Yen 51.9 billion from an operating loss of Yen 27.8 billion a year earlier. The company adds that market prices for petchem products, synthetic resins, and synthetic fibers increased owing to demand recovery and a rise in raw material costs. Margins also improved.

At the energy and functional materials segment, operating income grew 19.5% YOY, to Yen 18.6 billion and sales rose 29.2%, to Yen 226.6 billion. Shipments of separators for lithium-ion secondary batteries performed well. Market prices for aluminum and for the metal raw materials for cathode materials increased, resulting in higher selling prices.

The company has not published a forecast for the full fiscal year ending 31 March 2022.

As MRC reported earlier, Sumitomo Chemical is building additional production lines for its liquid crystal polymer (LCP) super engineering plastic at the company's site in Ehime. This expansion will increase the group’s production capacity of LCP by around 30%. The new production lines are scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2023. LCP has been used for a broad range of applications, including electronic components for PCs and smartphones.

We remind, Sumitomo Chemical will establish a subsidiary, Sumika Polymer Compounds Poland (SPCP), to build and operate a polypropylene (PP) compounding facility at PoznaA, Poland. The capacity of the planned PP compounding plant will be 30,000 metric tons/year. It is due to commence operations in 2022.

Sumitomo Chemical, a leading Japanese chemical company, was founded with a mission to drive societal impact and solve environmental challenges through technology. They have been exploring new opportunities to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia and China have agreed a second long-term gas supply deal, this time for 10 billion cubic metres (bcm)/year which will take total contractual supply between the two countries to 48bcm/year, said the company.

Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a long-term Sales and Purchase Agreement for natural gas to be supplied via the Far Eastern route.

The signing of this document is an important step towards further strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China in the gas sector. As soon as the project reaches its full capacity, the amount of Russian pipeline gas supplies to China is going to grow by 10 billion cubic meters, totaling 48 billion cubic meters per year (including deliveries via the Power of Siberia gas trunkline).

“This is already a second contract to be signed for Russian gas supplies to China, and it is indicative of the exceptionally strong mutual trust and partnership between our countries and companies. Our Chinese partners from CNPC have already seen for themselves that Gazprom is a reliable gas supplier,” said Alexey Miller.

Gazprom on reported the agreement with China’s CNPC for delivery through what is called the Far Eastern Route. The news comes as Russian President Putin visited China for the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, where the two countries issued a statement on their cooperation on a range of issues, including energy.

In January, Gazprom completed a feasibility study for the Soyuz Vostok pipeline that would become an extension of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline through Mongolia and which would have a capacity of 50bcm/year. In addition to the latest supply contract and the existing Power of Siberia contract, this would take potential nameplate supply from Russia to China close to 100bcm/year.

We remind, that in December 2020, SIBUR Holding, Russia’s leading petrochemicals company and one of the most rapidly growing petrochemicals businesses globally, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China’s leading energy and chemical company, have closed the deal to set up a joint venture (JV) at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex after obtaining all the necessary approvals from the regulators of both countries. SIBUR and Sinopec will hold interest in the JV in the amount of 60% and 40%, respectively.

PJSC Gazprom is a Russian energy company engaged in exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sale of gas, gas condensate and oil, as well as production and sale of heat and electricity. The largest company in Russia, the largest gas company in the world, owns the longest gas transmission system (over 160,000 km). It is the world leader in the industry.
MRC

1. Eastman expands global tertiary amines capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman's care additives business has announced the completion of a significant expansion of its tertiary amine capacity, primarily DIMLA 1214, at both its Ghent, Belgium, and Pace, Florida, manufacturing sites, said the company. The Ghent expansion has led to an increase in capacity, while the Pace expansion has improved production flow, making it the world's largest tertiary amine unit. Demand for tertiary amines had increased because of rising consumer demand that was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Eastman said.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian producers began negotiations over February shipments of Russian PVC at the end of last week. Pressured by a major slump in demand and a noticeable increase in imports in January, Russian producers cut their prices for February deliveries after several months of steadiness, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Since November, the availability of PVC in the global markets has been gradually increasing, and along with it, a steady price reduction was registered in a number of regions. But difficulties with logistics for shipments of resin from a number of regions of the world did not allow Russian companies to significantly increase imports. And the lack of stable and sufficient imports allowed Russian producers to maintain PVC prices in the domestic market at a record high level. The situation changed drastically in January, Russian producers cut their prices by Rb2,000-14,000/tonne.

Since November, PVC has been steadily getting cheaper in the Asian region, and local producers' export prices have been also going down. February was no exception, the key producers' prices of resin fell in the region by USD70-100/tonne.

US producers reduced their export prices more dynamically, while export quotas grew in parallel. By late January, prices of North American resin for Russian buyers dropped to USD1,600/tonne CFR St. Petersburg and lower. Even several deals were reported after a rather long pause.

But very weak demand amid unusually high imports in the winter period was the main reason for the price adjustment for the domestic market by Russian producers. Thus, according to preliminary data, almost 13,000 tonnes of PVC were imported to Russia in January, whereas imports exceeded this figure only once last year.

Negotiations over February deliveries of Russian PVC began at the end of last week, but, like a month earlier, many converters were in no hurry to discuss deals. In fact, some converters have been still negotiating this week. But in general, all market participants reported lower prices of Russian PVC for February shipments, with resin with K=70 accounting for the greatest price decrease.

Deals for February shipments of PVC with K64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb172,000-177,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for quantities less than 500 tonnes. Prices of resin with K=70 were discussed at an average of Rb195,000-198,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
MRC