Moody reports most SOEs unaffected by China outlook change

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Moody's Investors Service says that its decision on 16 April to change the outlook of China's sovereign rating to stable from positive has no impact on the ratings of most of the country's non-financial government-related issuers, or state-owned enterprises, reported Moody's on its site.

The non-financial GRIs that are unaffected by the outlook change are China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Aa3 stable), China Petrochemical Corporation (Aa3 stable), China Three Gorges Corporation (A1 stable), China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co Ltd (A3 stable), Baosteel Group Corporation (A3 negative), Sinochem Hong Kong (Group) Company Limited (Baa1 stable) , CITIC Group Corporation (Baa2 stable), China Metallurgical Group Corporation (Baa3 stable).

"As China's sovereign rating remains at Aa3, the outlook change will not affect the likelihood of extraordinary support for these GRIs and their resultant rating uplifts," says Ivan Chung, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Moody's affirmed China's government's bond rating of Aa3. The main reasons for this were a strong economic growth of the country, strong central government finances and an exceptionally strong external payments position.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft, Russian oil giant, respects minority shareholders in TNK-BP Holding, which Rosneft acquired a majority stake in last month, and is willing to discuss their issues with them, reported The Wall Street Journal with reference to Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

Shares in TNK-BP have plummeted since Rosneft announced it wouldn't buy out minorities after acquiring TNK-BP's parent company from BP PLC (BP) and a group of Soviet-born billionaires in deals worth USD60 billion. The stock was hit further when Rosneft said it could take billions of dollars in loans from TNK-BP units.

"Rosneft management understands that it's a problem, that needs to be resolved with them (the minorities)," Mr. Shuvalov told Sberbank Russia Forum 2013 in Moscow.

As MRC informed earlier, a new organizational structure for Russian state oil giant Rosneft, which recently finalized its purchase of joint venture TNK-BP, is expected in June, said Rosneft's chief executive Igor Sechin. He added that key decisions about the new organization had already been made but that revisions would be "confirmed at the general meeting in June."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Twelve contract workers were hurt on Wednesday morning when a fire broke out at a unit undergoing repairs at Exxon Mobil Corp's Beaumont, Texas, refinery, reported Chicago Tribune News with reference to a company spokeswoman.

Exxon Mobil did not identify the unit but confirmed the fire broke out at 10:30 a.m. CDT (11.30 a.m. EDT) on a shut unit undergoing planned maintenance work at the refinery. The blaze was quickly brought under control and extinguished, said company spokeswoman Rachael Moore.

Six of the 12 workers were taken to regional hospitals "for further medical evaluation and treatment," Moore said.

The cause of the fire has yet to be disclosed.

The ExxonMobil Beaumont site is one of the larger refineries in the US, with a capacity of 344,500 bpd.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, on 5, Oct, ExxonMobil Corp. confined a fire that broke out at its Baytown, Texas refinery to a process unit. The complex has a 584,000 bbl/day refinery and two chemical plants that make butyl rubber and polypropylene (PP), making it the largest operating refinery in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3 percent of the world's oil and about 2 percent of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez, one of the major Russian producers of petrochemical products, has announced an increase in contract low-density polyethylene (LDPE) prices, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Contract LDPE prices will rise by Rb1,000-1,500/tonne compared to the level of early April and come into effect from 25 April. The rise in LDPE prices is caused by the shutdown of the plant for maintenance (from 18 April for four weeks) and a seasonal increase in demand.

As MRC reported previously, by early April, Russian LDPE prices had surged by Rb1,000-3,000/tonne. Several Russian LDPE producers - Kazanorgsintez, Tomskneftekhim, Ufaorgsintez and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat - had announced LDPE price increases.

Kazanorgsintez is one of the largest petrochemical plants in Russia. The company produces more than 38% of Russian polyethylene. It also produces polyethylene pipes. In the first quarter of this year, the total production of polyethylene by Kazanorgsintez made more than 185,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams Partners has agreed to launch a new midstream joint venture with Shell to provide gas gathering and gas processing services for production located in Northwest Pennsylvania, informed Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's announcement.

The venture will invest in both wet-gas handling infrastructure and dry gas infrastructure serving Marcellus and Utica Shale wells in the area.

The new venture, Three Rivers Midstream, has signed a long-term fee-based dedicated gathering and processing agreement for Shell's production in the area, including approximately 275,000 dedicated acres.

Three Rivers plans to construct a 200 million cubic feet per day cryogenic gas processing plant and related facilities, with the location to be determined at a later date.

The planned large-scale gas processing complex would be expandable as Three Rivers' business grows. The initial plant is expected to be placed into service by second quarter 2015.

"This new joint venture builds on our strategy of creating large-scale infrastructure solutions that will provide Shell and other producers with access to the best markets for their natural gas and natural gas liquids, whether they be in the Northeast or the Gulf Coast," said Alan Armstrong, CEO of Williams Partners' general partner.

"The system is expected to be connected to two major proposed developments in Pennsylvania -- Shell's proposed ethylene cracker (feasibility still being studied) in Beaver County and the proposed Williams-Boardwalk joint venture to develop the Bluegrass pipeline system that would deliver Marcellus and Utica liquids to the rapidly expanding Gulf Coast and export markets," he continued." The proposed Bluegrass pipeline is targeting a late 2015 in-service date.

Williams Partners' portion of initial capital expenditures on the Three Rivers plant, not including the gathering system, is expected to be approximately USD150 million. Subsequent capital investment is expected as the joint venture's business and scale increases.

As MRC reported earlier, in late March, Williams approved the construction of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility in Alberta, Canada, the first and only one in Canada, which will allow Williams to significantly increase production of polymer-grade propylene from its Canadian operations.

Williams is one of North America's largest natural gas gatherers and processors. Williams also has a growing midstream business in Canada focused on processing oil sands off-gas into NGLs and olefins. It also has a domestic olefins business that provides customers in the petrochemical industry with a full suite of products and services.
MRC