SOCAR awards work to Tecnimont for Azerbaijan polyethylene project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maire Tecnimont's subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and KT – Kinetics Technology S.p.A have signed an EPC contract with SOCAR for a polyethylene (PE) plant on a lump sum turn-key basis, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant will be located in the Sumgayit petrochemical complex, which is about 30 kilometers north of Baku, Azerbaijan. The total contract value is approximately USD180 million.

SOCAR is the national company of Azerbaijan. It is active in the oil, gas, petrochemicals and fertilizer sectors.

The project’s scope of work envisages the provision of complete engineering services, equipment and material supply, construction activities up to start up and guarantee test run. The plant will be developed on the basis of the Ineos Innovene S technology and will have a capacity of 120,000 tpy.

This award follows the contract granted in April 2015 by the same client for the realization of the Sumgayit polypropylene (PP) plant, thus highlighting Tecnimont's reliability and competitiveness with a key client such as SOCAR, the company says.

With this achievement, the Maire Tecnimont Group consolidates its leadership in the polyolefins field by further strengthening its presence in the Caspian region, where the company says it has a long-lasting and successful track record.

"This result confirms the group’s distinctive competences in the polyolefins sector and its capabilities in implementing relevant EPC projects in its historical core business," said Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont CEO. "We are eager to keep on supporting SOCAR, one of the key players worldwide in the hydrocarbon industry, to further develop the downstream sector in the country with this strategic initiative."

As MRC informed earlier, SOCAR signed an agreement with Russiaп Gazprombank on providing a loan facility for construction of SOCAR Polymer polypropylene and high-density polyethylene plants in Azerbaijan.

SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced the completion of the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Petroken Petroquimica Ensenada S.A. (Petroken) to Grupo Inversor Petroquimica S.L. (GIP) for USD184 million, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Petroken operates a 180,000-tpy plant in Ensenada and is a leading polypropylene (PP) producer in Argentina.

The agreement to sell Petroken was first announced in August 2015.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Rs.10,000 crore gas Assam gas cracker, said Internationalreporter.

This is the first ever petrochemical project in entire North East India and was a part of the historic Assam Accord signed on 15th August, 1985 to promote overall socio-economic development of the region. In 2007, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation for the project at Lepetkata near Dibrugarh in Assam.

For establishing this project, a joint venture company called Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymers Ltd has been formed with GAIL holding 70% stake, Assam government, Oil India Ltd and Numaligarh Refinery each holding 10% stake.

Production capacity comprises 2.20 lakh tpa of polyethylene and 60,000 tpa of Polypropylene.

Previously, the project was scheduled to be completed in 2012. But the completion date had been postponed twice. The Rs 8,920 crore petrochemical complex, which is in the process of being commissioned, includes a cracker to produce 220,000 t/y of ethylene and 60,000 t/y of propylene, as well as a 60,000-t/y polypropylene plant.

After obtaining ethylene from the cracker plant, the LLDPE / HDPE unit of the plant will be made operational. The plant has already started producing ethylene, which will be used as feedstock for manufacturing polymers that eventually build plastics.

The plant will use natural gas and naphtha as feedstock. OIL India and ONGC will supply natural gas and NRL will supply naphtha to the plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) has paid 375.3 mln riyals (USD100.1 mln) to raise its stake in two subsidiaries, as per Reuters.

The firm will buy stakes owned by Kuwait's Ikarus Petroleum Industries in International Acetyl Company and International Vinyl Acetate Company after receiving regulatory approval, Sipchem said in a bourse statement. Sipchem, which already owns 76% of both subsidiaries, said the deals would raise its holdings in each to 87%. The financial impact of the purchases will be shown in the first quarter of 2016, it said in the statement.

Sipchem, which already owns 76 percent of both subsidiaries, said the deals would raise its holdings in each to 87 percent.

The financial impact of the purchases will be shown in the first quarter of 2016, it said in the statement.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) commenced trial runs at a new ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/low density polyethylene (LDPE) swing plant. Located in Jubail Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Established in 1999, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) manufactures and markets methanol, butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate monomer. Besides, it has launched several down-stream projects to manufacture ethylene vinyl acetate, low density polyethylene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cross linkable polyethylene, and semi conductive compound that are scheduled to start in 2013.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait's EQUATE Petrochemical Co is in talks with banks to refinance a USD6 bln bridge loan that it secured last year and was partly used to fund the acquisition of petrochemical company MEGlobal, as per source in Reuters.

The venture between Dow Chemical and Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC) of Kuwait is seeking funds split into portions of three years and five years, the sources said on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. One source added the first tranche would be structured as a revolving credit facility and the second as a term loan. No response has been received from EQUATE.

Kuwait's finances have been hit by a slump in oil prices. This has squeezed banking system liquidity, forcing government and quasi-sovereign entities to scramble for financing ahead of possible U.S. interest rate hikes in the coming months. EQUATE's loan would facilitate the exit of Dow from some of its ventures in Kuwait; the sale of ME Global is part of Dow's bigger plan to optimise ownership in its Kuwait operations.

EQUATE originally raised a USD6 bln bridge loan in December to buy MEGlobal from Dow and PIC, part of state-run Kuwait Petroleum, for USD3.2 bln, and to refinance some of EQUATE's existing debt. The loan is due to mature in December 2016 although it has an option to be extended for six months. EQUATE is taking indications from local and international banks for bullet as well as amortising loans, the Gulf-based banker and a second source said. In a bullet loan, the principal is repaid at the end of the term, while in an amortising structure, the borrower repays parts of the loan throughout the duration.

The current bridge loan was arranged by banks including JP Morgan, Citigroup, HSBC, Kuwait Finance House and National Bank of Kuwait.

As MRC informed earlier, Equate Petrochemical Company President and CEO Mohammad Hussain said a project aimed at increasing polyethylene (PE) production would be completed in the first half of 2016.

Established in 1995, EQUATE operates an integrated manufacturing facility producing more than 5 million tonnes annually of petrochemical products, including polyethylene and ethylene, that are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
MRC