Petrobras raises diesel prices by an average 6.1%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA increased diesel prices at refineries by 6.1% on average with immediate effect, citing higher oil prices and a stronger real currency, said Reuters.

According to a Thursday statement, the decision also stemmed from stronger seasonal demand for diesel as winter peaked in the northern hemisphere.

For years, Petrobras kept fuel prices artificially low in order to avoid pressuring inflation, absorbing sharp losses whenever prices of crude rose in global markets.

Under Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente, Petrobras adopted a more flexible pricing policy, taking into consideration the exchange rate, the company's market share and other factors, to set wholesale fuel prices at its refineries.

It will continue revising fuel prices at least once every 30 days, Petrobras said.

If fuel distributors, gas stations and other intermediaries choose to fully transfer the price increase to consumers, that would translate into a 3.8% price hike at pumps, according to the statement.

As MRC informed earlier, Petrobras agreed to sell its 49% stake in the sugar and ethanol joint venture Nova Fronteira Bioenergia SA to partner Sao Martinho SA.

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) -- Evonik Resource Efficiency’s Coating & Adhesive Resins Business Line announces a min. 5% price increase for its DEGALAN general purpose grades for paint, coatings and printing inks applications, said the company on its site.

The increase will be effective from Feb. 1st, 2017 globally and applies to all orders shipped on or after this date as contracts allow.

Evonik Resource Efficiency remains committed to its high quality product standards and reliable services that customers have come to expect.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals, operating in the Nutrition & Care, Resource Efficiency and Performance Materials segments. The company benefits from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. In 2015 more than 33,500 employees generated sales of around EUR13.5 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.47 billion.

The Resource Efficiency segment is led by Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH and supplies high performance materials for environmentally friendly as well as energy-efficient systems to the automotive, paints & coatings, adhesives, construction, and many other industries. This segment employed about 8,600 employees, and generated sales of around EUR4.3 billion in 2015.

As MRC informed earlier, Evonik Resource Efficiency will invest in a capacity expansion of its performance foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell said it has completed the sale of a 31.2% stake in Showa Shell Sekiyu KK to Idemitsu Kosan, following receipt of anti-trust approval from the Japan Fair Trade Commission, as per Apic-online.

The sale supports Shell's strategic commitment to focus downstream activity on areas where it can be most competitive, Shell noted. The upstream, integrated gas, chemicals and trading businesses are not impacted by the sale, it added.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2015, Idemitsu signed an agreement to acquire Shell’s 33.24% stake in its Japanese venture Showa Shell Sekiyu KK for JPY 169 billion (approximately USD1.4 billion).

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco and Pertamina have signed a joint venture development agreement (JVDA) to jointly own, upgrade and operate the Cilacap refinery in central Java, Indonesia, as per Apic-online.

The Cilacap refinery, part of Pertamina's Refinery Development Master Plan, will be expanded to 400,000 b/d and is designed to process Arabian crude supplied by Aramco. It will also include the production of basic petrochemicals, refined products that meet Euro V specifications and group II base oil for lubricants.

In late 2015, the companies signed a heads of agreement for the project. The JVDA will allow for the next development phase of the expansion to move forward.

To date, the upgraded refinery configuration has been completed and the process to select technology licensors will begin soon. Basic engineering design work is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2017, with the front end engineering design phase expected to start in the second quarter of 2017. Start-up is planned in 2021.

The upgraded Cilacap refinery will be owned 55% by Pertamina and 45% by Aramco.

As MRC informed previously, in June 2016, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. were one step closer to building their first plant to process crude directly into chemicals, cutting out a link in the production chain from hydrocarbons to the finished products that go into plastics and other consumer goods. The state-owned companies signed an agreement to study such a project to be located in Saudi Arabia. A joint venture is possible if the companies decide to move ahead after the study is completed by early 2017, they said. Oil companies normally refine crude into transportation fuels including gasoline and diesel and leave byproducts such as naphtha to be processed separately into chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL) has recently started commercial operations at butadiene (BD) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company has recently commenced operations.

Located at Dahej in the western India state of Gujarat, the plant has a production capacity of 115,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in late 2016, OPaL started up its new cracker in India. Located at Dahej in the western India state of Gujarat, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.1 million mt/year and propylene production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

OPaL is a joint venture of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC - 26%), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL - 17%) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC - 5%), with the balance held by other investors and public shares.
MRC