Petronas secures USD1-billion bridge loan as part of divestment of PRPC stake

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals has secured a USD1-billion bridge loan from various local and international banks, fulfilling one of the conditions of its planned divestment of a 50% stake in PRPC Polymers to Aramco Overseas Holding Cooperatif (AOHC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, as per Apic-online.

Late last year, Petronas and AOHC signed a share purchase agreement, valued at around USD900-million, in which the parties would have equal ownership in PRPC Polymers, located within Petronas' Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor, Malaysia. The transaction had been expected to close by 15 Mar. 2018.

The bridge loan will be used to finance part of the costs to develop, construct, commission and operate polymers and glycol plants in Pengerang, which are currently under construction and are expected to be completed in 2019.

The bridge loan has a tenure of 12 months, with an extension of six months at the discretion of PRPC Polymers.

As MRC informed earlier, Petronas plans to build a C6-based metallocene linear LDPE plant and a low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant at its greenfield integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in southern Johor state by mid-2019. The proposed metallocene LLDPE will have a capacity of 350,000 tpa, while the LDPE/EVA will have a capacity of about 150,000 tpa. The two plants are part of Petronas' planned Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Pengerang at Johor.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global chemical company Oxea aims to annually produce 60,000 metric tons of dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP), a general-purpose non-ortho-phthalate plasticizer, in Europe by the second half of 2019, as per Pcimag.

To that effect, Oxea has entered into a cooperation agreement with Oxxynova, Steyerberg, Germany, a manufacturer of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). Oxea’s DOTP will be produced at a new, dedicated production unit using the transesterification process, which is superior to conventional esterification. Oxea will supply the key precursor 2?ethylhexanol (2-EH) to Oxxynova and will market the end product DOTP through its own sales channels. The new DOTP production unit will be constructed at Oxxynova’s manufacturing site in Germany, with engineering activities already well under way. DOTP meets the highest environmental requirements. A direct replacement mainly for dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP), DOTP is used in a wide range of applications such as construction, automotive, coatings and flooring.

"By 2019, Oxea will become the major supplier of DOTP in Europe. Our primary goal is to improve delivery reliability through local production to sustainably meet our customers’ current and future needs for this important non-ortho-phthalate plasticizer. Together with Oxxynova, we are fully backward integrated into the two key raw materials: Oxea is the largest European producer of 2-EH, and Oxxynova is the leading European producer of DMT,” said Max Grudda, Marketing Manager, Plasticizers, at Oxea.

Oxea is a global manufacturer of oxo intermediates and oxo derivatives, such as alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters, and amines. The company employs more than 1,400 people worldwide and is part of the Oman Oil Co. S.A.O.C., a commercial company wholly owned by the Government of Oman.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 150 of the industry’s top executives, government officials, and regional experts met in Nicosia, Cyprus this week to discuss and share their perspectives on energy development in Cyprus and the Eastern Med. The region’s key leaders, involved in determining the natural gas policies of the Eastern Med, attended EMGC for two-days of in-depth discussions on the region’s latest developments, challenges and opportunities, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The conference program was sponsored by Eni, Deloitte, and CyGas and hosted by World Oil, Gas Processing, Hydrocarbon Processing, Petroleum Economist, Pipeline & Gas Journal, and Underground Construction.

Eni and its partners are investing approximately USD12 billion in the field, which is the largest in the region with estimated gas in place of 30 trillion cubic feet. Zohr started production in December 2017, just two and half years after the discovery announcement, and it is expected to ramp up to 1 billion cubic feet per day by mid-2018.

After finalization of the development in 2019, the production volume will increase to an estimated peak of 2.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2020. With the Zohr field recently going into production, Egypt is planning to resume gas exports in 2019 and could become a major gas supplier for the region.

The official conference opening and welcome remarks were presented by Georgios Lakkotrypis, H.E. Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism for The Republic of Cyprus. EMGC 2018 featured keynote speakers: Luca Bertelli, Chief Exploration Officer, Eni and Symeon Kassianides, Chairman, The Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA).

As MRC reported earlier, in February 2018, Italy’s Eni and France’s Total discovered a promising natural gas field off Cyprus, Eni said on 8 February, saying the find looked geologically similar to the mammoth Zohr field off Egypt. Further analysis was required to determine the range of gas volumes and define further exploration and appraisal operations, Eni said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom estimates a net profit of RON 2.58 billion (EUR 555 million) this year, up by 7.5% (in local currency) versus 2017, according to the group’s budget, as per company's press release.

The revenues for this year are estimated at RON 13.7 billion (EUR 2.94 billion), down compared to last year (RON 14.8 billion). The group built its budget on an average Brent oil price of USD 55 per barrel.

“Considering current market evolution, the average Brent price is expected to increase to USD 60/bbl,” according to the document.

The group also plans to increase its investments significantly this year, to RON 5.5 billion (EUR 1.18 billion), with 84% of the funds going into the upstream segment, which includes the gas project in the Black Sea. Last year, OMV Petrom invested just under RON 3 billion.

Romanian group OMV Petrom proposes EUR 240 mln dividends from 2017 profit
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco is seeking a majority stake in a proposed refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex in Maharashtra, India, reported Apic-online.

Last year, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) entered into a joint venture agreement for the proposed project (PCN, 19 June 2017, p 3).

The approximately USD40-billion West Coast Refinery Project involves setting up a 60-million-t/y refinery and petrochemicals complex, through a joint venture company, in which IOC will hold a 50% interest and HPCL and BPCL will each hold 25%. Commissioning is expected by 2022.

Aramco, which is aiming to become the "biggest" crude supplier to India, is also in talks with the Indian state-run refiners for marketing rights over the fuel and petrochemicals produced at the complex, and the assurance that the refinery would use mostly Saudi oil, the report said.

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Arabia wants to complete talks with strategic investors such as China, Japan and South Korea before deciding where to list shares in state oil company Saudi Aramco. The decision shows the initial public offering (IPO), which could be the biggest in history, is becoming an increasingly difficult balancing act for Riyadh. Saudi officials have said the government plans to sell up to 5 percent of Aramco shares on one or more foreign exchanges in addition to Riyadh.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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