Nigeria's Port Harcourt refinery restart imminent, minister says

Nigeria's oil refinery in Port Harcourt will restart operations "after the Christmas break" following an overhaul, the petroleum minister said on Thursday, following several delays, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Africa's top oil exporter has for years prioritized the production of its own fuels but efforts to overhaul refineries have often failed, leaving it almost entirely reliant on imports of refined crude.

"We gladly announce the mechanical completion and the flare start-up" of phase one of the two unit 210,000 barrel a day Port Harcourt refinery, said Heineken Lokpobiri, one of Nigeria's two ministers of state for petroleum resources, at the facility.

"This heralds the commencement of production of petroleum products after the Christmas break," Lokpobiri added.
Italy's Tecnimont was awarded the contract for the upgrade in 2021, at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion.

Mele Kyari, head of state oil firm NNPC Ltd., said the overhaul of the second phase will be completed next year. Nigeria's three state-owned refineries, which have a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, have been shut down for years due to a lack of maintenance.

NNPC is upgrading all its refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri in south of the country, and Kaduna in the north.

We remind, Eni has agreed to sell a 9% stake in its low-carbon and retail unit Plenitude to Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP) through a deal that values the unit at 10 billion euros ($11 billion) including debt. Under the agreement, EIP will invest in Plenitude through a capital increase of up to 700 million euros, which, post-transaction, would give the Swiss fund approximately 9% of the company.

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Songwon Industrial Group (Ulsan, South Korea) said that specialty chemicals distributor Bodo Moller Chemie Group (Offenbach, Germany) will become the exclusive distributor in Germany for its coatings product portfolio, said the company.

Songwon’s coatings product portfolio includes antioxidants, ultraviolet absorbers and hindered amine light stabilizers.

“The excellent partnership we have with Bodo Moller Chemie in other European countries convinced us that with this step we can strengthen SONGWON’s market position in Germany, one of the key regions in Europe for the coatings industry,” explains Steffen Dobberstein, Leader BU-Coatings. ”Bodo Moller's expertise, strong market relationships and excellent customer service, combined with SONGWON's products, will help us consolidate our position as the first choice additives supplier for coatings, paints, adhesives and sealants.”

Jurgen Rietschle, Managing Director of Bodo Moller Chemie GmbH, adds: "SONGWON's range fits our portfolio perfectly and this new agreement offers our two organizations a promising growth opportunity. The combination of high-quality products with our industrial know-how will allow us to provide even higher added value to all of our customers in Germany.“

Based in Offenbach near Frankfurt, Bodo Moller Chemie GmbH is part of the Bodo Moller Chemie Group – a leading supplier of specialty chemicals for plastics, adhesives, coatings and other industrial sectors.

We remind, Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the appointment of Steffen Dobberstein as the new Leader Business Unit (BU) Coatings effective September 11th, 2023. As Leader BU Coatings, Steffen Dobberstein will play a pivotal role in defining and driving the Coatings strategy and further advancing SONGWON's position in the Coatings industry worldwide. He will directly report to Hans Werhonig, Leader Group Commercial.

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ADNOC plans to increase its bid for German chemical company Covestro, aiming to diversify its portfolio beyond oil and gas, said Chemanager-online.

Recently reported by Bloomberg, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is planning to escalate its bid for the German chemical company Covestro. This planned acquisition marks a departure for ADNOC from its core oil and gas business, as it seeks to find opportunities in the chemical industry. The two have been in talks since June.

Established in 1971, ADNOC has been a dominant force in the global energy sector, involved in the exploration, production, and distribution of oil and natural gas, along with refining and petrochemical manufacturing. The company operates two significant oil refineries, Ruwais Refinery and Umm Al Nar, underscoring its influential position in the industry.

ADNOC's current proposal of about €60 a share is an increase from earlier offerings of €55 and €57 that Covestro viewed as too low. The current offer values Covestro at around €11.3 billion ($12.4 billion).

ADNOC is diversifying, bidding on projects like OCI's €3.31 billion ($3.62 billion) Fertiglobe stake in December 2023. These moves align with ADNOC's plan to expand globally.

ADNOC's commitment to the new direction is evident in its willingness to offer concessions and invest around €7.97 billion ($8.72 billion) post-acquisition. Negotiations are still ongoing, and ADNOC might delay its updated bid submission until 2024.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company P.J.S.C. and OCI Global, announced that they have entered into a sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition by ADNOC of OCI’s entire majority shareholding in Fertiglobe plc. Fertiglobe is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined, the largest nitrogen fertilizer producer in the Middle East & North Africa, and an early mover in sustainable ammonia, with production facilities in Egypt, Algeria and the UAE.

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China National Chemical Engineering Group (CNCEC) announced on Oct 8 evening that its wholly-owned subsidiary, No. 7 Construction Corporation has signed an 8.4 billion euros EPC contract with Baltic Methanol for a chemical complex project in Russia, as per Ccfgroup.

The construction of the project is expected to last for 48 months, and the project would include capacity to produce 5 million mt/yr of methanol based on natural gas.

We remind, Foreign shareholders are suspending participation in the Arctic LNG 2 Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project due to sanctions. The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.

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Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp. shares fell sharply after the company said Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Gilson, one of the few foreigners to lead a Japanese business, will exit next year, said Bloomberg.

Gilson, 60, will step down by April and be succeeded by Executive Vice President Manabu Chikumoto, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Friday, adding that the new CEO has “deep business expertise and is widely connected” in the industry at home and abroad.

The Belgian joined the Japanese chemical manufacturer in 2021 from French food and pharmaceutical company Roquette. The recruitment of a non-Japanese executive was an unusual move in a country where boards are often reluctant to look externally or from abroad when replacing top management.

At Mitsubishi Chemical, Gilson has called for the need to decarbonize its business, saying the firm will exit its carbon products and petrochemical businesses. He also has spoken of the need for consolidation among Japanese petrochemical makers to create a company that can compete globally and invest in carbon emissions-reducing technology.

We remind, Neste Corp. (Espoo, Finland) has entered a cooperation with Suntory, ENEOS Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) and Mitsubishi Corp. (Tokyo) to enable the production of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) resin made with renewable Neste RE on a commercial scale.

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