Page 8 - DMEA Week 44 2022

DMEA COMPANIES DMEA

Iranian state reportedly sells stake

in petrochemical producer PGPIC

MIDDLE EAST IRAN’S government has reportedly sold 12% Despite heavy US sanctions in place since
of the country’s largest petrochemical producer, 2018, Iran has continued to amass huge reve-
Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries (PGPIC), nues from petrochemical exports.
to a unit of the country’s oil pension fund for Sanctions enforcers face an extremely chal-
IRR1.087 quadrillion ($3.3bn at the free market lenging task in tracing petrochemical shipments
rate), a privatisation record. partly due to the great variety of petrochemical
“Moments ago, stocks of this company were products that are on global markets and difficul-
sold for a total price of 1,087 trillion rial. It was ties in working out the origins of petrochemical
the largest privatisation scheme ever conducted components of manufactured products. ™
in the country’s history,” Hossein Ghorbanzade,
who heads Iran’s Privatisation Organisation, was
quoted as saying on October 31 by the official
ISNA news agency.
Prior to the sale, the Iranian state had held
18% of the company. According to local media
reports, though, the state has divested 587.4mn
shares, bringing its stake down to 6%.
PGPIC listed the shares for an initial price
of IRR 820 trillion in October 29. Ahdaf Invest-
ment Co., a subsidiary of Iran’s oil pension fund,
was said to have acquired the entire block after
a tight race with Tehran Oil Refinery, paying a
final price of IRR 18,510 ($0.056) per share.
PGPIC bills itself as the second largest pet-
rochemical producer in the Middle East after
Saudi Arabia’s SABIC. The Iranian government’s stake in PGPIC has sunk from 18% to 6% (Photo: PGPIC)

TERMINALS & TRANSPORT
Shell teaming up with Egyptian partners to

offer LNG bunkering for Suez traffic

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST SHELL (UK) is looking to work with several nor reveal the estimated value of the deal. Nei-
Egyptian companies to establish an LNG bun- ther did it disclose the projected timeline for the
kering hub to serve ships transiting the Suez establishment of the new bunkering hub.
Canal, according to the North African country’s It did comment, though, that LNG bunker-
Ministry of Petroleum Resources. ing was likely to prove a good opportunity for
The ministry reported on October 30 that Egypt. Petroleum Resources Minister Tarek
Shell Global, a subsidiary of Shell, had signed a El-Molla was quoted as saying in the statement
letter of intent (LoI) with state-owned Egyptian that Egypt’s government was supporting the
Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) and three pri- project for multiple reasons.
vately-owned firms – Eagle Oil & Gas, Infinity For one thing, the country already handles
Solar and Pyramid Navigation – on the project. a great deal of shipping traffic by virtue of its
The partners will conduct a feasibility study and advantageous geographic position as the opera-
consider setting up a joint venture to build the tor of the Suez Canal, he explained. Demand for
LNG bunkering hub, it said in a statement. LNG is rising in the marine sector, and Egypt’s
The statement did not say when the partners government support efforts to expand the use
hoped to finalise an agreement on the project of natural gas as a lower-carbon fuel, he added.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 03•November•2022