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Majors seek to strengthen downstream

  • Märkte: Oil products
  • 18.03.16

Restructuring refining operations and targeting growth in petrochemicals have helped the majors boost downstream profits

The majors benefited from their integrated business models last year, as downstream profits outstripped upstream results. All are focused on optimising downstream operations to improve profitability and reduce dependence on refining.

BP has been pursuing a strategy of improving returns and focusing on downstream businesses where it sees competitive advantages. "Lubricants and retail are high-return businesses — lubricants are more exposed to growth, but even 35-40pc of our retail is exposed to growth markets," BP downstream chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic told Argus in an exclusive interview. BP's refining capacity is among the lowest of the majors, after retrenching heavily through asset disposals, including the sale of two major US refineries in 2013. But the firm doubled its underlying refining profitability last year, owing to improved reliability and efficiency, as well as feedstock advantages and other factors, Erginbilgic says.

BP and Shell are seeking tighter control over downstream assets by dismantling long-standing refinery joint ventures. Shell and state-owned Saudi Aramco will divide the assets of their US refining and marketing joint venture, Motiva. Combining two Louisiana refineries from Motiva with Shell's other downstream ventures in North America will "provide simpler and more highly integrated businesses that deliver increased cash and returns", the firm says. BP is dismantling its German refining joint venture with Russia's state-controlled Rosneft to refocus control.

Shell's refining capacity dropped by a fifth and marketing volumes by 30pc between 2007 and 2015, but downstream profits increased by 10pc and returns on capital employed by 40pc. More than half of Shell's downstream is not linked to volatile refining margins, making it a "really solid, predictable, rateable income stream", chief financial officer Simon Henry says.

And while the majors are cutting upstream capital expenditure (capex), downstream capex plans are better supported. Shell's downstream needs about $5bn/yr of capital investment to "stand still or capture a little bit of value here and there", chief executive Ben van Beurden says. Shell plans around $7bn in downstream investment this year. "We have a few opportunities to invest in very advantaged projects... predominantly in petrochemicals," van Beurden says.

Cash converters

Total is investing in new conversion units at its 308,000 b/d Antwerp facility and raising the capacity of the Satorp refinery joint venture in Saudi Arabia by 10pc to 440,000 b/d. "These projects will deliver an additional $500mn/yr of cash flow from 2017," chief executive Patrick Pouyanne says. Investment decisions on a new ethane cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, and the debottlenecking of two petrochemicals crackers in Qatar could be taken this year.

ExxonMobil's refining cash operating costs are 15pc below the industry average, it says, partly through investments in increased feedstock and logistics flexibility. Downstream investment plans include feed processing and logistics improvements at the 500,000 b/d Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery this year, a 20,000 b/d crude unitexpansion at the 348,000 b/d Beaumont, Texas, plant, and ethylene and polyethylene capacity expansion at Baytown and Mont Belvieu in 2017. "Production of higher-value products such as premium distillates, lube base-stocks and chemical feedstocks is needed to further enhance profitability," chief executive Rex Tillerson says. "Output of high-value products is expected to increase by an additional 10pc over the next few years," he says.

Chevron has been shifting its downstream exposure towards higher-return lubricants and chemicals. But it still sees fuels refining and marketing accounting for 58pc of capital employed downstream in 2018, compared with 65pc last year.

Majors' downstream results000 b/d
Oil product salesRefinery runs
201520142015201420152014
Shell10,2433,4116,4326,3652,8052,903
ExxonMobil10,9757,3605,7545,8754,4324,476
BP7,1113,7385,6055,3201,7051,721
Total7,4481,9624,0053,7691,9381,775
Chevron7,6014,3362,7352,7111,7021,690

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