Dec 16, 2008 (Reuters via COMTEX) -

Sunoco says seeking sale of chemicals business

U.S. refiner Sunoco Inc wants to sell its chemical business and is looking for a partner to supply it with crude oil from the Canadian oil sands, Chief Executive Officer Lynn Laverty Eisenhans said on Monday.

Both rival companies and private equity firms are interested in evaluating the chemicals business, said Eisenhans, who took over the CEO job in August, in a presentation to analysts.

The chemicals business, which posted a profit of $26 million in 2007, operates facilities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas an Ohio and produces products used to make nylon, resins, adhesives and different types of plastics.

The company also operates under a limited partnership with Equistar Chemicals LP.

"If we don't get a buyer who can get it done, we will continue to run it," Eisenhans said, adding the company planned to use proceeds from a potential sale to invest in more profitable businesses.

Philadelphia-based Sunoco expects to boost its SunCoke unit's coke-making operations to supply the steel-making industry.

Sunoco, like other refiners, has seen its margins suffer as the U.S. economic recession has crimped demand for gasoline and other products. Eisenhans said the business would remain "challenging and volatile."

The company is also seeking a partner to supply crude oil to its U.S. Northeast refining system and could convert its Tulsa refinery into a terminal if it could not sell the plant, she said.

Eisenhans said Sunoco, was also hoping to find a partner to supply its Toledo, Ohio refinery with crude from the Canadian oil sands.

The oil industry has spend the past two years seeking to link Canada's vast oil sands reserves in Alberta with refining capacity in the United States.

ConocoPhillips and EnCana have 50-50 stakes in Alberta reserves and two U.S. refineries, and last year, BP Plc and Husky Energy agreed to link BP's Toledo, Ohio, refinery with Husky Energy's oil sands holdings.

Such arrangements provide a secure market for the extra-heavy crude and allow companies to avoid building upgraders in Alberta, where a tight labor market has led to skyrocketing costs.

Shares in Sunoco were down 1.8 percent to $35.29 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, underperforming the broader Standard & Poor's Energy index, which was up 2.2 percent.

2008/12/15

http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/99/994/99437/items/318512/8396E9FB-DBFC-4B97-9232-E78749AA1C0B_121508.pdf

Chemicals
　Assets consistently generate income and cash but have not met targets for return on investment
　Weak global economic demand negatively impacting market outlook
　Actively pursuing sale of business… execution depends on ability to get reasonable value

北米の能力（10億ポンド）　同社推測

PP　Lyondell　3.2
　　 ExxonMobile 2.7
　　 Sunoco 2.5
　　 Total 2.5
　　 Ineos 2.3
　　 Formosa 1.8
　　 Dow 0.9
　　 Others 5.1
　　 合計　21.0　

フェノール
　　 Sunoco 1.8
　　 Shell 1.3
　　 Ineos 1.3
　　 Mount Vernon 0.7 (Sabic/citgo/JLM)
　　 Dow/Carbide 0.6
　　 Georgia Gulf 0.5
　　 Others 0.2
　　 合計　6.4

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Sunoco HomePage

The Chemicals business manufactures, distributes and markets refinery-based petrochemicals used in the fibers, resins and specialties markets.

Key products include polypropylene, phenol and bisphenol-A used in many consumer and industrial products. With production at nine plants and annual sales of approximately five billion pounds, Sunoco Chemicals is a major force in its markets.

The primary focus of Sunoco chemicals is to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing marketplace in order to maximize profitability and better serve its customers through safe and reliable operations while pursing the necessary investments to remain competitive and enhance the earning power of the business.

Sunoco Chemicals' product line includes phenol, acetone, nonene, tetramer, alpha-methylstyrene, toluene, xylene, benzene, cyclohexane, bisphenol-A, and polypropylene. We are the number one producer of phenol in the US and number two globally. We are now the number three producer of polypropylene in North America due to the acquisition of the Bayport production facility in Pasadena, TX from Equistar in spring 2003. Further strengthening its position in polypropylene is its Technology & Commercial Center in Pittsburgh, PA, which is among the most advanced technical support facilities worldwide dedicated to helping customers meet market challenges.

We manufacture our products at sites located in Marcus Hook, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Frankford (Philadelphia, PA), Eagle Point (Westville, NJ), Haverhill, OH, Neal, WV, La Porte, TX and Bayport, TX. Sunoco Chemicals, in partnership with Suncor Energy, also markets petrochemicals manufactured at the Toledo, OH refinery and Suncor's Sarnia refinery located in Ontario, Canada.

　

March 28, 2003 　Equistar 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　参考　Sunoco, Inc.

Equistar Agrees to Supply Propylene to Sunoco for 15 Years and Sell Bayport Polypropylene Unit in Pasadena, Texas
http://ir.thomsonfn.com/InvestorRelations/PubNewsStory.aspx?partner=Mzg0TlRNME5nPT1QJFkEQUALSTO&product=MzgwU1ZJPVAkWQEQUALSTOEQUALSTO&storyid=84053

Lyondell announced that its joint venture Equistar Chemicals, LP, is entering into a long-term propylene supply arrangement with Sunoco, Inc. and is selling its Bayport polypropylene manufacturing unit in Pasadena, Texas, to Sunoco, subject to certain conditions. The transaction will be effective as of March 31.

Beginning April 1, 2003, Equistar will supply propylene to Sunoco for a period of 15 years, and a majority of the propylene to be supplied will be provided under a cost-based formula.

Equistar is selling its Bayport polypropylene unit to Sunoco, but will retain ownership of its Bayport low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit. Sunoco will operate both units.

Bayport,TX : PP、LDPE
　　　built by El Paso Products Company in the 1970s,
　　　Lyondell Petrochemical acquired the facility in 1990 from Rexene Corporation.

　

三菱商事　アリステック・ケミカルをスノコ社に売却　　　　　　　　Sunoco発表

能力：ポリプロピレン（ＰＰ）６３万トン、フェノール４２万７０００トン、２−エチルヘキサノール１２万０００トン、フタル酸１２万トンなど

三菱商事のアリステック取得の経緯は後記。

2003/3　Equister, SunocoにＰＰプラント売却、プロピレンを長期供給

2003/4 　Sunoco Signs Letter of Intent to Sell Its Plasticizer Business to BASF

　

April 25, 2003

Sunoco Signs Letter of Intent to Sell Its Plasticizer Business to BASF
　　　　　　　http://www.sunocochem.com/news/3975.htm

Sunoco, Inc. today announced the signing of a letter of intent for Sunoco to sell its plasticizer operations to BASF.

The sale includes the Sunoco Pasadena, Texas, site, including the land, phthalic anhydride, and oxo manufacturing plants, plus the plasticizer esters, 2-ethylhexanol, and phthalic anhydride businesses. Although the Sunoco Neville Island site is not part of the transaction, it will produce plasticizers for BASF under a tolling agreement.

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The Beginnings in Ohio

Sunoco got its start on March 27, 1886, when Joseph Newton Pew and Edward O. Emerson, partners in The Peoples Natural Gas Company in Pittsburgh, Pa., made a bold move to diversify their business. Looking to the promising new oil discoveries in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the partners paid $4,500 for two oil leases near Lima, Ohio.


A Major Expansion

In a dramatic acquisition in 1980, Sun purchased the U.S. oil and gas properties of Texas Pacific Oil Company, Inc., a subsidiary of The Seagram Company, Ltd., for $2.3 billion. At the time, this was the second largest acquisition in the history of U.S. business. The year before, in 1979, Sun also had taken a wider position in coal by acquiring eastern reserves from Elk River Resources, Inc.

Focus on Refining and Marketing

Sun's strategic direction would now focus on the value added businesses: branded gasoline marketing in the northeastern U.S.; lubricants; chemicals and logistics.

In 2001, Sunoco took a quantum step in the growth of its chemicals business, acquiring Pittsburgh-based Aristech Chemical Corporation. Included in the purchase were five Aristech chemical plants and a state-of-the-art research center in Pittsburgh. This acquisition not only doubled the size of Sunoco's chemicals business but also enabled Sunoco to become a significant player in the world's chemical markets.

Growing the Business

In March of 2003 Sunoco acquired a 400 million pounds-per-year polypropylene facility from Equistar, and in January 2004, it completed the sale of the plasticizers business to BASF.