State-owned Argentine energy firm YPF SA has invested $122 million in two polypropylene businesses in the region.
In the first deal, global polyolefins leader LyondellBasell sold its polypropylene business in Ensenada to Buenos Aires-based YPF and Grupo Inversor Petroquimica SL (GIP) of Madrid. That business — Petroken Petroqumica Ensenada SA — operates a PP unit with almost 400 million pounds of annual production capacity in Ensenada.
The transaction is valued at $145 million, officials with Houston-based LyondellBasell said in an Aug. 18 news release. YPF and GIP each will own 50 percent of Petroken.
LyondellBasell executive Tim Roberts said in the release that his firm “will continue to focus on regions and assets that will have the greatest impact on value creation for our shareholders.” Roberts is executive vice president of global olefins and polyolefins for LyondellBasell.
In a separate deal, YPF purchased a 46 percent stake in Petroquimica Cuyo (Petrocuyo) from GIP. Petrocuyo operates almost 300 million pounds of annual PP capacity at a plant in Lujan de Cuyo.
YPF had exited resin production in 2005, but had continued to supply propylene monomer to both the Ensenda and Lujan de Cuyo sites. The firm's $122 million investment represents its share of the Petroken deal and the price it's paying to GIP for the Petrocuyo stake.
YPF employs 14,000 and posted sales of $17.5 billion in 2014, producing oil, natural gas, gasoline and petrochemicals.