ExxonMobil exports first cargo of offshore US oil to Rotterdam refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil is shipping a cargo of crude produced from its deepwater Julia field in the Gulf of Mexico to its refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, marking the first export of offshore oil to leave a US port since a ban was lifted, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The crude came from initial well tests conducted on the Julia project, Aaron Stryk, a company spokesman, said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The oil company is sending a modest 18,000 bbl of oil on a Panamax tanker, the PGC Marina, according to a bill of lading published at Bloomberg terminals and Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data. Refiners typically do tests to see how new crudes will impact yields from making fuels.

While only a small volume, the cargo is the first known export of offshore oil from the United States since Congress lifted a ban last December. Until now, all other shipments had been of light onshore oil.

The vessel departed from Gramercy, Louisiana, in early April and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on April 19, according to the data.

It was not clear whether Exxon would continue to export Julia crude, but the firm anticipates an initial production of 34,000 bpd following the startup of the field in the second quarter of this year, according to its website.

Initial testing on the Julia field, a joint venture between Norway's Statoil and ExxonMobil located roughly 200 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana, began in March.

Commissioning activities are underway for the startup of the field, Stryk said in an email. Two wells are completed, and the company is in the process of drilling a third well.

As MRC informed earlier,a fire erupted at ExxonMobil's refinery in Baytown, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, sending a large plume of black smoke into the air that was visible for miles across Houston. Exxon said the fire was later extinguished, no workers were injured and output would not be hurt at the 560,500-bpd oil refinery, the second-largest in the United States. The company provided no information on the affected unit but said it would monitor air quality around the complex and the community.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) has announced that it will establish a new manufacturing site in Plana nad Luznici, Czech Republic, according to GV.

According to YFAI, construction work on the new plant will start soon. Operational start is planned by early 2018. The company says it plans to create about 300 new jobs in the region.

“With our new location in South Bohemia, we are responding to market demand and our customers’ increasing presence in Eastern Europe,” said Jochen Heier, Vice President and General Manager, Europe & South Africa at YFAI.

On around 20,000 m2 production area the company will manufacture interior components, including instrument panels and door panels, for future models of different customers. The plant will be set up to adapt flexibly to the capacity requirements of YFAI and its customers and enable the company to respond to continued growth in the automotive market.

The new plant in the South Bohemian region is not YFAI’s first presence in the Czech Republic. The company already operates a plant in Zatec as well as other sites in Slovakia and Hungary in Eastern Europe.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2014, Nexen Tire Corp., South Korea's smallest tiremaker, announced that it aimed to make inroads into the European market by spending 1.2 trillion won (USD 1.17 billion) to build a new production plant in the Czech Republic,

YFAI is a supplier of instrument panels and cockpit systems, door panels, floor consoles and overhead consoles. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company has around 100 manufacturing and technical centres in 17 countries and employs over 28,000 people globally. Established in 2015, YFAI is a joint venture between Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Co., Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd., the component group of SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, and the multi-industrial company Johnson Controls.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India-based JBF Petrochemicals has signed a long-term agreement with ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd. (OMPL) for the supply of paraxylene, the main raw material in the production of purefied terephthalic acid (PTA), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

JBF Petrochemicals is in the process of commissioning a PTA plant with 1.25 MMtpy of capacity, using technology from BP, at Mangalore. The paraxylene will be supplied by OMPL to JBF through a dedicated pipeline of about 3 kilometers in length.

The agreement includes the supply of paraxylene (PX) over a period of 10 years, with a provision to further increase the period of supply by another 5 to 10 years by mutual consent.

The deal assures the long-term supply of raw material for the PTA project, according to JBF officials.

As it was written earlier, in 2013, Technip was awarded by JBF Petrochemicals, a wholly–owned subsidiary of JBF Industries Ltd, an important contract(1) for a 1.25 million tons per year latest-generation purified terephthalic acid (PTA) unit, to be located in the Special Economic Zone in Mangalore, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fairfax India Holdings Corp., through wholly-owned subsidiaries, has agreed to invest USD300-million in exchange for a 30% equity interest in the Sanmar Chemicals Group, reported Apic-online.

Fairfax is limited to investing no more than 25% of its total assets in any single investment, with a current limit of about USD250-million.

The company said it will fund an initial tranche of USD250-million upon the closing of the transaction, and the second tranche of $50-million will be funded within 90 days thereafter by subsidiary Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. The first tranche is expected to be completed during the second quarter of this year.

Sanmar currently has a combined total of 300,000 t/y of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) capacity at facilities in Mettur and Cuddalore, India. The company is also expanding its Egyptian PVC capacity to 400,000 t/y from 200,000 t/y.

"Once the expansion is completed, Sanmar will have a total PVC capacity of over 700,000 t/y, making it among the largest PVC companies in the world," noted Fairfax. Additionally, Sanmar produces ethylene, caus-tic soda and other chemicals.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, Taiyo Vinyl, another large petrochemical producer in Asia and one of Japan's largest PVC manufacturer, is likely restart its PVC plant in mid-April 2016 following a maintenance turnaround. The plant was taken offstream in early March 2016. Located in Yokkaichi in Japan, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 310,000 mt/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire broke out during routine maintenance at a United Petrochemical Company plant in the Saudi industrial city of Jubail on Saturday, killing 12 workers and injuring another 11, said Reuters.

The fire was small and extinguished quickly, the report said, but left people with severe smoke inhalation due.

United is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE (SABIC).

Spokesmen for SABIC and United could not immediately be reached for comment.

As MRC informed earlier, SABIC said that it had started trial operations at a new rubber plant it has built as a joint venture with a unit of ExxonMobil.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

MRC