BP Statistical Review shows long-term shifts underway

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The 2017 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy shows global energy markets continuing to undergo long-term changes as they also adapt to nearer-term price challenges, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Data published in the Review—the 66th annual edition—demonstrate the long-term transitions underway in the markets, with a shift to slower growth in global energy demand, demand moving strongly towards the fast-growing developing economies of Asia, and a marked shift towards lower carbon fuels as renewable energy continues to grow strongly and coal use falls.

At the same time, energy markets are adjusting effectively to nearer-term challenges, with the oil market in particular adjusting in 2016 to the oversupply that has dominated the market in recent years.

Introducing the Review, Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said: “Global energy markets are in transition. The longer-term trends we can see in this data are changing the patterns of demand and the mix of supply as the world works to meet the challenge of supplying the energy it needs while also reducing carbon emissions. At the same time markets are responding to shorter-run run factors, most notably the oversupply that has weighed on oil prices for the past three years.

"To understand these forces at work and their implications for the future, we need timely, reliable data. This is why we produce the Statistical Review – to provide the accurate global information that will contribute to discussion, debate and informed decision-making around the world."

In 2016 global energy demand was weak for the third consecutive year, growing by just 1%, around half the average growth rate of the past decade. Once again, almost all this growth came from fast-growing developing economies, with China and India together accounting for half of all growth.

The year’s low prices drove demand for oil higher by 1.6% while growth in production was limited to only 0.5%. As a result, the oil market returned broadly back into balance by mid-year, but prices continued to be depressed by the large overhang of built-up inventories. Natural gas production was also adversely affected by low prices, growing by only 0.3%. US gas output fell in 2016, the first reduction since the advent of the shale revolution in the mid-2000s.

Renewables were again the fastest growing of all energy sources, rising by 12%. Although providing still only 4% of total primary energy, the growth in renewables represented almost a third of the total growth in energy demand in 2016. In contrast, use of coal—the most carbon-intensive of the fossil fuels—fell steeply for a second year, down by 1.7%, primarily due to falling demand from both the US and China.

The combination of weak energy demand growth and the shifting fuel mix meant that global carbon emissions are estimated to have grown by only 0.1%—making 2016 the third consecutive year of flat or falling emissions. This marks the lowest three-year average for emissions growth since 1981–1983.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has announced the "successful and flawless" commissioning of the last crystallization train (Train 3) at its paraxylene facility in Jamnagar, India, as per Apic-online.

The plant, built with BP's state-of-the-art crystalliza-tion technology, more than doubles RIL's paraxylene capacity to 4.2-million-t/y, making RIL the "world's second largest" producer of paraxylene with about 11% of global production.

RIL commissioned the second phase of the complex this past April, which comprised a second crystallization train, trans-alkylation and aromatic extraction units.

As MRC wrote previously, RIL shut its cracker, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants located at Hazira for a maintenance turnaround on March 23, 2017 . Both the plants remained off-stream for around 25 days. Located at Hazira near Surat in Gujarat, the cracker has a production capacity of 1.1 mmt/year and the downstream PP plant has a production capacity of 600,000 mt/year. The PE plant has a capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I and SK Advanced Co. Ltd. are celebrating the record production rates and outstanding operation of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Seoul, South Korea, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant uses CB&I’s CATOFIN technology and Clariant’s dehydrogenation catalyst for the nameplate production of 600,000 mtpy of propylene. CB&I announced the license and basic engineering contract for this plant in March 2013.

"We congratulate SKA on achieving more than 110 percent of the nameplate production in the first year of operation," said Brian Muldoon, CB&I’s Senior Vice President of Petrochemicals. "Our proven CATOFIN propane dehydrogenation technology offers the customer both highest reliability and highest yield of any commercially available dehydrogenation technologies." SKA routinely produces over 110 percent nameplate capacity while maintaining more than a 98% on stream factor.

On March 8, 2017, a small ceremony was held at the SKA headquarters to commemorate the first anniversary of the successful operation of the PDH project. In its first year, the plant has experienced record production rates as well as record on-stream time.

As MRC informed before, in mid-May 2016, SK Advanced Co. began trial production of propylene at its PDH plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The new 600,000-t/y facility was subject to performance testing. Commercial operations were then expected to begin in the second quarter of 2016.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Oil prices dropped to six-week lows on Thursday, under pressure from high global inventories and doubts about OPEC's ability to implement agreed production cuts, said Reuters.

Brent crude oil fell 30 cents to USD46.70/bbl, its weakest since May 5 and just above six-month lows, before recovering a little to trade around USD46.85 by 1150 GMT. US light crude was down 25 cents at USD44.48, also not far off six-month lows.

Both crude benchmarks have lost all the gains made at the end of last year after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed with other big producers to cut output in an effort to prop up prices. OPEC and its allies have promised to restrict output until at least the end of the first quarter of next year to try to drain surplus supply.

But inventories are near record highs in many parts of the world, and many traders expect further price falls. "The market is in trouble," said Tamas Varga, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates. Crude prices have fallen about 12% since May 25, when OPEC agreed to extend its output limits into next year.

Despite the deal, some OPEC members, including Nigeria and Libya, have been exempt from cutting and their rising output is seen to be undermining efforts led by Saudi Arabia. "OPEC 2017 year-to-date exports are only down by 0.3 MMbpd from the October 2016 baseline," analysts at AB Bernstein wrote. OPEC's pledge was to cut some 1.2 MMbpd, while other producers including Russia agreed to bring the total reduction to almost 1.8 MMbpd.

But production in the United States, which is not part of the deal, has jumped 10% over the past year to 9.33 Mbpd. "Production growth in Libya and Nigeria and continued rig additions in the US are complicating the picture, raising doubts on OPEC's strategy," AB Bernstein said.

The US government's Energy Information Administration has raised its forecast for domestic output growth in 2017 to 460,000 bpd from a predicted decline of 80,000 bpd in December. OPEC now expects US production to increase by 800,000 bpd in 2017.

This suggests global oversupply will persist for a while. The International Energy Agency says it expects oil supplies next year to outpace demand despite consumption hitting 100 MMbpd for the first time.
MRC