Sinopec says petrol stations, oil storage unaffected by quake in Sichuan

MOSCOW (MRC) — Sinopec Corp said its oil storage facilities and petrol stations have not been affected by the earthquake that struck a remote and mountainous part of the province of Sichuan in southwestern China on Tuesday night, said Reuters.

Similarly, PetroChina's refinery, gas fields and pipelines have not been affected by the Sichuan earthquake, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

The quake measured 6.5 in magnitude in a sparsely populated area 120 mi west-northwest of the city of Guangyuan at a depth of 6 mi.

As MRC informed before, Sinopec group, parent of Sinopec Corp, will invest USD29.05 billion to upgrade four refining bases between 2016 and 2020 to produce higher-quality fuels. Sinopec's upgrades come as China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, is embracing more stringent fuel standards in its battle against pollution and suffering an overall glut in refining capacity. After the upgrades, the total refining capacity of the four refining sites will reach 130 MMtpy, or 2.6 MMbpd, while ethylene capacity will reach 9 MMtpy.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — ExxonMobil Corp is considering expanding light crude processing capacity at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery with the addition of a third crude distillation unit, a company spokeswoman said, said Reuters.

If approved, construction could begin on Unit C in 2019 and be completed in 2022, said Exxon spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker. She declined to disclose the contemplated capacity or possible cost of the Unit C expansion.

"These investments reflect the increased availability of abundant, affordable supplies of US light crude," Huffaker said. The expansion would be part of the USD20-B "Growing the Gulf" project announced in March by Exxon Chairman and Chief Executive Darren Woods.

While Exxon has mentioned potential expansion of light oil refining capacity at the Beaumont plant as part of that project, this is the first time the company has talked about Unit C and given a timeline for possible construction.

Since at least 2014, Exxon has been considering the addition of a large distillation unit that would boost Beaumont's crude oil refining capacity from 362,300 bpd to between 700,000 bpd and 850,000 bpd, sources told Reuters in 2014 and 2015.

The contemplated crude capacity expansion was put on hold in early 2016 due to cuts in capital spending, sources said at the time.

On Thursday night, sources familiar with Exxon's plans said the company was now looking at adding a large crude distillation unit at the refinery. The two crude units currently at the Beaumont refinery are Units A and B.

The last major expansion of a US refinery was the 5-yr, USD10-B addition of a crude distillation unit and other units at Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur, Texas, refinery which more than doubled its size to 603,000 bpd. The expansion was completed in 2012.

The Motiva expansion was originally budgeted at USD5 B, but went through a year-long review in 2009.

Last year, Exxon added 20,000 bpd in light crude refining capacity to Unit A at the Beaumont refinery, Huffaker said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — OPEC expects greater adherence to its pact with non-OPEC producers to cut oil output after two days of meetings in Abu Dhabi aimed at boosting compliance with the accord, said Reuters.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers are cutting output by about 1.8 MMbpd until March 2018 to get rid of a glut and support prices.

OPEC producers Iraq and the UAE have shown relatively low compliance with the deal based on figures from secondary sources OPEC uses to monitor its supply. Meanwhile, non-OPEC Kazakhstan and Malaysia have been boosting output in the last few months, according to the International Energy Agency.

In Abu Dhabi, a panel comprising Russia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, plus officials from OPEC's Vienna headquarters, met individually with officials from Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. "Discussions were conducted in a constructive atmosphere and proved fruitful," OPEC said in a statement.

"The conclusions reached with the countries at the meeting will help facilitate full conformity," it added, although it did not give details on how compliance would be increased. The meeting was a special session of the JTC, or Joint Technical Committee, which is monitoring adherence to the deal. A ministerial panel, known as the JMMC, met last month and instructed that the Abu Dhabi meeting be held.

"The UAE, Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia all expressed their full support for the existing monitoring mechanism and their willingness to fully cooperate with the JTC and JMMC in the months ahead in order to achieve the goal of reaching full conformity," OPEC said.

Another OPEC source said the officials discussed crude exports and some countries' disagreement with the level of their production as assessed by the secondary sources.

At a meeting held in Russia last month, the UAE and Iraq confirmed their commitment to the pact but offered no concrete plan on how to meet their production targets, sources said.

Iraq and the UAE say the assessment of their production by secondary sources—figures from government agencies, consultants and industry media that OPEC uses to monitor its output—before the pact took effect in January was too low.

They argue that as a result, the two countries have the unpalatable task of making an even bigger cut to comply fully.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft said it had made around USD6 billion in pre-payments to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and had no immediate plans to make any further advance payments soon, said Reuters.

OPEC member Venezuela is struggling to pay back creditors as its economy endures triple-digit inflation and chronic shortages of food and medicine.

Last Friday, Venezuela inaugurated a new legislative superbody that is expected to rewrite the constitution and give vast powers to President Nicolas Maduro's ruling Socialist Party, defying protests and worldwide condemnation that it undermines democratic freedoms.

Russia is a close political ally of Venezuela's leaders. Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin said earlier this year his company, the world's top listed oil firm by output, would continue to work in Venezuela and would never leave the country.

As of Tuesday, Rosneft's pre-payments to PDVSA have totaled around USD6 billion, Rosneft said on a conference call with investors. This includes principal of USD5.7 billion and interest of USD245 million, it said.

"The repayment is proceeding according to schedule," the company said. "To date, a total of USD743 million on the principal has been repaid and another USD489 million in interest."

"We expect the final repayment to be made in oil and oil product deliveries, which are ongoing strictly according to a schedule which we cannot provide to you. We expect full repayment before the end of 2019. No new pre-payments are planned."

Rosneft also plans to close the deal to buy a stake in India's refiner Essar Oil in the coming days, Pavel Fyodorov, Rosneft first vice-president, told the same conference call on Tuesday.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kronos Worldwide, Inc. reported net income of USD196.5 million, or USD1.70 per share, in the second quarter of 2017 compared to net income of USD1.7 million, or USD.01 per share, in the second quarter of 2016, as per Euroinvestor.

For the first six months of 2017, Kronos Worldwide reported net income of USD233.3 million, or USD2.01 per share, compared to a net loss of USD2.1 million, or USD.02 per share in the first six months of 2016. We reported higher net income in the 2017 periods as compared to the 2016 periods in part due to higher income from operations in 2017 resulting from the favorable effects of higher average selling prices, higher sales and production volumes and lower raw materials and other production costs. In addition, our results in the 2017 periods include the recognition of a non-cash deferred income tax benefit as a result of a net decrease in our deferred income tax asset valuation allowance related to our German and Belgian operations, as discussed below.

Net sales of USD441.4 million in the second quarter of 2017 were USD85.3 million, or 24%, higher than in the second quarter of 2016. Net sales of USD811.2 million in the first six months of 2017 were USD136.7 million, or 20%, higher than in the first six months of 2016. Net sales increased in 2017 due to higher average TiO2 selling prices and higher sales volumes. The Company's average TiO2 selling prices were 20% higher in the second quarter of 2017 as compared to the second quarter of 2016 and were 19% higher in the first six months of the year as compared to the same prior year period. The Company's average selling prices at the end of the second quarter of 2017 were 8% higher than at the end of the first quarter of 2017, and were 12% higher than at the end of 2016, with higher prices in all major markets. TiO2 sales volumes in the second quarter of 2017 were 6% higher as compared to the same period in 2016 due to higher sales in the North American and European markets, partially offset by lower sales in the Latin American market. TiO2 sales volumes in the first six months of 2017 were 5% higher than the same period in 2016 due to higher sales in the North American and export markets, partially offset by lower sales in the Latin American market. Kronos' sales volumes in the second quarter and first six months of 2017 set a new overall record for a second quarter and first-six-month period. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates (primarily the euro) also affected net sales comparisons, decreasing net sales by approximately USD8 million in the second quarter 2017 and approximately USD15 million in the first six months of 2017 as compared to the same periods in 2016. The table at the end of this press release shows how each of these items impacted the overall increase in sales.

The Company's TiO2 segment profit (see description of non-GAAP information below) in the second quarter of 2017 was USD73.7 million as compared to USD13.4 million in the second quarter of 2016. For the year-to-date period, the Company's segment profit was USD130.2 million as compared to USD17.2 million in the first six months of 2016. Segment profit increased in the 2017 periods primarily due to higher average TiO2 selling prices, higher sales and production volumes and lower raw materials and other production costs. Kronos' TiO2 production volumes were 8% higher in the second quarter and 9% higher in the first six months of 2017 as compared to the same periods in 2016. We operated our production facilities at an overall average capacity utilization rates of 100% in the first six months of 2017 (approximately 100% of practical capacity in the first and second quarters) compared to approximately 96% in the first six months of 2016 (97% and 95% in the first and second quarters of 2016, respectively). Fluctuations in currency exchange rates also affected segment profit comparisons, which decreased segment profit by approximately USD5 million in the second quarter and by approximately USD13 million in the year-to-date period.

Kronos Worldwide, Inc. is a major international producer of titanium dioxide products.
MRC