PVC imports to Belarus up by 56% in H1 2017

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian oil major Rosneft and partners closed their USD12.9 B purchase of Indian refiner Essar Oil on Monday, giving them a foothold in one of the world's fastest growing oil users, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The deal is the first foray by Rosneft into Asia's refining sector and the biggest foreign acquisition ever in India, as well as Russia's largest outbound one. It also deepens Russian and Indian economic ties that stretch back to the Soviet era.

Kremlin-controlled Rosneft and its partners—global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP—purchased a 98.26% stake in Essar Oil in a deal announced in October. The rest of Essar will be held by retail investors.

"(Rosneft) has entered the high-potential and fast-growing Asia Pacific market," Rosneft’s Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said in a statement.

The deal will enable Rosneft to improve the efficiency of fuel supplies to other nations in Asia, he added.

India's oil demand is expected to rise by an average of 5.9% a year through 2020, among the fastest in the world, according to a report last month by Goldman Sachs.

To capitalise on that, Rosneft and its partners are acquiring Essar's oil refinery in Vadinar that can process 400,000 bpd of crude. The refinery is in the western Indian state of Gujarat and the deal includes a port, a power plant and 3,500 fuel stations.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — At least one person died and five others suffered burns after a pipeline exploded during an illegal tap in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, state-owned oil company Pemex and state emergency services said on Saturday, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The fire had been brought under control, state emergency services said on Twitter.

Fuel thieves regularly tap Pemex pipelines, stealing millions of liters of fuel in high-risk maneuvers that can often be deadly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Kazakhstan may lift a ban on the export of gasoline and diesel fuel a year earlier than planned to help local refineries increase profits after spending heavily on equipment upgrades, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said on Monday, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under an agreement with Russia, Kazakhstan in 2014 banned exports of so-called white products, including gasoline and diesel fuel, until Jan. 1, 2019. In exchange, the former Soviet republic receives duty-free fuel from Russia.

Bozumbayev told reporters the government planned to initiate talks with Russia about lifting the ban from January 2018 as that would help refineries repay "loans taken out to finance costly upgrades."

Kazakhstan has three main oil refineries and after the upgrades they could boost output of gasoline and diesel fuel to a level exceeding domestic demand by 1.5 MMtpy–2.0 MMtpy for each product, Bozumbayev said.

The Atyray and Pavlodar refineries plan to complete equipment upgrades in the second half of this year, while the Shymkent refinery aims to finish upgrades next year.

Kazakhstan imported 609,000 t of gasoline from Russia by rail in January–July this year, down from 640,000 t a year earlier. However, the Central Asian nation also imported 168,000 t of diesel fuel and 179,000 t of airplane fuel from Russia, up from 81,000 t and 112,000 t respectively.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gasoline production by US refiners and blenders has run near record levels over the first seven months of 2017, with four-week rolling average production well above its five-year average and close to the top of its five-year range, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

US gasoline inventories also remain relatively high despite growing domestic and foreign demand. Growth in US gasoline production since March is the result of record-high refinery runs. For the week ending April 21, US refinery runs exceeded 17.5 MMbpd for the first time since EIA began publishing the weekly data series in 1990. Refinery runs have since exceeded this threshold eight additional times, reaching an all-time high of 17.9 MMbpd the week ending on Aug. 4. About 44% of the input to refineries is converted to motor gasoline.

Net production of finished motor gasoline, which averaged 9.3 MMbpd for the week ending Aug. 11, reflects the unadjusted refiner and blender net production of finished motor gasoline less the use of fuel ethanol in order to isolate the petroleum component. This quantity is 191,000 bpd lower than the five-year high for early August but still more than 492,000 bpd higher than the previous five-year average.

Despite historically high gasoline production levels, gasoline inventories have been declining because of above-average gasoline exports and domestic demand (EIA uses product supplied as a proxy for demand). However, gasoline inventories remain higher than the previous five-year average.

Total gasoline exports, including finished gasoline and blending components, are relatively small compared to domestic demand, averaging 761,000 bpd in 2016 compared with domestic product supplied of 9.3 MMbpd. Estimated gasoline exports have remained relatively high so far in 2017, and as of Aug. 11, were about 222,000 bpd higher than the previous five-year average.

Following a record-setting year in 2016, motor gasoline demand has remained relatively high in 2017. During the first half of the year, weekly product supplied remained lower than 2016 levels, but reached a record high of 9.84 MMbpd for the week ending July 28 before declining to 9.52 MMbpd the week ending August 11, 2017.

Crude oil prices over the past several months have been relatively stable compared with recent years. Since the first week of April, the difference between the highest and lowest prices of Brent crude oil over the previous 52 weeks has been less than USD13/bbl, the narrowest range since August 2014. Gasoline prices have also been relatively stable. As of August 7, the 52-week range for average US regular retail gasoline prices was 30 cents/gal, the narrowest 52-week range since March of 2004, with the exception of a two-week period in April when the 52-week range was one cent per gallon narrower.

EIA’s August Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts that 2017 motor gasoline consumption will be virtually identical to 2016 levels, with product supplied expected to increase by less than 0.1%, to an average of slightly more than 9.3 MMbpd for the year. By comparison, gasoline consumption in 2016 was 1.6% higher than 2015 levels. The flat forecast for gasoline consumption reflects slower expected growth in non-farm employment and an expected increase in the retail price of gasoline. Gasoline consumption in 2018 is expected to grow by 27,000 bpd (0.3%) from its projected 2017 level.

MRC