Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company implements Honeywell connected plant to enhance performance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Kuwait Paraxylene Production Co. (KPPC) will use two Honeywell Connected Plant services to improve the performance of its CCR Platforming and aromatics complex, which produces paraxylene for plastic fibers and films, at its Shuaiba petrochemical facility in Safat, Kuwait, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

KPPC will use Honeywell Connected Plant's Process Reliability Advisor for ongoing monitoring, early event detection and mitigation of performance issues before they become costly. The company also will use Process Optimization Advisor, which continuously monitors streaming plant data and applies Honeywell UOP process models to determine the most economical mode of operations. Both services use big-data analytics and machine learning to improve plant operation.

"Both of these services combine plant process data with Honeywell UOP expertise and powerful software to enable our customers to run more reliably and at the top of their plant capabilities," said Zak Alzein, vice president for Honeywell UOP's Connected Performance Services business. "We will be able to identify operational adjustments that provide significant incremental value that KPPC is able to achieve by using these services."

Honeywell Connected Plant combines the company's unmatched industrial expertise, software and digital technologies to make its customers' operations more reliable, profitable and secure than ever before possible. Part of Connected Plant, Process Reliability Advisor leverages Honeywell UOP process models and fault models configured to each operation, finding problems that hamper production, and preventing unplanned shutdowns that can deprive plant operators millions of dollars per year in lost productivity.

Process Optimization Advisor provides recommendations based on plant-specific information, with actual operating constraints and economic information, providing recommendations that can significantly improve plant profitability.

Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Aromatics Company (KARO), a joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), Kuwait National Petroleum Company and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company. As the aromatics unit of PIC, KPPC is one of the region's largest marketers of paraxylene. The Shuaiba aromatics complex annually produces 780,000 metric tons of paraxylene, which is marketed by PIC -- and 370,000 metric tons of benzene, which is used locally for production of styrene monomer by The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC).

Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell's Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions, a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.

Honeywell is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiners in the Midwest will be among the biggest winners after Hurricane Harvey dealt a blow to their competitors on the US Gulf Coast, reported Reuters.

Refiners such as PBF Energy and HollyFrontier that are not hit by Harvey are on course for their best quarter in two years amid fears of fuel shortages that helped push profit margins for making gasoline up as much as 21% on Monday.

The US refining industry enjoyed strong margins in recent weeks and the fallout from the hurricane is likely to extend the bullish run for weeks. Midwest refiners have the added advantage of pricing their fuel based on benchmark prices in the Gulf Coast markets, which hit five-year highs on Monday.

"The Midwest refineries are best positioned. They will get the same boost in prices without the disruption," said Mark Broadbent, a refinery analyst with Wood Mackenzie.

PBF Energy shares closed on Monday up 8.3 percent, while HollyFrontier ended the day up 6.5%.

Valero and Phillips 66, refiners with significant capacity shuttered in the Gulf, closed the day up just 1.1% and 0.28%, respectively.

More than 2 MMbpd of US refining capacity remain shut because of Harvey, which slammed into the Texas coast near Corpus Christi late on Friday. Restarting those plants even under the best conditions can take a week or more.

Compounding matters is that the Houston Ship Channel, a prime artery for crude supplies, could be closed for an extended period of time.

The storm is set to keep dumping torrential rain on the state for days, potentially delaying refinery restarts. If any of them are damaged, strong profit margins for other refineries will last longer.

"Once the rain stops, we finally can get assessment of any damage and how long this will take," said Broadbent.

The US East Coast is largely supplied via the Colonial Pipeline from the Gulf Coast, but those supplies are expected to be tight in upcoming weeks as refiners in and around Houston get back on their feet.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions booked cargoes of gasoline into Florida, a traditional Gulf Coast market, two shipping sources said on Monday.

West Coast refineries are expected to ship barrels into the western side of Mexico in coming days and weeks, temporarily replacing an emerging market for Gulf Coast refiners, the shipping source said.

U.S. refineries were running at near full rates in the weeks before the storm, chasing healthy margins as the critical summer driving season comes to a close and leaving very little spare capacity to help supply the hard-hit Texas region as it recovers from the storm.

"The Gulf Coast is not only going to need gasoline for transportation, but to rebuild a society," Ed Hirs, an energy professor at the University of Houston, said on Monday. "For those refineries not impacted, they will certainly profit."

As MRC wrote before, oil markets were roiled on Monday after Tropical Storm Harvey wreaked havoc along the US Gulf Coast over the weekend, crippling Houston and its port, and knocking out several refineries as well as some crude production. US gasoline prices hit two-year highs as massive floods caused by the storm forced refineries in the area to close. In turn, U.S. crude futures fell as the refinery shutdowns could reduce demand for American crude. Brent futures steadied as pipeline blockades in Libya slashed the OPEC state's output by nearly 400 Mbpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Benchmark European gasoline refining margins spiked nearly 9% on Tuesday to their highest since April after more than 2 MMbpd of US refining capacity was knocked offline by Hurricane Harvey, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Margins, the profit from refining crude into gasoline, hit USD15.45/bbl in morning trade. Benchmark diesel margins also stood more than 16% above the low hit just a week ago, amid concerns about cargoes diverted away from Europe.

Harvey knocked out 13% of refining capacity in the US, the world's largest oil consumer, while the continuing rain and flooding threatened other units, including the country's largest refinery.

The shutdowns are expected to prompt a late-year spike in gasoline bookings from Europe to compensate for output losses. Buyers in the US and in Latin America, which has been reliant on US exports, could turn to Europe, traders said.

"Owners are being asked to provide transatlantic options on cargoes being shipped out of the Med or NWE with the view to diverting cargoes to the US or Latin America," said Andrew Wilson, head of energy research at shipping firm BRS Brokers.

US gasoline prices surged to two-year highs on Monday to USD1.7799 per gallon. By 1039 GMT on Tuesday, they were trading at USD1.7014.

Between Friday and Tuesday, at least eight vessels were booked to sail from Europe to the US, trade sources told Reuters, a slightly higher figure than normal and above the levels of recent weeks.

Freight rates on the route rose as a result of enquiries, hitting 150 on the World Scale on Tuesday, up from about 107 in the middle of last week.

Trading and shipping sources said other cargoes, including diesel and jet fuel booked for Europe, could be diverted to the US or Latin America to fill the gap left by refinery closures.

One vessel, the Hafnia Daisy, loaded with diesel in the US Gulf and bound for Europe, had turned around by Tuesday.

PVM Oil and Associates said Latin America typically imported about 1 million bpd of gasoline and diesel, so any buy who did not secure alternative supplies "especially Mexico, will find itself in the middle of a fuel shortage."
MRC

MOSCOW (Market Report) - Prices for low density polyethylene (LDPE) had dynamically declined in Russia since the second half of April. But situation in the market radically changed in August, and price growth has resumed, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The capacities of Angarsk Polymers Plant and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat were shut for scheduled maintenance works practically all July. Nevertheless, the long shutdowns of the two producers did not change the situation in the market. The turnaround at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat continued in August; Tomskneftekhim shut its capacities for a turnaround in August; Kazanorgsintez and Ufaorgsintez decreased capacity utilisation. Consequently LDPE supply tightened by mid August, leading to the price rise.

Supply of PE was more than sufficient in the market in the early August. At the same time, buying activity has increased significantly. The prices of 108 PE started from roubles (Rb) 74 000/tonne FCA, including VAT, and above; 158 PE was sold for Rb79,000/tonne FCA, including VAT, and more.

By the middle of the month, many traders selling LDPE by Ufaorgsintez production, said that they sold all their August PE volumes. Kazanorgsintez had begun to limit LDPE supply into the domestic market by the mid-August.
Supply of PE from Gazprom neftekhim Salavat was still absent in the market. The company planned to resume production by August 5, but due to problems with ethylene, the launch took place only by 29 August.

The dynamic decline in prices in the domestic market made some Russian producers to increase the export of LDPE in recent months. July PE exports from Russia exceeded 21,400 tonnes; PE exports over the 20 days of August made about 16,000 tonnes. At the same time, in the beginning of August, export prices for some LDPE grades equalled domestic prices.

Strong demand and limited supply of LDPE in the market began to put pressure on prices in the Russian market in the second half of August. In the last week of the month, the supply of polyethylene in the market was insignificant from traders, the prices reached the level of Rb84,000/tonne FCA, including VAT, for 108 LDPE and Rb86,500/tonne FCA, including VAT, for 158 PE. Market has waited for the settlement of the September level of contract prices for Russian PE.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US gasoline futures jumped to two-year highs while an already weak dollar hit 16-month lows against a basket of currencies on Monday as Tropical Storm Harvey pummelled the heart of the US energy sector and raised concerns about the economy, said Reuters.

The dollar index, on the defensive since US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen failed to mention monetary policy in a closely watched speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, extended its falls as the most powerful storm to hit Texas in more than 50 yr was seen as negative for economic growth.

Weakness in the US currency helped the euro to its highest in two and a half years at close to USD1.20, building on gains made on Friday after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi refrained from talking down the strong currency.

Renewed euro strength pushed European stock markets to a two-week low, with German and French stock markets down around 0.3% each . Trade in general was subdued, with the London market closed for a public holiday.

"The strong euro is weighing on European stock markets," said London Capital Group analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "Tapering talks could further demoralize stock traders in the run-up to the ECB verdict (next month). IT stocks are again on the chopping block."

Gasoline futures soared as much as 6.8% as the storm, which came ashore on Friday, continued to batter the state. They were last up 5 percent. US crude futures fell as the refinery shutdowns could reduce demand for American crude.

Brent futures also eased, but losses were capped as pipeline blockades in Libya slashed the OPEC country's production by nearly 400 Mbpd. Harvey is the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 yr, killing at least two people, causing large-scale flooding, and forcing the closure of Houston port as well as several refineries.

It has knocked out a quarter of oil production from the Gulf of Mexico, prompting fears it could overturn years of excess US oil capacity and low prices. "Although the full impact of the storm's damage is yet to be determined, the markets expect the impact will be felt globally and affect energy markets for many weeks," an analyst at FxPro said in a note.

US economic growth more than halved in the quarter after Hurricane Katrina mauled Louisiana in August 2005, but bounced back by early 2006 as reconstruction began and gasoline prices moderated. Asian stock markets including Japan's Nikkei index ended the session little changed, though shares in Japanese property and casualty insurers skidded as investors fretted about the broader impact of the U.S. storm. In contrast, China's major stock indexes rose to 20-month highs after a series of strong earnings .

Markets mostly dismissed North Korea's firing of three short-range missiles into the sea on Saturday.
MRC