Storm in western Canada temporarily disrupts crude pipelines

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Two crude oil pipelines in western Canada were shut down temporarily on Wednesday, the day after stormy weather caused power outages in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, reported Reuters.

TransCanada Corp's 590,000-bpd Keystone pipeline, which delivers crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, was shut down for a few hours and is now back to operating as normal, spokesman Terry Cunha said.

Market sources said the Keystone shut down was due to a power outage caused by the weather.

Inter Pipeline Ltd's 82,000 bpd Mid Saskatchewan crude oil pipeline, which delivers light and heavy crude into Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, lost power following the storm and restarted on Wednesday afternoon.

"Power has been restored to Inter Pipeline’s MidSask system and we have resumed normal operations," Inter Pipeline spokeswoman Breanne Oliver said.

Fierce windstorms across much of Alberta and Saskatchewan on Tuesday caused widespread power outages and fanned fast-moving prairie fires in some areas.

As MRC wrote before, TransCanada Corp has recently said it expects to take a CUSD1 B charge in the current quarter after deciding to abandon its Energy East and Eastern Mainline pipeline projects, after intense scrutiny by Canada's energy regulator. The termination comes after the National Energy Board (NEB) expanded the scope of its review of Energy East in August, saying it would consider the pipeline's indirect greenhouse gas contributions. Energy East's importance has somewhat diminished for TransCanada since US President Donald Trump this year signed an order reviving the company's Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Alberta's oil sands to US refineries.
MRC

EPS imports to Russia decreased by 5% in January-September 2017

MOSCOW (MRC) -- January-September imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) decreased by 5% in Russia to 15,07 tonnes from 16,5 tonnes a year earlier, according to MRC's DataScope report.

About a half of the total shipments were imported by traders. September EPS imports dropped to 1,700 tonnes from 2,300 tonnes a month earlier.
Styrochem's imports were 570 tonnes last month versus 680 tonnes in August, Loyal's shipments decreased to 330 tonnes from 600 tonnes a month earlier, whereas Styrolution's imports were 340 tonnes versus 310 tonnes. Shipments from China fell to 630 tonnes in September from 990 tonnes a month earlier and accounted for 37% of the total EPS imports for the month versus a 42% stake in August. In the total imports structure by producers, Styrochem's shipments rose to 5,400 tonnes from 4,400 tonnes a year earlier, which accounted for 34% of the total imports versus a 27% stake in January-September 2016.

Loyal's share dropped to 21% (3,400 tonnes) from 25% (4,100 tonnes). Styrolution accounted for 14% (2,200 tonnes) versus 13% (2,100 tonnes), LC Chem - for 8% (1,200 tonnes) versus 6% (1,000 tonnes) in the first nine months of last year.

Imports of Chinese EPS dropped by 12% year on year in the first nine months of 2017 to 5,200 tonnes from 5,900 tonnes a year earlier.


MRC

US issues permit to expand Enbridge cross-border oil pipeline

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The United States issued a long-awaited permit covering a 3-mi segment of Enbridge Inc’s Line 67 crude oil pipeline on Monday, allowing the company to nearly double capacity on the cross-border conduit, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The permit from the US State Department for the so-called Alberta Clipper line will allow Calgary-based Enbridge to ship 890,000 bpd of Canadian crude from Edmonton, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin, up from 450,000 bpd currently. Enbridge said it welcomed the issuance of the permit after a nearly five-year review process.

“Line 67 currently operates under an existing Presidential Permit that was issued by the State Department in 2009 and the 2017 permit authorizes Enbridge to fully utilize its capacity across the border," the company said in a statement. All cross-border crude oil pipelines require presidential approval.

Enbridge first filed for the expanded Alberta Clipper permit in 2012. But like TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL, the company ran into delays obtaining the permit from the administration of then President Barack Obama.

In 2014, the company hatched a workaround plan to circumvent the delay. It connected the Alberta Clipper to its existing Line 3 pipeline on each side of the Canada-US border, and put oil from Clipper on Line 3 to cross the international boundary.

The permit from President Donald Trump’s pro-business administration, which also approved Keystone XL earlier this year, was widely expected, said AltaCorp Capital analyst Dirk Lever, and will help relieve pressure on other parts of the Enbridge system.

Enbridge’s Mainline pipeline network carries the bulk of Canada’s 3 MMbpd of crude exports to the United States and operates at close to capacity.

"This is great news for Canadian producers because it will effectively allow us to move more volumes on the system,” said Nancy Berard-Brown, manager of oil markets and transportation at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “Line 67 is the backbone of the Enbridge system."

Enbridge shares closed up 0.4% on the Toronto Stock Exchange at CUSD52.01.
MRC

Reliance plans maintenance at PTA line in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is likely to shut one of its two purified terephthalic acid (PTA) line in Dahej, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the unit is expected to be taken off-line for maintenance on October 22, 2017. It is planned to be shut for a period of around 2-3 weeks.

Located in Dahej, Gujarat in India, the two PTA lines have a production capacity of 1.1 million mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in February 2016, RIL was awarded a contract worth Rs. 100 crore to Petron Engineering Construction Ltd for its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Gujarat. The LLDPE plant is part of RIL's J-3 project in Jamnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The J-3 project boasts of a petroleum refinery and allied petrochemical plants for the production of plastics and fibre intermediates.

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

USD partners commence operations at crude terminal in Oklahoma

MOSCOW (MRC) — USD Partners LP announced the commencement of operations at its destination terminal in Stroud, Oklahoma on Oct. 1, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The planned retrofit work necessary to handle heavier grades of crude oil at the terminal was completed on time and under the Partnership’s initial budget.

The Stroud terminal provides a destination point for rail-to-pipeline shipments of heavy crude oil from the Partnership’s Hardisty terminal in Western Canada and provides connectivity to one of the largest crude oil storage hubs in North America. The direct origin-to-destination rail solution provided by the Partnership’s terminals also preserves the specific quality of product delivered into Cushing, protecting potential value for customers.

Approximately 50% of the Stroud terminal’s current capacity is available and actively being marketed to meet the takeaway needs of current and future customers.
MRC