November prices of European PE dropped for CIS markets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The November contract price of ethylene was settled at the level of October in Europe. However, European polyethylene (PE) producers reduced their export PE prices by up to EUR60/tonne for November shipments to the CIS countries, as per ICIS-MRC's Price report.

Negotiations over November prices of European PE to be shipped to the CIS markets began at the end of last week. Many negotiators said most European producers had reduced their export PE prices, despite the stability of monomer prices. Only in some casese, producers rolled over October prices.

Deals for November shipments of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were discussed in the range EUR940-1,050/tonne FCA, whereas October deals were done in the range of EUR1,000-1,100/tonne FCA. It should be noted that some producers significantly reduced their prices for stocks back in the second half of October, prices reached EUR930-980 per tonne, FCA.

Deals for black PE 100 were done in the range of EUR1,250-1,270/tonne FCA, which virtually corresponded to October prices.

Deals for November shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) were negotiated in the range of EUR1,070-1,180/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR1,130-1,180/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I’s LA MEG-1 project achieved a major construction milestone with the erection of a 350-ft wash tower, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A PTC-200 ringer crane with a capacity of 3,200 mt was used to set the wash tower, which is one of the largest cranes in the world in terms of capacity and reach. Even more noteworthy, is that the tower was set two weeks ahead of schedule.

The MEG-1 project was awarded to CB&I in December 2015 by Lotte Chemical Louisiana L.L.C., a subsidiary of Lotte Chemical U.S.A. and Lotte Chemical headquartered in Seoul, Korea.

The wash tower is an integral part of converting ethylene oxide into ethylene glycol. The ethylene glycol produced will be used as a feedstock to produce polymers for the plastics and clothing industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC has announced the official start of the main construction phase of its major petrochemicals complex in Pennsylvania, USA, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This follows the successful completion of the site preparation and detailed design and engineering work. The final investment decision was taken in June 2016, with commercial production expected to begin early next decade.

The early works program has been a significant project. Work included building bridges, relocating a state highway, improving existing interchanges, repositioning a rail line, and preparing foundations for the new complex. The site is now ready for the main construction to start.

Shell will now progress to the construction of four processing units - an ethane cracker and three polyethylene (PE)units. The ethane cracker will be the largest part of the facility with more than 200 major components and 95 mi of pipe.

Shell will also construct a 900-ft long cooling tower, rail and truck loading facilities, a water treatment plant, an office building and a laboratory.

The site will include a 250-MW natural gas-fired power plant, which will produce electricity and steam for the facility. About a third of the electricity produced will help supply the local electricity grid.

The petrochemicals complex will use ethane from shale-gas producers in the Marcellus and Utica basins to produce 1.6 MMt of PE per year. Polyethylene is used to make many products, from food packaging and sports equipment to furniture.

The project will help bring economic growth and jobs to the region, with up to 6,000 construction workers involved in building the facility. Shell expects to create around 600 permanent employee positions when the complex is completed.

As MRC informed before, in late June 2015, Shell Chemical received the air emissions permit for its proposed ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The proposed USD4 billion ethane cracker would be the first of its kind in the US Northeast. The cracker, expected to be completed in 2019, would feed production of 1.5 million mt/year of ethylene, 500,000 mt/year of gas-phased high density polyethylene, 500,000 mt/year of slurry HDPE, and 500,000 mt/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — The rising demand for crude oil that can more easily produce transportation fuels when refined has some Australian and Malaysian producers boasting cargoes valued at close to USD70/bbl, a hefty premium to global benchmarks, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas sold last week a December-loading Miri Light cargo at a premium of about USD4.50/bbl to dated Brent, equivalent to about USD69 at the latest prices, according to multiple traders that participate in the Asian regional crude market.

Australian Barrow Island and Cooper Basin crudes are now close to USD70/bbl currently, based on premiums for grades of about USD1.50/bbl to Malaysian benchmark grade Kimanis, said the traders. Kimanis itself is priced at a premium of about USD4.40/bbl to dated Brent, which was assessed at USD64.07/bbl on Monday by price reporting agency S&P Global Platts.

"Prices of domestic Australian grades are even higher than MCO (Malaysian Crude Oil)," an Asian trader said. "That would make them the most expensive crudes in the world." Demand for these grades is rising because of the short distances to Asian refineries, which prize the crude for their low sulfur content and higher yields of more valuable oil products such as diesel, the traders said.

Demand for short-haul grades has increased after the Brent oil market structure flipped into backwardation, when prompt prices are more than later prices. That means the value of the crude drops over the course of the voyage. The refiners are willing to pay up for the Australian and Malaysian crudes rather than incur the additional time and cost of shipping Brent supplies from the North Sea, the traders said.

Typically, Asia-Pacific grades are sold to refineries in Southeast Asia and Australia or New Zealand that have a preference for low-sulfur oil. Values for these grades have risen because of their scarcity.

Petronas and its partners Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Murphy Oil Corp, Pertamina sell about 6 MMbbl of Kimanis each month. But volumes for other Malaysian grades such as Kikeh and Labuan have fallen as output declines at the mature fields.

Australia’s crude and condensate production has been below 300,000 bpd since September 2016, data from the country’s Department of the Environment and Energy showed. In August, it was 279,000 bpd. Santos Ltd produces about 30,000 bpd of Cooper Basin crude in southern Australia, according to its website.

Santos and its partners, Chevron Corp and Mobil Australia Resources Co, a unit of ExxonMobil Corp, produces 5,000 bpd of Barrow Island in western Australia, according to Santos.
MRC