Saudi Arabia to supply full December crude volumes to three North Asian refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, will supply full contractual volumes of crude to three North Asian refiners in December, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

It was not immediately clear if state oil company Saudi Aramco would keep supplies steady to other buyers in the region as some are yet to receive their allocations for the month, the trade sources said.

In early November, the producer raised December official selling prices for crude cargoes to Asia to multi-year highs on robust demand from the region.

Last month, Saudi Aramco trimmed supplies to at least three Japanese buyers and one in South Korea by up to 10% across different Saudi crude grades for November loading as maintenance at oil fields reduced output.

As MRC wrote previously, in June 2016, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. became one step closer to building their first plant to process crude directly into chemicals, cutting out a link in the production chain from hydrocarbons to the finished products that go into plastics and other consumer goods. The state-owned companies signed an agreement to study such a project to be located in Saudi Arabia. A joint venture is possible if the companies decide to move ahead after the study is completed. Oil companies normally refine crude into transportation fuels including gasoline and diesel and leave byproducts such as naphtha to be processed separately into chemicals.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pucheng Clean Energy is likely to restart its polypropylene (PP) plant following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has planned to resume operations at the plant this week. The plant was under maintenance since mid-October 2017.

Located at Shaanxi province in China, the plant has a PP production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in mid-May 2017, Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical took off-stream its PP plant in China for a maintenance turnaround. The duration of the planned shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in Jiangsu province, China, the plant comprising three units have a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year, 100,000 mt/year and 100,000 mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) — Russia's Rosneft has approved a 2018 deal to supply CEFC China Energy about 12 MMt of crude oil as part of the Chinese firm's USD9.1 B investment in the Russian oil major, a Chinese source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Of the total supply, CEFC expects to receive 8 MMt to 10 MMt of ESPO crude from Russia's Far East, said the source, in a deal that will make the Chinese firm a dominant player in the ESPO crude market and may enable it to challenge dominant Western oil traders like Vitol and Trafigura.

The source, who declined to be named due to not being authorized to speak to media, said the rest of the supply will be Urals grade and a smaller amount of Sokol crude. "CEFC received informal notification today that the supply agreement has been approved by Rosneft's board of directors," said the source.

CEFC will start receiving oil from January, with volumes estimated at around 2 MMt for the first quarter, with volumes set to rise from April to 4 MMt each quarter. A CEFC spokesman couldn't immediately comment. Rosneft has not replied to Reuters' written request for comments.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Board of Royal Dutch Shell plc has announced an interim dividend in respect of the third quarter of 2017 of USD0.47 per A ordinary share (A Share) and B ordinary share (B Share), equal to the US dollar dividend for the same quarter last year, as per the company's statement.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Royal Dutch Shell was in talks with several potential buyers for its refinery outside of San Francisco, but the Anglo-Dutch oil giant was reluctant to part with its last asset in California. The company was then in the midst of a massive asset sale, shedding properties from Thailand to the North Sea to pay down debt following its USD54 billion purchase of smaller British rival BG Group last year.

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom.Created by the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and UK-based Shell Transport & Trading, it is the fourth largest company in the world as of 2014, in terms of revenue, and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors".
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- With several functional components manufactured using a newly developed, medical grade TPE from KRAIBURG TPE, Aptar Pharma launched its ophthalmic squeeze dispenser (OSD), as per the company's press release.

The Thermoplastic Elastomer components come into direct contact with the medical eye drop formulation. Aptar Pharma requires classification as a medical grade plastic in compliance with the stringent regulations for the primary packaging of sensitive medications.

Dry eyes can be caused by various medical conditions, such as diabetes, rheumatism and thyroid disorders, and also by draughts or contact lenses, or by prolonged exposure to computer monitors. Moisturising eye drops are a time-proven remedy. However, they seldom contain preservatives, which cause allergic reactions in many people. Due to its microbiological safety as well as easy and precise dosing capabilities, the ophthalmic squeeze dispenser (OSD) from Aptar Pharma is in widespread use as dispenser for eye drops that contain no preservatives.

To further optimise the product, the manufacturer sought a thermoplastic processable material that allows direct contact with medications. KRAIBURG TPE supported Aptar Pharma in choosing the material through to series production with a comprehensive medical technology service package. The result is a new component manufactured from a new THERMOLAST M material developed by KRAIBURG TPE for the medical and pharmaceutical market. "In close cooperation with KRAIBURG TPE we were able to further improve the exemplary safety and integrity of the ophthalmic squeeze dispenser from Aptar Pharma, without compromising its intuitive and convenient use," says Stefan Ritsche, President Global Market Development at Aptar Pharma.

Compounds for medical technology or medical applications are manufactured at KRAIBURG TPE only on special equipment reserved for these products. The company offers its customers in the medical and pharmaceutical sector an extensive service package that ensures maximum control with respect to quality, safety and reliability.

KRAIBURG TPE has been working in cooperation with Aptar Pharma for a number of years. "Early integration in the project allowed us to contribute our full range of know-how and experience and to offer our customer a TPE solution that fulfils all requirements, including the specified sterilisation", says Oliver Kluge, Medical Product Consultant at KRAIBURG TPE.

As MRC informed before, in August 2017, a new material development was announced by Germain thermoplastics elastomer manufacturer Kraiburg TPE - a new TPE series with outstanding adhesion to EPDM. The new grades are part of the Thermolast K family and are said to combine excellent adhesion to EPDM with high UV resistance and very good weatherability, in addition to good flow properties. The new material series is ideal for automotive exterior applications. Kraiburg TPE mentioned pilot projects which include window seals consisting of EPDM profiles with moulded TPE corner joints.
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