ICRC buying fuel to pump clean water in Yemen as "last resort"

MOSCOW (MRC) — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday it was making a "stop-gap" purchase of fuel so as to provide clean water to one million people in the Yemeni cities of Hodeidah and Taiz for one month, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The fuel shortage in Yemen has become "critical" under the Saudi-led coalition's blockade, partially lifted this week, leaving water systems in nine cities without fuel to run pumps, ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said. "As a last resort and in light of the large and urgent needs...we are purchasing fuel to supply the urban water corporations in Hodeidah and Taiz with fuel, enough to operate their water pumps for one month," Jaquemet told Reuters.

The ICRC is buying 750,000 liters of fuel for the two cities, she said, calling it "an exceptional stop-gap measure." The lack of fuel has a "cascading impact on several vital sectors"—water and sanitation as well as health and food, as prices have risen sharply, she said. Fuel is needed to transport goods and run hospital generators and maintain cold chains for vaccines and medicines.

Saudi Arabia and its allies closed air, land and sea access to the Arabian Peninsula country on Nov. 6, to stop what it calls a flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The action came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards its capital Riyadh. Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weapons.

A first aid ship, carrying 5,500 t of flour docked in the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea on Sunday."Humanitarian aid has started coming in and it's a very welcome first step but we need commercial imports," Jaquemet said.

ICRC trucks have brought medical material into Yemen this week, mainly badly needed dialysis material, she said. A shipment of kits for treating trauma patients is expected to berth in Aden shortly, she added. "These war-wounded kits will enable surgeries for over 400 people and are to be distributed to 10 hospitals and 15 field hospitals across north and south Yemen."

The ICRC is stepping up assistance to combat an outbreak of diphtheria in Ibb governorate, including protective equipment for hospital staff to avoid spread of the highly-infectious respiratory disease, she said. Some suspected cases and 20 deaths have been recorded in 13 governorates, more than 80% in Ibb, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Yemen is also reeling from a cholera epidemic, with 960,065 suspected cases and 2,219 deaths reported since April, according to the latest WHO figures.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-run Bahrain Petroleum Co (Bapco) has awarded a consortium led by UK-based TechnipFMC a contract to expand Bahrain’s only oil refinery, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Bahrain has long been planning to expand the refinery and industry sources told Reuters in August that Bapco held further talks with the consortium which submitted the lowest bid.

The consortium includes Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and South Korea’s Samsung Engineering.

Bapco and TechnipFMC did not respond to a request for immediate comment.

A spokesman for Samsung Engineering confirmed the news to Reuters. Tecnicas Reunidas declined to comment.

As MRC wrote previously, in May 2016, France's Technip announced an all-stock merger with U.S. rival FMC Technologies to create an oil services group with combined revenue of USD20 billion. Under the terms of the deal, each Technip share was converted into two shares of TechnipFMC, and each FMC Technologies share was exchanged for one share of TechnipFMC, with each company's shareholders owning close to 50% of the combined company.

Technip is a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry.
From the deepest Subsea oil & gas developments to the largest and most complex Offshore and Onshore infrastructures, our 37,500 people are constantly offering the best solutions and most innovative technologies to meet the world’s energy challenges. Present in 48 countries, Technip has state-of-the-art industrial assets on all continents and operates a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — China's crude oil imports are expected to rebound in January as demand from independent refiners will accelerate once 2018 import quotas are in place, and processors start to replenish inventories, analysts and trade sources said, as per Reuters.

China's crude imports are expected to rise to another record in 2018 as new capacities are brought online and Beijing allows more independent refiners to import crude.

Robust demand growth in the world's largest crude importer—China having overtaken the United States this year—is also helping to support global oil prices just as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-OPEC producers are set to extend supply cuts.

China's crude imports could hit 8.8 MMbpd next year, while January shipments may hit a monthly record of 8.53 MMbpd as independent refiners receive their import quota and buyers start to replenish stocks ahead of Chinese New Year in mid-February, said Seng Yick Tee, analyst at Beijing-based consultancy SIA Energy.

"An oil price at above $60/bbl is unlikely to dampen buyers' enthusiasm as refiners can pass on the cost to end-users on the upward trend of crude prices," Tee said. Beijing is expected to bring forward the release of 2018 import quotas to December, allowing shipments to enter the country from January, refining and trade sources said. For 2017, the Ministry of Commerce issued quotas in January.

"Demand is accelerating because of more crude quotas coming in January," a source with an independent refiner said. The source said refineries are placing more orders for crude arriving in the second half of January on concerns that the quotas may not come in time.

Stronger than expected fuel demand and firm margins has lifted China's refinery use rates and pushed crude oil inventories to their lowest in more than seven years as refiners drew down stocks. China is likely to buy crude mainly from the Middle East and Russia, while some of its demand will be met from other regions, the sources said.

Spot premiums for Oman and Russian ESPO grades, two of the most popular among independent refiners, have hit multi-month highs for January loading. As much as 800,000 bpd of US crude is expected to arrive in Asia in December, said an analyst who tracks oil flows.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total has inaugurated the new units at its Antwerp integrated refining & petrochemicals platform, which have progressively started up in the last few months, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This event marks the completion of the upgrade program launched in 2013 of one of the largest and most efficient integrated refining & petrochemicals platforms in Europe. Thus, the company has invested more than EUR1 B to further improve the competitiveness of this major site located in the heart of Europe's main markets.

Two key projects were completed:

- An investment in a new refining complex was approved for the conversion of more heavy fuel oil into low-sulfur light products.
- A deasphalting unit and a hydrocracker were built to increase the production of clean and high-value-added products.
- The new refining complex will reduce the high-sulfur heavy fuel oil yield, in anticipation of the new marine fuel regulation that will take effect in 2020.
- Steam cracker flexibility has been increased to maximize the processing of low cost advantaged feedstock.
- A new unit was built to convert rich gases produced by the refinery into cracker feedstock.
- One of the two steam crackers and site logistics has been adapted to import and process ethane.

Total also announced a logistics project last August to connect the platform to the neighboring storage terminal via a new pipeline and the expansion of the terminal's capacities to maximize product value.

As MRC informed earlier, in April 2015, Total announced that its proposed new ethane cracker near its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, is being designed to have a capacity of 1 million tpy.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed on Thursday to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018 as they try to finish clearing a global glut of crude while signaling a possible early exit from the deal if the market overheats, as per Reuters.

Russia, which this year reduced production significantly with OPEC for the first time, has been pushing for a clear message on how to exit the cuts so the market doesn't flip into a deficit too soon, prices don't rally too fast and rival US shale firms don't boost output further.

Russia needs much lower oil prices to balance its budget than OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia, which is preparing a stock market listing for national energy champion Aramco next year and would hence benefit from pricier crude. The producers' current deal, under which they are cutting supply by about 1.8 MMbpd in an effort to boost oil prices, expires in March.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC allies had agreed to extend the cuts by nine months until the end of 2018, as largely anticipated by the market.

OPEC also decided to cap the combined output of Nigeria and Libya at 2017 levels below 2.8 MMbpd. Both countries have been exempt from cuts due to unrest and lower-than-normal production.

Falih said it was premature to talk about exiting the cuts at least for a couple of quarters as the world was entering a season of low winter demand. He added that OPEC would examine progress at its next regular meeting in June.

"When we get to an exit, we are going to do it very gradually ... to make sure we don’t shock the market," he said. OPEC and Russia together produce more than 40% of global oil. Moscow's first real cooperation with OPEC, put together with the help of President Vladimir Putin, has been crucial in roughly halving an excess of global oil stocks since January.

With oil prices rising above $60, Russia has expressed concerns that an extension for the whole of 2018 could prompt a spike in crude production in the United States, which is not participating in the deal. A joint OPEC and non-OPEC communique said the next meeting in June 2018 would present an opportunity to adjust the agreement based on market conditions.
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