US renewable fuel credits pressured by biodiesel tax credit optimism

MOSCOW (MRC) — US renewable fuel credits remained under pressure on Thursday as expectations mounted that lawmakers may soon renew a USD1/gal rebate for biodiesel blenders that could curb worries over tight supplies in the thinly-traded market.

Prices of the biomass-based diesel (D4) Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits traded at 80 cents apiece on Thursday and as low as 78 cents on Wednesday. That is down from 83.5 cents earlier this week, traders said. Without the USD1 rebate, the government-issued credits would likely rise.

Oil refiners use the credits to meet government requirements for use of renewable fuels including ethanol. Fuel companies can either meet the requirements by blending biodiesel with petroleum-based biodiesel, or buy RINs credits. Reinstating the biodiesel rebate, which expired at the end of 2016, could entice biodiesel makers to ramp up production and would make it more cost-effective for blenders to use it.

A bill including the biodiesel and renewable diesel income tax credit was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday. Sources expected the rebate would be renewed retroactively for 2017 and extended through 2018. Many people think “it’s a done deal,” said a trader at a US biodiesel producer.

The tax credit would be a boon for a biofuels market embattled by increased criticism from lawmakers and oil refiners. In November, the Environmental Protection Agency disappointed the biodiesel industry by keeping mandates for use unchanged.

Industry groups such as the American Trucking Association and Petroleum Marketers Association for America pressed US legislators in a letter this week for an extension. The blenders credit first went into effect as part of the American Jobs Creation Act from 2005–2009. It often has been renewed retroactively late in the calendar year and extended to the next year, lapsing for the fifth time since 2009 on Dec. 31, 2016.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SNC-Lavalin has announced that it has signed a Framework Agreement (FA) with Shell to provide pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for modular options on Shell's projects, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This agreement represents a significant milestone for SNC-Lavalin in the development of industry standard pre-engineered solutions with a major International Oil Company.

The scopes of work under this agreement will be executed from three centers of excellence in Singapore, Houston and Dubai.

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".
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Seoul said it protested strongly against China’s initiation of an anti-dumping probe into South Korea’s styrene monomer (SM) imports, as per GV.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it "strongly" urged a "fair investigation" into the SM anti-dumping allegation at a public hearing held by the Chinese commerce ministry in Beijing on Tuesday (28 Nov 2017).

South Korea is the largest SM exporter to China. It shipped USD 1.25 billion worth of SM products to China last year, commanding a 30 % share among exporters of the item to China.

Beijing began the investigation in June after six Chinese petrochemical companies claimed unfairly cheap SM imports from South Korea, Taiwan and the United States were hurting the local SM industry.

Seoul denied the charges, claiming that Korean firms have been selling products at prices determined by global supply and demand.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2017, China's Ministry of Commerce has initiated anti-dumping investigations on SM imports from South Korea, Taiwan and the US, following a recent petition filed by Chinese SM producers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Neste's Board of Directors has decided that Neste's additional production capacity for renewable diesel, renewable aviation fuel and raw materials for various biochemical uses will be located in Singapore, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The decision initiates technical design of the new production line, with the aim of a final investment decision by the end of 2018. If the project proceeds as planned, production at the new production line will begin by 2022.

The new production line will extend Neste's current capacity in the Singapore refinery by one million tons. The growth project includes an enhanced pre-treatment unit in preparation for the use of increasingly poor-quality waste materials.

Neste currently has a renewable diesel production capacity of 2.6 MMt. Of this total, more than 1 MMt is produced in Singapore, the same amount in Rotterdam and the rest in Porvoo, Finland. By eliminating bottlenecks, this total capacity will be increased to 3 MMt by 2020. In addition to producing renewable diesel, the refineries are able to produce renewable aviation fuel and raw materials for various biochemical uses.

As MRC informed before, in April 2017, technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs and refinery and petrochemical group Unipetrol have signed an agreement for Neste Jacobs to perform a comprehensive energy efficiency study of Unipetrol's Litvinov oil refinery in Czech Republic,
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp has written to the oil ministry for integration with GAIL (India) Ltd and Oil India Ltd as option 1 and 2, said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday, reported Reuters.

The government has not taken any decision in this regard, Pradhan told lawmakers in a written reply.

India wants to build bigger oil companies to better compete with global oil giants and withstand oil price volatility through integration of state-run oil firms.

The government has approved sale of its 51.1% stake in refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp to oil producer Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

As MRC wrote previously, India's state-owned gas utility company GAIL India plans to import ethane from countries including the US, for its upcoming USD5 billion joint-venture Andhra Pradesh petrochemical plant. GAIL is seeking 1.3 million mt/year of ethane for 15 years for its JV ethane cracker with India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), located on the east coast of India beginning 2022, the company said in February 2016.
MRC