Petrobras extends deadline for nondisclosure agreements on refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Monday it extended a deadline to sign nondisclosure agreements for partnerships in refining, as requested by interested parties, reported Reuters.

Five companies have signed nondisclosure agreements and others have expressed interest, Petrobras said in a securities filing, without naming the firms. The new deadline was not disclosed.

Petrobras’ planned sale of a 60 percent stake in four refineries, announced on April 19, is part of a wider effort to unload assets to reduce debt. The refineries will be sold in two regional blocks, in the Northeast and in the southern region, with two refineries each.

Petrobras has said it will retain about 75 percent of its domestic refining capacity after the privatization of the four units.

Reuters reported on May 24 that Petrobras would accept nonbinding proposals by July. Among the potential bidders were buyout firms Patria Investimentos Ltda, which has an investment agreement with Blackstone Group LP, and First Reserve Management LP, as well Brazilian firms Ultrapar Participacoes SA and Cosan SA Industria e Comercio.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

PP imports to Belarus grew by 8% in January-April 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polypropylene (PP) to Belarus rose in the first four months of 2018 by 8% year on year, totalling slightly over 32,100 tonnes. Demand for all grades of propylene polymers increased, according to MRC's DataScope report.

April PP imports into Belarus were 9,200 tonnes versus 8,100 tonnes a month earlier, propylene copolymers accounted for the main increase in shipments. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 32,100 tonnes in January-April 2018, compared to 29,700 tonnes a year earlier.

The supply structure by PP grades looked the following way over the stated period.


April imports of homopolymers of propylene (homopolymer PP) to the Belarusian market grew to 5,700 tonnes from 5,500 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased their purchasing of injection moulding PP in Russia. Thus, overall homopolymer PP imports reached 21,500 tonnes in the first four months of 2018, up by 6.8% year on year. Russian producers with the share of about 86% of the total shipments were the key suppliers.

April imports of propylene copolymers to Belarus were 3,500 tonnes, compared to 2,600 tonnes a month earlier, local companies reduced their procurement of injection moulding block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) in Russia and the Middle East. Thus, overall imports of propylene copolymers reached 10,700 tonnes in January-April 2018, whereas this figure was 9,600 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

PVC imports into Belarus increased by 27.4% in January-April

MOSCOW (MRC) - Total import of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to Belarus increased by 27.4% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to about 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of this year, according to MRC DateScope Report.

According to the statistical committee of the Republic of Belarus, local converters significantly reduced the volume of PVC purchases in April of this year due to large stocks left since March and weak demand for finished products. Total imports into the country were about 2,100 tonnes against 3,100 tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, imports of unmixed PVC rose to 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of the year against 8,600 tonnes a year earlier, the main increase in demand accounted for local window profile producers.

The key suppliers of PVC in the Republic of Belarus for the period under consideration were producers from Russia, their share in the Belarusian market was about 90%. The second and third place in the volume of supplies were taken by producers from Germany and Ukraine.
MRC

Russian oil export, refinery plans point to increase in output

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ahead of a meeting with Saudi Arabia and other producers, Russia already plans to increase oil exports, its July-September schedule shows, which coupled with increasing refinery runs suggests Moscow is gearing up to raise production, reported Reuters.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers are scheduled to meet on June 22-23 in Vienna to discuss a possible increase in output after more than a year and a half of coordinated cuts which have taken 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) out of the market.

Those cuts, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, having helped slash global oversupply and raised prices by almost $20 a barrel, but there are now calls, from Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak and others, that the deal be re-examined.

Crude exports and transit from Russia is expected to rise to 63.34 million tonnes in the July-September quarter from 62.45 million planned for April-June, Russia's export schedule shows.

That works out to an increase of around 20,000 bpd - not significant in itself - but comes alongside plans by Russian refiners to raise third-quarter throughput by 2.2 million tonnes versus the second quarter, energy ministry forecasts show.

Raising both would typically require a production increase.

Under the deal among OPEC and non-OPEC producers, Russia agreed to cut production by 300,000 bpd compared to its output in October 2016.

It has exceeded its production quota for the last three months, however, pumping an average 10.97 million bpd in May - or around 20,000 bpd more than agreed, ministry data showed.

Russia could quickly add back at least 300,000 bpd of production, the ministry has said.

Top producer Rosneft could increase output by 70,000 bpd in just two days, according to analysts who have recently visited the company.
MRC

Tianjin to use gasoline with ethanol in most vehicles

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Chinese city of Tianjin will use gasoline with added ethanol in most vehicles by the end of September, according to a document published on the city government's website, as Beijing pushes for adoption of the biofuel nationwide, as per Reuters.

The central government said last year that it plans to roll out the use of gasoline blended with 10 percent added ethanol nationally by 2020, to cut corn stocks and clean up choking smog.

The move by Tianjin, a port city of around 15 million people in northern China, was the first official plan by a provincial government to implement the national policy since it was announced.

Tianjin is expected to use 260,000 tonnes of fuel ethanol each year if that goal is realized, the city government said.

That would mean consumption of 780,000 tonnes of corn, as three tonnes of corn would be used to make one tonne of ethanol.

China is currently sitting on huge stocks of corn estimated to be at about 200 million tonnes, following a now discontinued government stockpiling scheme to support farmers.

China currently produces less than 2.5 million tonnes of ethanol a year, but the new policy could increase demand to 15 million tonnes a year by 2020, according to a Reuters estimate.

Domestic producers were ramping up output, on cheaper corn and government subsidies, hoping to get a share in the potentially booming market.
MRC