PVC prices in Russia will again rise in the second half of August

MOSCOW (Market Report) - Some Russian producers announced a further price rise of suspended PVC (SPVC) for supply to the domestic market this week. The price increase was announced by roubles (Rb) 1,000-1,500/tonne, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Russian consumers had to accept an increase in PVC prices by Rb3,000/tonne in the early August in comparison with the level of July, although initially the producers tried to achieve a price increase of Rb4,000/tonne. A number of producers have announced an increase in prices for additional volumes for August delivery of SPVC by Rb1,500/tonne since 15 August.

The price rise of Russian SPVC was a result of several factors. On the one hand, SPVC prices continue to increase in the last few weeks in the external markets, particularly in China.

Export prices for acetylene PVC in China increased by USD30/tonne by mid-August in comparison with the July level.
On the other hand, the August devaluation of the rouble against the dollar significantly affected prices of Russian PVC.

Some Russian producers announced an increase in PVC prices in September, so that the total increase in prices amounted to at least Rb2,000/tonne in relation to the beginning of August.

Despite the announced increase in prices, local processors are not in a hurry to form additional stocks, partly because of limited working capital, partly because of the desire to keep prices at the current level.
MRC

Venture Global LNG announces additional private placement funding of USD160M

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venture Global LNG, Inc. has announced that it has raised additional private capital of approximately USD160 million from large institutional investors, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company has now raised a total of USD630 million to support the development of its projects.

The transaction proceeds will fund Venture Global LNG’s continued development activities for its proposed LNG export facilities in Louisiana. The company is developing both the 10 MTPA Calcasieu Pass facility on the Gulf of Mexico and the 20 MTPA Plaquemines LNG facility on the Mississippi River using a highly efficient, mid-scale liquefaction technology provided by its strategic partner GE Oil & Gas, LLC, part of Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE).

In response to the capital raise, Co-CEO Mike Sabel stated, "Both new and existing investors recognize our quality execution as we continue signing binding 20-year agreements for the purchase of LNG from our Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines projects. Our growing list of world-class partners, which includes Shell, BP, Edison S.p.A., Galp, and PGNiG, among others, can feel confident in our ability to deliver the lowest cost LNG from North America."

Co-CEO Bob Pender added, "Following receipt of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for our Calcasieu Pass project in June, we are preparing for our FERC authorization and the commencement of construction in early 2019. The contracting momentum for our Plaquemines project continues to grow, and we expect to announce additional milestones in the near term."
MRC

U.S. crude stockpiles soar unexpectedly despite record refinery runs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped unexpectedly last week despite record high refinery runs, while gasoline stocks decreased and distillate inventories grew, the Energy Information Administration said, as per Reuters.

"We've gotten hit by a wall of crude," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "This is really unheard of to have refiners running at 98 percent at this time of year and have it not impacting the crude stockpiles."

Crude inventories rose 6.8 million barrels in the week to Aug. 10, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 2.5 million barrels.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose 1.64 million barrels, EIA said.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 1.34 million barrels per day. Refinery crude runs rose by 383 Mbpd to 17.98 MMbpd, the highest on record, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 1.5 percentage points to 98.1 percent, the highest since 1999.

The build in crude stockpiles added to downward pressure on crude futures, which had dropped USD1 a barrel prior to the report. U.S. crude futures extended losses to more than USD2 after the data and was last trading at USD64.85.

Gasoline stocks fell by 740,000 barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 583,000-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1 million-barrel increase, the EIA data showed.
MRC

Citgo to resume Aruba refinerys refurbishing work next month

MOSCOW (MRC) - A unit of Citgo Petroleum in September plans to resume long-delayed work to refurbish an idled, 235,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery on Aruba, the Caribbean island’s government said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Due to a lack of credit, Citgo Aruba Refining in February had slowed efforts at the plant amid U.S. financial sanctions imposed since 2017 on its parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Under a USD685-million project that was approved in 2016 by Aruba’s government in a 25-year lease contract, Citgo aims to revamp and restart a facility that has been idled since 2012 when the previous operator, U.S.-based Valero Energy, halted crude processing due to low profits.

Citgo declined to comment.

PDVSA and its subsidiaries are increasingly under pressure to gain access to a Caribbean terminal or a refinery since U.S. producer ConocoPhillips in May began seizing the company’s overseas assets to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award.

The project’s latest phase will require about USD35 million in investment and will take eight to 10 months to be completed, Aruba’s Labor Ministry said in a statement. Some 150 additional workers will be hired for the task.

"The total number of workers, mostly local, is now reaching 500 people ... Financing for this stage is already available," Aruba’s Labor Minister Glenbert Croes said.

The plan was submitted by Citgo to the government of Aruba earlier this week, according to three sources with knowledge of the talks.

Citgo appointed new executives for its Aruba unit in June in preparation for the new stage of the refurbish plan.
MRC

HDPE plant taken off-stream by Shanghai Golden Phillips

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai Golden Phillips Petrochemical Co, a subsidiary of Sinopec Shangai Petrochemical Co, has shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant owing to poor economic fundamentals, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has undertaken an unplanned shutdown at the plant on August 14, 2018. The exact duration of the outage could not be ascertained.

Located in Shanghai, China, the HDPE plant has a production capacity of 135,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, the company shut down its HDPE plant in Shanghai from end-May to 13 June, 2017, owing to a lack of feedstock availability.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
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