Petrobras starts reopening Replan refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA has begun procedures to reopen its largest refinery, closed after an explosion and fire, last week-end, Gustavo Marsaioli, reported Reuters with reference to a spokesman for the oil workers’ union.

Marsaioli said Petrobras intends to reopen the Paulinia refinery, known as Replan, at half-capacity given the fire early last Monday that affected part of the facility. The unaffected part may go back into production a week after procedures for reopening are completed, Marsaioli said.

Petrobras did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Replan accounts for about 20 percent of Petrobras’ refining capacity, processing the equivalent of 434,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the company’s website.

A Petrobras executive said the incident was serious but that the company had enough stocks to cover Replan halting operations for 15 days.

As MRC informed before, in October 2017, Petrobras’ 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 prevents 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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil stockpiles fell more than expected in the fourth week of August as imports declined and refinery runs held close to record highs, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration.

Crude futures extended gains after the report, with global benchmark Brent crude up USD1.65 at USD74.28 a barrel by 10:46 a.m. EDT (1446 GMT), and US crude USD1.53 higher at USD67.38 a barrel.

"The report was supportive due to the large drop in crude oil inventories, which occurred due to high demand from refiners," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York. A significant drop in crude oil imports after a spike higher last week also supported prices, he said.

Crude inventories fell 5.8 million barrels in the week to Aug. 17, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.5 million barrels.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 772,000 barrels, EIA said.

Net crude imports fell last week by 1.1 million barrels per day.

Refinery crude runs slipped 89 Mbpd from the previous week’s record high to 17.9 MMbpd, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates remained unchanged at 98.1 percent of total capacity, the highest rates since 1999.

Gasoline stocks rose 1.2 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 488,000-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.5 million barrels increase, the EIA data showed.

US crude production rose 100 Mbpd to 11 MMbpd last week, according to the data.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Par Pacific Holdings is shutting its 93,500 barrel per day (bpd) Kapolei, Hawaii, refinery due to the threat posed by approaching Hurricane Lane, reported Reuters with reference to Joseph Israel, president of Par Pacific Petroleum, a subsidiary of Par Pacific Holdings.

Israel said if current forecast models are correct, the company could begin restarting the refinery over the weekend if the plant sustains no damage.

Island Energy Services’ 54,000 bpd Honolulu refinery continued to operate on Thursday as the company monitored the progress of the category 4 Hurricane Lane in the eastern Pacific Ocean, spokeswoman Carina Tagupa said.

Current forecast models predict Lane will turn before making landfall on the island of Oahu where the two refineries are located.

Israel said the company was not going to bet the safety of its employees or neighbors on the forecast.

"You don’t want to be a victim of a bad model," he said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has introduced Luminate, a new generation of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalysts for gasoil refiners, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Luminate catalyst is tailored to deliver superior conversion while improving coke selectivity, which can help refineries maximize profitability. This is BASF’s first catalyst based on a new Improved Zeolite Y (IZY) technology.

Commercial trials in multiple FCC units showed that the catalyst delivers superior liquid product yields with lower delta coke.

"The Luminate catalyst is an innovative new addition to BASF’s advanced and industry-leading refinery catalysts portfolio," said Detlef Ruff, Senior Vice President, Process Catalysts at BASF. "Our customers who used Luminate during FCC refinery trials clearly saw what they were hoping for - lower delta coke and more of the valuable liquid products their customers need."

"We have additional customers scheduled to begin using Luminate and we anticipate similarly positive results from those refineries," said Jim Chirumbole, Vice President Refining Catalysts at BASF. "This innovation takes us a step further into the future by helping our refining customers around the world process gasoil, as well as hydrotreated and lighter feedstocks, more profitably."

As MRC informed before, in December 2017, BASF’s Coatings division inaugurated a new automotive coatings plant at its Bangpoo manufacturing site, Samutprakarn province, Thailand. The new plant is the first BASF automotive coatings manufacturing facility in ASEAN, and will produce solventborne and waterborne automotive coatings to meet growing market demand in the region.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia has called off both the domestic and international stock listing of state oil giant Aramco, billed as the biggest such deal in history, reported Reuters with reference to four senior industry sources, reported Reuters.

The financial advisors working on the proposed listing have been disbanded, as Saudi Arabia shifts its attention to a proposed acquisition of a “strategic stake” in local petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE, two of the sources said.

"The decision to call off the IPO was taken some time ago, but no-one can disclose this, so statements are gradually going that way - first delay then calling off," a Saudi source familiar with the IPO plans said.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Saudi Royal Court had no immediate comment.

The proposed listing of the national champion was a central part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform drive aimed at restructuring the kingdom’s economy and reducing its dependence on oil revenue.

The prince announced the plan to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in 2016 via a local and an international listing, predicting the sale would value the whole company at USD2 trillion or more. Several industry experts however questioned whether a valuation that high was realistic, which hindered the process of preparing the IPO for the advisors.

Stock exchanges in financial centers including London, New York and Hong Kong had been vying to host the international tranche of the share sale.

An army of bankers and lawyers started to fiercely compete to win advisory roles in the IPO, seen as a gateway to a host of other deals they expected to flow from the kingdom’s wide privatization program.

The prince announced the plan to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in 2016 via a local and an international listing, predicting the sale would value the whole company at USD2 trillion or more. Several industry experts however questioned whether a valuation that high was realistic, which hindered the process of preparing the IPO for the advisors.

Stock exchanges in financial centers including London, New York and Hong Kong had been vying to host the international tranche of the share sale.

An army of bankers and lawyers started to fiercely compete to win advisory roles in the IPO, seen as a gateway to a host of other deals they expected to flow from the kingdom’s wide privatization program.

"The message we have been given is that the IPO has been called off for the foreseeable future," said one of the sources, a senior financial advisor.

"Even the local float on the Tadawul Stock Exchange has been shelved," the source added.

Saudi energy minister and Aramco chairman Khalid Al Falih said in the company’s 2017 annual report, released in August, that Aramco "continued to prepare itself for the listing of its shares, a landmark event the company and its board anticipate with excitement."

Aramco had a budget which it used to pay advisors until the end of June. This has not been renewed, one of sources said.

"The advisors have been put on standby," a third source, a senior oil industry official said.

"The IPO has not been officially called off, but the likelihood of it not happening at all is greater than it being on."

Sources have previously told Reuters that in addition to the valuations, disagreements among Saudi officials and their advisers over which international listing venue to be chosen had slowed down the IPO preparations.

As MRC informed before, Saudi Aramco’s potential acquisition of a stake in petrochemicals maker SABIC would affect the timeframe of its own planned initial public offering, the firm’s chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a TV interview in late July 2018.

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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