S-Oil studying feasibility of investing in Phase II PC project in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea-based S-Oil Corp., wholly owned by Saudi Aramco, is conducting a feasibility study into building a mixed feed cracker and downstream olefins units, as part of a phase II petrochemical project near its Onsan Refinery in South Korea, according to Apic-online.

The project would involve an investment of more than KRW 5-trillion in a 1.5-million-t/y steam cracker, which would produce ethylene and other basic petrochemicals from naphtha and off-gas burned as fuel in the refinery.

The downstream units would include the production of polyethylene and polypropylene.

If approved, the project is expected to drive S-Oil's sustainable growth by diversifying its business portfolio, sharpening competitiveness and building a more stable income structure, the company noted.

"The project will significantly benefit the economy too, as it will create 2.7-million man-days during construction, 400 regular jobs, reinvigorate the construction sector and increase exports," said S-Oil.

As MRC reported earlier, in April 2018, S-Oil Corp. completed construction of its residue-upgrading complex (RUC) and olefin downstream complex (ODC), which will help enhance its competitiveness by producing more high value-added products. Othman Al-Ghamdi, chief executive of S-Oil, said that the company will focus this year on successfully completing its residue upgrading and capacity expansion project that is underway at its Onsan refinery complex in Ulsan in southern coast. The KRW 4.8 trillion (USD 4.46 billion) RUC/ODC project involves building a facility that produces high-valued chemical products such as propylene and gasoline using residues left after refining crude oil, and then using propylene to product polypropylene and propylene oxide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global energy trader Gunvor Group has put on hold plans to upgrade its Rotterdam refinery that intended to make the plant more competitive ahead of new global rules on shipping fuel quality, it said, citing market conditions, as per Reuters.

Global oil and shipping companies are looking at options to cope with the new standards that come into effect in 2020.

The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships using fuel with a sulfur content higher than 0.5 percent, compared to 3.5 percent now, unless a vessel has the equipment to clean up its sulfur emissions.

Few ships have so-called scrubbers to clean up emissions and demand for cleaner marine gasoil is expected to jump at the expense of fuel with high sulfur content.

Refiners are working to adapt and stay competitive. Analysts say upgrading a refinery with a capacity of around 88,000 barrels per day, like Gunvor’s Rotterdam plant, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Larger plants may face a bill of USD1 billion.

"The price environment and other relevant economics have changed considerably since Gunvor first began exploring the concept a year ago," the company said, referring to the upgrade facility, known as a delayed coker unit.

Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad first reported the delay, citing an internal company memo. The firm acquired a significant amount of storage when it bought the 88,000-barrels-per-day refinery from Kuwait Petroleum International in 2016.

Last year, it sold its stake in crude oil storage at the nearby Maasvlakte Olie Terminal to Saudi Aramco Overseas Co. It plans to sell its stake in the Stargate storage terminal as well but Gunvor told Reuters these efforts were now also on hold.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wood hasrecently provided technical support for Equinor’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at Melkoya Island, Norway, as part of a new contract secured under an existing master services agreement, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Hammerfest LNG is Europe’s largest LNG liquefaction plant and uses gas from the Snohvit development in the Barents Sea. The plant has the capacity to produce 4.3 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

As part of the scope of work, Wood’s process technology & consulting team carried out a study phase assessment of onshore compression, additional LNG processing capacity and electrification of the facility. The study looked at the use of modular applications in brownfield environments to ensure a balance between safety, layout, construction and process constraints.

Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood's Specialist Technical Solutions business, said: "Wood has a longstanding working relationship with Equinor. We look forward to continuing this partnership by helping the team evaluate and realize opportunities for the continued operation of Hammerfest LNG at a plateau and into the foreseeable future through the potential investment of new facilities."

Geir A. Owren, project director at Equinor, said: "We are looking forward to working together with Wood as part of this study which aims to find effective solutions for the continued success of Hammerfest LNG."

As MRC wrote before, in October 2017, Wood was awarded a new multi-million dollar contract by Total, supporting their Lindsey Oil Refinery located in North Killinghome, Lincolnshire, UK. The 5-yr contract is to provide onshore maintenance services and includes the option to be extended up to 2 yr.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's refiners increased their output in July to close to 12 million barrels per day (bpd), but at the same time exports of refined fuels fell to the lowest in four months, as per Reuters.

These facts may seem contradictory, and while there are several issues than can help explain the dynamics, perhaps the most compelling is that China appears to be becoming more attuned to market forces for refined products in Asia.

As is often the case with China's intake and processing of crude oil and its exports of refined products, the data is incomplete, and in this case the main missing numbers are movements in inventories.

Inventory data was last released in April, so it's hard to know how much of the refinery throughput went into storage tanks, as opposed to being exported or consumed domestically.

But what is known is that refinery runs totaled 11.95 MMbpd in July, a gain of 11.6 percent from the same month in 2017.

In the first seven months of the year, China's refineries processed 12.07 MMbpd, an increase of 9.2 percent over the same period last year.

However, exports of gasoline fell to 890,000 tonnes in July, equivalent to about 244,000 bpd, down from 334,000 bpd in June and 403,000 bpd in May.

Diesel exports fell to 1.54 million tonnes, or about 372 Mbpd, down from 402 Mbpd in June and 484,000 bpd in May.

In addition to the unknown flows into inventories, gasoline and diesel exports may have been affected by Chinese refiners getting close to exhausting quotas and cutting back on shipments.

It is also possible that the smaller, independent refineries exported less because of reduced runs, as they battle higher crude oil prices and increased government scrutiny on taxes.

Chinese domestic consumption may also have risen, especially in the agricultural sector given the summer peak demand season.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis’ sister company NOVA Chemicals today announced a three-year investment of nearly USD 2 million (EUR 1.5 million) to prevent plastic debris from reaching the ocean, as per the company's press release.

The investment supports Project STOP, a new global initiative to design and implement solutions to reduce marine plastic pollution especially in countries with high leakage of plastics into our oceans.

Southeast Asia has been identified as a major source of marine plastic debris as economic development and plastics consumption have outpaced the expansion of waste management systems in the region. Project STOP has chosen Indonesia as a primary focus region.

"We understand the growing concern about marine plastic pollution and agree we must take meaningful action to address this challenge. NOVA Chemicals’ investment demonstrates our commitment to shaping a world that is even better tomorrow than it is today,” said John Thayer, Senior Vice President, Polyethylene Business at NOVA Chemicals. “Plastics are too valuable to be thrown away or left as litter. We’re working with Project STOP to find high-impact solutions to prevent plastic pollution in critical locations around the world."

"Project STOP represents an important step towards creating a plastics circular economy. We are more than pleased that, after our joint venture with Borouge, our sister company NOVA Chemicals joins forces with us in this industry-leading initiative,” explained Alfred Stern, CEO of Borealis. “The collaboration of Borealis, Borouge and NOVA Chemicals highlights our commitment to proactively help solve the issue of ocean plastic."

NOVA Chemicals’ investment will support the first city partnership in Muncar, a coastal fishing community located in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. With minimal waste services in place, many citizens are forced to dump their waste directly into the environment. Muncar was chosen as the first STOP location due to the seriousness of the challenge, coupled with strong leadership and environmental commitment at national, regency and local levels.
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