Sinopec plans to build Canadian oil refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Sinopec Corp has joined a group planning to build an oil refinery in Alberta, an enterprise that would strengthen demand for the Canadian province's heavily discounted crude, reported Reuters.

State-owned Sinopec, formally known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, along with an Alberta indigenous group, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Alberta management company Teedrum, plan to build a refinery to process 167,000 barrels per day of crude into gasoline and other products, the project's consulting firm Stantec Inc said in a statement on Thursday.

The SinoCan Global refinery would cost CD8.5 billion, with a financing plan still to be worked out, said Teedrum President Ken Horn, who is leading the effort. Ownership has not been determined.

The group hopes to receive regulatory approval from the Alberta and Canadian governments within two years, he said in an interview on Friday. Most of the refined products will be exported.

"It helps create value for the bitumen," Horn said, referring to the tarry, semi-solid form of Alberta's heavy crude. "Right now we ship most of that (crude) out of the province. We should do a lot more to maximize the value of that asset."

Most of Canada's crude is produced in landlocked Alberta, where pipeline capacity has not expanded as rapidly as production. Resulting bottlenecks have hindered transportation to U.S. refineries, steepening an already deep price discount for the province's crude, which grew to a multi-year high this week.

Sinopec's interest is encouraging news for a Canadian sector that has seen foreign oil majors retreat over concerns about high production costs and the oil sands' environmental toll.

China's involvement would complement its existing Alberta investments, Horn said. State-owned CNOOC Ltd bought energy producer Nexen in 2013.

If Sinopec plans to ship refined products from Canada to China, it would likely move them by rail to the Pacific Coast, since pipeline space is limited, said GMP FirstEnergy analyst Michael Dunn. It may make more sense for China to import Canadian crude and refine it domestically, he said.

As MRC informed earlier, in April 2016, Russian petrochemical company SIBUR started talks with shareholder Sinopec about investing in a planned gas chemical plant in Russia's Far East. SIBUR plans to buy gas from fields which Russia's Gazprom will develop in Eastern Siberia.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market fundamentals tighten, US LNG has gained momentum again. Since early 2018, a second wave of projects set to bring more 10 million tonnes per annum (mmtpa) to the market under binding sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) have reached the starting blocks, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Speaking at the Gastech conference in Barcelona today, Kristy Kramer, director, Americas gas research, at global natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said: "The increase is in SPAs is remarkable. In the period since the first wave of US LNG projects and late 2017, just 2 mmpta had been locked in."

At the end of August, the US Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) announced regulatory timelines for 12 LNG projects.

Ms Kramer added: "This means that as well as the six developments that are through the regulatory process, 11 more should receive their final order from FERC by mid-to-late 2019.

"At the same time, strengthening fundamentals mean Wood Mackenzie believes the global LNG supply-demand gap in 2025 will increase from 45 mmpta to 65 mmpta."

This increases the pressure on US LNG projects to finalise commercial arrangements as they look to take FID in the next 12-18 months.

"Gas supply will rise in importance for the next wave of US LNG. The US market will increase by more than 30 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) between 2012, when the first US project took FID, and 2022 when those projects will be online," Ms Kramer said.

In 2022, 36% of US gas will be consumed in or exported through the West South Central census region, which includes Texas and Louisiana. This concentration of demand means there will be more competition for pipeline capacity to reach new LNG projects.

She added: "This means gas supply should be a focus area for the next wave of US LNG.

"Buyers will need to have comfort in the strategy for getting gas into liquefaction, and lenders will want to be confident in a project’s overall commercial offering."

Ms Kramer said: "US producers may also be interested in getting into the mix. Notably absent from the first wave, US producers have witnessed LNG exports rise to current levels of over 3 billion cfd. They are expected to approach 10 billion cfd in 2020.

"Producer involvement would likely change the commercial structures and risk-sharing mechanics of future US LNG projects. We are hearing interest from US producers, LNG buyers, and project developers, but have yet to see a big announcement."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS celebrates its 20th anniversary at its first site in Antwerp. As it marks the occasion, INEOS Oxide has announced investment of EUR200 million into its business, with EUR150m of this to be spent directly at its Zwijndrecht site, in Antwerp, where its incredible story of success began in 1998, said the company.

This latest round of investment demonstrates INEOS Oxide’s commitment to its European business. Projects will grow Ethylene Oxide storage and distribution, debottleneck its plants and increase the production of Ethylene Oxide derivatives for the European Market. A sixth alkoxylation unit in Antwerp is due to start up at the end of 2018, along with a 2,000 tonne expansion of ethylene oxide (EO) storage capacity at the site. The company is also upgrading EO production at Lavera, France to support the growing EO needs in Europe. This phase of investment will improve reliability, efficiency and availability of its business in Antwerp, Belgium as well as sites in Koln, Germany and Lavera, France.

We are also pleased to announce that agreement has been reached with RWE to buy the Inesco Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant on the INEOS Zwijndrecht site in Antwerp. This acquisition will ensure the continued, reliable supply of steam, as a critical feedstock, to the INEOS plants on the site as well as our 3rd party co-siting partners. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities.

Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Work, Innovation and Sport said,"Adding value. That is what INEOS and, by extension, the chemical industry does. INEOS not only is one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, its products make a significant contribution to improve lives all over the world. This is not a coincidence: the company truly realises that innovation, collaboration and talented staff are the building blocks of success. Congratulations with your 20th anniversary, I am looking forward to the next 20 years of excellence."

Graham Beesley, CEO of INEOS Oxide said: "We are marking INEOS’ incredible global success at the place where it all began twenty years ago. To highlight our ongoing commitment to Ethylene Oxide, the first business to be bought by INEOS, we are announcing European investment of EUR200 million, with EUR150 million to be spent here at the Zwijndrecht site in Antwerp.

"From its beginnings in Antwerp in 1998 INEOS is today the second largest employer in the Belgium chemicals sector and one of the world’s top 50 companies. INEOS began its life as a company centred around the Ethylene Oxide molecule. It is fitting that we are continuing to invest in its production, storage, distribution and derivatives."

To highlight our 20th Anniversary as a part of the Zwijndrecht community, INEOS will also contribute €20,000 tore-equip technical classrooms and labs at the Saint-Carolus secondary technical school in Sint-Niklaas, which is close to the site. The school offers both a "classic education plan” and a "dual learning plan" in which 50% of the time is spent in practical education in a chemical plant. It specialises in chemical process techniques and is highly successful in equipping its students with the skills necessary to provide operators and technician staff to the INEOS site.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MOL has take an ethylene steam cracker off-stream for a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Hungary informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at the cracker in mid-September, 2018. The cracker is slated to remain shut for about one month.

Located in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 290,000 mt/year, propylene capacity of 155,000 mt/year and butadiene capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in June 2018, MOL Group entered into a strategic partnership with INOVACAT, a Dutch technology innovator in the refining and petrochemical industries. The cooperation is expected to further upscale and commercializes INOVACAT’s breakthrough GASOLFINTM technology that converts naphtha into propylene, butylene and BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene), while supporting MOL’s strategic objective to become a leading chemical company in Central Eastern Europe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF Plastic Additives Middle East (PAME), the state-of-the-art production facility for customer-specific antioxidant blends (CSB) in Bahrain, named Michael Wille its new Managing Director, said the company.

The appointment marks an important step in BASF’s support of the fast-growing polymer industry in the Middle East. As the leading manufacturer and supplier of plastic additives in the region, BASF plans to continue to boost the local production of CSB – additive blends tailored to meet specific customer needs. CSB are an integral part of the portfolio the company offers to the plastics industry.

Welcoming Wille on board, Frank Fasdernes, Vice President, responsible for the operating division Performance Chemicals in the Middle East, BASF, said: "We are pleased to have Michael Wille assume the role of Managing Director for Bahrain. His expertise and strengths in engineering and leadership will drive the continued growth of the company in this high-potential region and beyond. His well-deserved appointment is the outcome of his relentless efforts in BASF’s global expansion since 2002."

"Since it began operations in 2012, BASF PAME has been the first wholly owned production facility for BASF’s Plastic Additives business in the Middle East and one of the largest of its kind in the world. We are proud to operate the site with the highest safety and environmental standards. Michael Wille will lead the competent team in Bahrain to maintain these standards and to ensure that we fulfil our commitment towards providing local production and services to the fast growing polymer market in the Middle East, especially to our key customers in the countries of the Gulf Corporation Council," added Alberto Giovanzana, Vice President, Plastic Additives, Europe Middle East and Africa, BASF.

Over two decades, Wille has held several senior international positions within BASF, contributing to the company’s growth and expansion of operations across markets in Europe and Asia, primarily in the field of engineering and operations.
MRC