PKN buys oil from Angola to diversify supplies

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland’s biggest oil refiner PKN Orlen will receive a shipment of 130,000 tonnes of crude from Angola in February 2019 as part of a wider plan to reduce reliance on Russian supplies, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In October, PKN Orlen receive its first ever shipment of Nigerian crude oil.

As MRC informed earlier, PKN Orlen S.A. informs that on 30 November 2018 it submitted to the European Commission a draft notification for concentration ("Notification"), together with the draft outline of remedies areas, regarding the planned taking capital control over Grupa Lotos S.A. headquartered in Gdansk ("Grupa Lotos") by PKN Orlen S.A. ("Transaction"). Notification, submitted today by the Company, initiates the process of the arrangement of its final version with the European Commission. After submitting the final notification by the Company, the European Commission will formally start the concentration investigation.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP Plc began restarting the blending oil unit at its 413,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery on Tuesday, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

BP shut the unit that blends lower-quality crude grades with higher-quality grades on Nov. 27 for maintenance, the sources said.

As MRC reported before, British oil and gas company BP will increase investment in the United States after the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in early February, 2018.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - With supply from major producer Iran uncertain, big condensate user South Korea is scouring the world for alternative sources of this key ingredient in its large chemical industry to avert shortages - a process that is proving to be costly for buyers, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Condensate, a type of ultra-light crude oil, is a feedstock for South Korea’s petrochemical industry. A by-product of natural gas production, Iran and Qatar are major condensate suppliers. But Iran’s exports have fallen sharply this year as production in its South Pars gas field struggles to keep up with rising domestic demand while renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran’s petroleum industry crimp exports.

With Iranian condensate in the past years making up more than half of Korea’s overall supply, the shortfall is forcing Korean buyers to seek alternative supplies.

SK Incheon Petrochem, a unit of SK Innovation, Hyundai Chemical, a subsidiary of Hyundai Oilbank Corp and Hanwha Total Petrochemicals Corp (HTC) are South Korea’s biggest condensate buyers.

“There is huge uncertainty over sanctions, and we can’t build a strategy with huge uncertainty in volume,” said Sebastien Bariller, senior vice president of feedstock purchasing, energy and optimization at HTC.

Even if the United States extends waivers on sanctions, South Korea is bound by Washington’s condition to continue to reduce Iranian oil imports, said Kim Jae-kyung, research fellow at the Korean Energy Economics Institute (KEEI).

“South Korea needs to look for other sources,” he said. Bariller said 2018 had been “very special and difficult” because there were “no more supplies from Iran” since the middle of the year. HTC had bought condensate from “nearly all alternative origins,” he said.

The U.S. sanctions and rising domestic demand could cap Iran’s South Pars condensate exports at 100,000-200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2019-2020, down from 400,000-500,000 bpd in 2017, according to consultancy FGE.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced price decrease for all polystyrene (PS) grades in December, said the producer on its site.

Effective December 1, 2018, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR120 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR120 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last reduced its prices for all PS grades on 1 November 2018. Thus, November prices for the said products decreased, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eurochem, a leading global mineral fertilizer producer, and Stamicarbon, the innovation and license company of Maire Tecnimont Group, have announced the formal opening of Russia’s first urea-ammonium sulphate (UAS) plant at EuroChem’s Novomoskovskiy Azot plant, located about 200 kilometers south of Moscow, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Stamicarbon designed the ammonium sulphate plant at Novomoskovsk with a capacity of 400 mtpd urea and 600 mtpd UAS. After commissioning of the granulation equipment, UAS production started earlier today under the supervision of Stamicarbon engineers on site. The startup went very smoothly and the first UAS granules are now rolling off the production line.

Stamicarbon developed a process for the production of granulated urea containing ammonium sulphate (UAS) following an increased demand for granulated urea containing macro- and micro-nutrients.

Main features of the Stamicarbon UAS technology are the large range of ammonium sulphate concentrations (0-50 wt%) that can be handled without modifying the granulation plant and the high quality of UAS granules produced.

Urea ammonium sulphate helps farmers significantly increase crop yields. UAS production will complement EuroChem’s current portfolio of sulphur-enriched fertilizers, which includes ammonium sulphate (AS) and ammonium sulphate-nitrate (ASN). The opening ceremony today was attended by Igor Nechaev, General Director of MCC EuroChem, the Group’s Russian arm, Henri Smolenaers, Project Manager Stamicarbon and Semen Evreinov, Head of Stamicarbon’s office Russia.
MRC