China Dec crude imports at 2nd highest, gas imports at record

MOSCOW (MRC) - China’s crude oil imports in December surged nearly 30 percent from a year earlier to the second highest for a month on a daily basis, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The surge was bolstered by year-end stockbuilding by small independent refiners trying to use up annual quotas and crude cargoes imported for tests on two new private refineries. December shipments into China, the world’s top crude oil buyer, were at 43.78 million tonnes, or 10.31 million barrels per day (bpd), holding above the 10 million bpd mark for the second straight month, and just a touch below the record of 10.43 million bpd in November, according to the data released by the General Administration of Chinese Customs.

For the whole of 2018, China’s crude oil imports rose 10.1 percent versus the previous year to a record 461.9 million tonnes or 9.24 million bpd. This makes China the top crude oil importer for the second year running after it first overtook the United States on an annual basis in 2017. The 2018 growth represents an increase of 846,600 bpd - more than 2017’s net growth of 770,000 bpd - and roughly the size of consumption by the Netherlands or Turkey.

Peak operations at giant state refiners during most of the first three quarters accounted for the bulk of the import growth, joined later by new purchasing from two privately-run mega refineries ahead of trial runs, said Seng-Yick Tee of consultancy SIA Energy.

Strategic stockpiling at several state reserve sites that have just started up, such as Jinzhou in the north and Huizhou on China’s southern coast, also contributed to more shipments during the last few months of 2018 as China took advantage of steep falls in benchmark prices from mid-November, said Tee.

Independent oil processors, sometimes called “teapots”, played a smaller role in 2018 than in previous years due to marginal increases in their import quotas and a new tax policy that pinched their appetite for overseas crude.

“Unlike the previous two years when teapots led the incremental growth, state giants became the main drivers for last year’s growth,” said Tee.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet) is likely to restart a polypropylene (PP) plant following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the company has planned to resume operations at the plant in end-September, 2019.

The plant was shut following fire occured on October 2, 2018. The incident in the complex has caused a few casualties with 1 person reported to have been killed and 11 others injured.

Located at Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, the PP plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Natpet shut its polypropylene (PP) plant in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, for a four-week scheduled maintenance in early April, 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Asia's gasoline crack was at a discount of 32 cents a barrel to Brent crude on Wednesday, 1 cent higher than the previous session which was near a one-week low on the back of an unyielding glut, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The bearish fundamentals have dragged the average gasoline profit margin for the first-half of January to about 45 cents a barrel, the lowest for the period since 2009. The situation could get worse as new refineries are coming up this year in Malaysia and China and these could add some 235,000 barrels per day of gasoline to the market although not all of it would be exported. "We have large volumes of refining capacity geared towards gasoline or naphtha production coming online in the East of Suez this year," said Michael Dei-Michei, head of research at consultancy JBC Energy. "For that reason we expect gasoline supply growth to outpace demand growth to the tune of about 200,000 bpd on average in 2019," said Dei-Michei.

NAPHTHA: Asia's naphtha crack climbed 3.6 percent to a two-week high of $44.85 a tonne. South Korea's LG Chem emerged to buy naphtha for first-half March delivery, making this the first tender in South Korea for the purchase of March cargoes. The petrochemical maker could have paid premiums of more than USD1 but below USD2 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, traders said. This was a sharp jump when compared to a discount of USD5 LG Chem had paid on Dec. 2 for cargoes scheduled for first-half January delivery.

Japanese refiner Fuji Oil Co is likely to shut all the refining units at its sole 143,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Sodegaura oil refinery in mid- or late May for a scheduled maintenance which could last until mid-June.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. has announced it has been awarded a sizeable contract from Daelim Saudi Arabia Company Ltd. for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of CB&I Storage Tanks for the Ma'aden Ammonia Plant at Ras Al-Khair, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as per PRNewsWire.

McDermott defines a sizeable contract as between USD1 million and USD50 million.

The fixed lump sum contract encompasses the engineering, procurement and fabrication of four Ammonia Tanks and nine CB&I storage tanks. Work on the project will predominantly be executed from Saudi Arabia utilizing McDermott's local capabilities and facilities.

"CB&I Storage Tanks consistently deliver innovative storage solutions for clients such as Daelim," said Linh Austin, Senior Vice President, Middle East and North Africa. "CB&I Storage Tanks' unparalleled technical competency combined with our extensive experience in Saudi Arabia uniquely positions us to deliver this project."

Work on the contract is expected to begin immediately and will be reflected in McDermott's fourth quarter 2018 backlog.

As MRC reported previously, in December 2018, McDermott International, Inc. announced that it had been awarded a sizeable technology contract by HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd. (HRRL) for the license and basic engineering design of two 490 KTA polypropylene plants in Pachpadra Tehsil, Barmer District, Rajasthan, India. The plants will use Lummus' proprietary NOVOLEN process reactors and proprietary NHP catalyst to produce a full range of leading polypropylene products for the Indian and regional markets.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 40,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world. As used in this press release, McDermott includes McDermott International, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The EU Commission has granted conditional clearance for BASF to acquire Solvay’s polyamide business, as per BASF's press release.

This approval is an important milestone for the transaction. Closing is expected in the second half of 2019 after all remaining closing conditions have been fulfilled, including the sale of a remedy package to a third party.

During the approval process in Europe BASF made commitments to address the competition concerns of the EU Commission. They require divesting parts of the original transaction scope to a third-party buyer, namely manufacturing assets and innovation capabilities of Solvay’s polyamide business in Europe. The divestment process started in Q4 2018.

The polyamide businesses to be acquired in the Americas and in Asia are not affected by the commitments.

As MRC informed before, in September 2017, BASF and Solvay signed an agreement related to the sale of Solvay’s integrated polyamide business to BASF. The purchase price on a cash and debt-free basis would be EUR1.6 billion. The acquisition would complement BASF’s engineering plastics portfolio and expand the company’s position as a solution provider for the transportation, construction, industrial applications and consumer industries. Regionally, the transaction would enhance access to key growth markets in Asia and South America. At the same time, the purchase would strengthen BASF’s polyamide 6.6 value chain through increased polymerization capacities and the backward integration into the key raw material ADN (adipodinitrile).

Solvay is a multi-specialty chemical company, committed to developing chemistry that addresses key societal challenges. Solvay innovates and partners with customers in diverse global end markets. Its products and solutions are used in planes, cars, smart and medical devices, batteries, in mineral and oil extraction, among many other applications promoting sustainability. Its lightweighting materials enhance cleaner mobility, its formulations optimize the use of resources and its performance chemicals improve air and water quality. Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with around 27,000 employees in 58 countries. Net sales were EUR10.9 billion in 2016, with 90% from activities where Solvay ranks among the world’s top 3 leaders.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of more than EUR60 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS).
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