Aruba refinery puts refurbishment on hold due to Venezuela sanctions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The 209,000-barrel-per-day Aruba refinery, operated by a unit of US Citgo Petroleum, is putting a USD685 million refurbishing project on hold due to sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

Citgo is owned by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Works for modernizing and converting the refinery into an oil upgrader, approved in 2016, will likely be halted by Feb. 27 and workers directly involved laid off, Citgo Aruba said in a statement.

The facility’s management and the island’s government plan to continue seeking solutions to avoid having to completely halt the project, it said.

As MRC informed previously, in September 2018, a unit of Citgo Petroleum resumed long-delayed work to refurbish an idled, 235,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery on Aruba. Due to a lack of credit, Citgo Aruba Refining in February had slowed efforts at the plant amid US financial sanctions imposed since 2017 on its parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Under a USD685-million project that was approved in 2016 by Aruba’s government in a 25-year lease contract, Citgo aims to revamp and restart a facility that has been idled since 2012 when the previous operator, US-based Valero Energy, halted crude processing due to low profits.
MRC

Wood awarded EPCI contract by Equinor in Norway

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wood has secured a new USD13 million contract with Equinor to deliver engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) services to the Vigdis boosting station increased oil recovery (IOR) project, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Effective immediately, Wood will provide topside modifications to enable the tie-in of subsea equipment to offshore platforms Snorre A and Snorre B, which process oil from the Vigdis subsea field, located in the Norwegian North Sea.

The contract is delivered from Wood’s office in Sandefjord, Norway, and follows the company’s successful completion of the front-end engineering design (FEED) and concept study for the asset. Wood also currently provides maintenance, modification and operations (MMO) services on Snorre A and B under a framework agreement with Equinor.

Dave Stewart, CEO of Wood’s Asset Solutions business in Europe, Africa, Asia & Australia, comments: "Wood has a longstanding relationship with Equinor and this contract award further demonstrates their confidence in our offshore modifications capabilities. This new contract also supports our strategic focus on solidifying our position as a modifications service provider in Norway."

Lars Fredrik Bakke, Wood’s senior vice president in Norway adds: "Wood has decades of experience in the Norwegian energy sector. This experience, combined with our local engineering team’s customer-specific knowledge of Equinor’s processes and systems, positions us ideally to safely and successfully deliver this contract."

On completion of the project, production from the Vigdis field will be increased by almost 11 million barrels.
MRC

Stavrolen resumed PE production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Stavrolen, Russia's major polyolefins producer, has resumed production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) after an unscheduled one-week outage, according to ICIS-MRC Price report with reference to the plant's customers.

The company's clients said by 19 February, Stavrolen had resumed polyethylene (PE) production after the forced shutdown, which started on 12 February. The outage was short and was caused by the need to conduct maintenance at the ethylene unit. The plant's polypropylene (PP) production was not shut, the company only reduced its capacity utilisation.

Stavrolen's (part of Lukoil) annual capacity of LDPE and HDPE production is 120,000 and 300,000 tonnes, respectively. The plant's output of polymers of propylene and HDPE exceeded 111,800 tonnes and 293,600 tonnes last year, up by 11% and 26%, respectively, year on year.
MRC

PVC imports to Kazakhstan down by 12% in 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last year's imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan dropped by 12% year on year to 45,400 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

Demand for PVC subsided from local companies last December, but it was still fairly strong. December imports of unmixed PVC were 3,700 tonnes, compared to 4,200 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall PVC imports of resin reached 45,400 tonnes in 2018 versus 51,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Chinese producers with the share of about 77% of the local market over the stated period were the main PVC suppliers to Kazakhstan because of the geographical position. Russia was the second largest PVC supplier, shipments of Russian resin reached 10,500 tonnes over the stated period.
MRC

S-Oil to supply USD2.32 B worth of oil products to Saudi Aramco trading arm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- S-Oil Corp, South Korea’s third-biggest refiner, said that it has signed a contract to sell a total of 2.61 trillion won (USD2.32 billion) worth of refined oil products to Saudi Aramco’s trading arm, reported Reuters.

S-Oil, whose top shareholder is Saudi Aramco, said in a regulatory filing that it will supply up to 17 million barrels of diesel, up to 13 million barrels of naphtha and up to 12 million barrels of jet fuel to Aramco Trading Singapore under the contract, valid between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2019.

As MRC informed earlier, in late Juanuary 2019, S-Oil Corp, whose main shareholder is Saudi Aramco, said that refining margins are expected to improve in 2019, boosted by growing diesel demand.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC