Petrobras targets private refineries with oil from storage

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA is shipping crude during June and July for storage in China to more quickly respond to demand from the country’s independent refiners, sources said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

China is the world’s biggest oil importer driven partially by demand from its independent refiners, known as teapots, centered in the eastern province of Shandong. Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, is seeking markets for its rising crude output and hopes to expand market share in China, where Brazil was the fifth-largest supplier in the first quarter of 2019.

Storing the oil will enable Petrobras to sell smaller parcels of oil promptly to the teapots, which account for about a fifth of China’s crude import demand, and expand its customer base beyond state refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, the sources said.

“The idea for storage is to sell small parcels and to be more competitive in this market. The main thing is to have oil anytime,” one of the sources said, adding that this will allow Petrobras to react to prompt demand.

Petrobras inked an agreement with Qingdao Port International Co in December to lease storage tanks at its joint venture Qingdao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co that can hold about 2 million barrels of oil, according to the sources and media reports at the time.

To fill those tanks, Petrobras has chartered the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Maran Cleo which is scheduled to arrive at Qingdao in Shandong on June 24. The VLCC contains 2 million barrels of Lula crude, part of which has been sold while the rest will go into storage, one of the sources said.

The producer has another VLCC that will arrive between July 10 and 15 at Qingdao that contains about 1 million barrels of Buizos crude for storage, he added. Buizos is a new medium-sweet grade that was first exported late last year.

The sources declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment.

Qingdao Port International could not be reached for comment.

As MRC informed before, in October 2017, Petrobras’ minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevents Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

PS plant to be taken off-stream by Kaofu Chemical

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kaofu Chemical is likely to undertake a planned shutdown at its polystyrene (PS) in Kaohsiung, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in the Taiwan informed that the company has planned to start turnaround at the plant in June 2019 for a period of around one month. The exact date of shutdown was not available.

Located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

We remind, as MRC informed before, Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical conducted maintenance at its polystyrene (PS) plant in China from early-October to the fist week of December, 2018. Located in Shanghai, China, the PS plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.
MRC

Air Liquide expands supply contract to LyondellBasell PO/TBA plant with new agreement in the US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide has announced that it has expanded its utilities supply agreement with LyondellBasell for its new propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) project in the Houston area, as per the company's press release.

This agreement comes in addition to the long-term contract already signed with LyondellBasell to supply oxygen for this project, which will be the world's largest PO/TBA plant. With this new long-term agreement and related investment Air Liquide reinforces its presence as a major supplier in the Gulf Coast.

The PO/TBA project is comprised of facilities in two sites, with the PO/TBA plant to be located in the LyondellBasell Channelview Complex in Channelview, Texas; and the associated ethers unit in the company’s Bayport Complex in Pasadena, Texas. With this newly expanded long-term utilities agreement, Air Liquide will supply steam, electricity, treated water and nitrogen to the PO/TBA project’s ethers unit.

In April 2018, Air Liquide signed a separate long-term agreement to supply oxygen to the PO/TBA project’s Channelview location. These two agreements confirm Air Liquide’s long-term partnership with LyondellBasell and Air Liquide’s presence as a major supplier of industrial gas and utilities to the project.LyondellBasell announced in July 2017 its decision to build the world's largest PO/TBA plant as part of its organic growth program. The project is designed to meet rising global demand for both urethanes and cleaner-burning oxyfuels. Start-up is expected in 2021.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2017, LyondellBasell announced the successful startup of a new 20 ktpy polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Dalian, China. This is the company's third facility in China, strategically located to serve the region's growing automotive market.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Univation's Unipol PE technology chosen for Hyundai new Korean HDPE plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyundai Chemical Co. has selected Univation Technologies' Unipol PE technology for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facility to be built in South Korea, as per Apic-online.

The 300,000-t/y HDPE plant, which will be located at Hyundai's site in Daesan, will utilize Univation's broad range of HDPE product technology portfolio, including the Acclaim K-100 Catalyst series for advanced HDPE products. An expected completion date for the project was not given.

Additionally, Hyundai has taken advantage of the flexible design of their Unipol PE Reactor line by investing in future production capabilities for both linear low-density PE and metallocene PE products, Hyundai noted.

Hyundai will also implement Univation's latest process control system, Premier APC+ 2.0, which provides "state-of-the-art" process control specifically designed for Unipol PE technology to maximize production rates, facilitate product transitions and improve overall economic performance, Hyundai added.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, South Korea’s major refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. and petrochemical firm Lotte Chemical Corp. have joined hands to build a heavy-feed petrochemical complex (HPC) at a combined investment of KRW 2.7 trillion (USD 2.5 billion).
MRC

Hengli trying to become China's first private jet fuel exporter

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengli Petrochemical wants to be China’s first private exporter of jet fuel, a Hengli spokesman and other company sources said, but the move against the dominance of state oil companies requires licensing and approvals that will be hard to come by, said Rueters.

Hengli, initially a petrochemicals maker, is ramping up a 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) oil refinery in the port city of Dalian to full capacity after a December startup.

It expects to churn out 5 million tonnes of refined products (about 40 million barrels) by year-end, including up to 3 million tonnes of aviation fuel, two company sources said, going after the fuel for which demand growth is fastest.

Hengli, though, has to first get its jet fuel certified by aviation authorities and then win export allowances before shipping any supplies abroad. Without those clearances, unless it can win the right to sell aviation fuel domestically, it would be forced to adjust its output to produce more diesel at the cost of the higher-value product.

“The company is hopeful of getting the export quotas ... but we foresee barriers in winning the domestic licensing,” said a senior Hengli source.

An executive with another private refiner based in Shandong, a hub for smaller independent operators, said: “Few independent plants are making jet fuel because it’s a monopolized market and needs certifications that are hard to obtain.”

Hengli’s new plant and a similar-sized private refinery that Zhejiang Petrochemical started trials on this month are adding to China’s swelling fuel surplus as the nation’s refinery throughput outpaces demand growth.

To find a profitable market, Hengli has applied for 3 million tonnes in export quotas for its jet fuel output this year, a Hengli spokesman said, without giving a timeline on when it may win the permits.

The Ministry of Commerce and the National Development & Reform Commission, who are together responsible for assigning export quotas, did not respond to requests for comment.

Winning those quotas would make Hengli China’s first private refiner to export aviation fuel, but before it can get to that stage, it first has to get an airworthiness certification for its fuel from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Hengli has already applied to the CAAC for the certification and expects to get it in July when the refinery production stabilizes, the company spokesman said.

A CAAC spokeswoman confirmed CAAC has received Hengli’s application, but gave no information on approval or timing.

As MRC informed earlier, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) have reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line.
MRC