China June crude oil throughput rises to record on new plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s crude oil throughput rose to a record in June, up 7.7% from a year earlier, following the start-up of two new, large refineries, reported Reuters with reference to official data.

Crude processing volumes last month reached 53.7 million tonnes, or about 13.07 million barrels per day (bpd), beating the previous record in April of 12.68 million bpd, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The hefty processing rates were supported by the start-up of two major new refineries. Private firm Hengli Petrochemical ramped up its 400,000-bpd refinery in Dalian to full capacity in late May and Zhejiang Petrochemical began trial runs at a similar-sized facility on the east coast.

"The high output data was mainly due to the two new plants, but still the figure exceeds our estimates as many refineries were shut for maintenance," said Wang Zhao, an analyst with Sublime Information Co, a local consultancy, based in Zibo in eastern China’s Shandong province.

"We expect throughput to be lower in the coming months on extended plant shutdowns because inventories of gasoline and diesel were at the high end and domestic fuel demand remained weak," said Wang.

Refineries in Shandong, the country’s hub for smaller independent plants, cut throughput to curb losses after Hengli marketed gasoline at a 12% discount to the rates offered by plants in Shandong.

The NBS data also showed that China’s crude oil output last month climbed 1% from a year earlier to 16.1 million tonnes, or about 3.92 million bpd, up from May’s 3.82 million bpd.

First-half crude output rose 0.8% from a year ago to 95.39 million tonnes. The tepid growth highlights the geological challenges of mature fields and the lack of new discoveries that state oil majors face in trying to boost domestic oil output.

Natural gas production in June rose 13.1% from a year earlier to 13.9 billion cubic meters (bcm). Output for the first half increased 10.3% from a year earlier to 86.4 bcm.

The much faster growth in gas production, which exceeds analysts forecast of 6% to 8%, was spurred by state oil majors’ efforts in focusing spending increases on production of the cleaner-burning fuel.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sluggish consumption growth is depressing oil prices even as Saudi Arabia and its allies try to prop up the market by cutting their production, reported Reuters.

US refineries have so far this year processed 48 million barrels of crude and other liquids, less than at the same point in 2018, according to an analysis of weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gross inputs into refineries have averaged 16.90 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with 17.15 million bpd in 2018.

Refineries had a much heavier and longer maintenance season between February and April than at the same point last year.

Most refiners have not yet made up for the lost production, with daily processing rates mostly below prior year levels.

Even with restricted crude run rates, however, gasoline stocks are just 4 million barrels below 2018 levels while distillate inventories are 15 million barrels above last year.

Refiners have reconfigured their equipment to maximize output of middle distillates and minimize production of residual fuel oil ahead of the introduction of new marine fuel regulations at the start of 2020.

So far production of distillate fuel oil has increased by 115,000 bpd compared with 2018, while gasoline output is also up by 85,000 bpd, as refiners squeeze extra valuable fuels from their raw inputs.

Refiners are likely seeking to increase stocks of distillates to ensure adequate stocks at bunkering terminals and smooth the introduction of the new marine fuel rules.

The heavy maintenance undertaken between February and April should ensure most refineries can undergo lighter than normal maintenance in October and November, boosting fuel supplies even further later in the year.

In theory, heavy crude processing during the second half of the year should cut excess crude stocks and help rebalance the market. But the softness of consumption may now be putting that out of reach.

Consumption weakness and rising fuel stocks explain why oil prices have failed to rise in recent weeks despite diplomatic tensions in the Middle East Gulf and a slowdown in new well drilling in the United States.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA announced the start of a sale process for refining and logistics assets, according to a securities filing, reported Reuters.

Petrobras, as the company is known, said the nonbinding phase involves refineries Abreu e Lima (Rnest), Landulpho Alves (Rlam), Presidente Getulio Vargas (Repar) and Alberto Pasqualini (Refap).

"Potential buyers qualified for this phase will receive a descriptive memorandum containing more detailed information on the assets," the company said in the filing.

As MRC informed before, in H2 June 2019, Petrobras said it had signed a deal with local antitrust regulator CADE regarding the proposed sale of some of its refining installations. According to a securities filing, the company said the agreement will allow for increased competition in Brazil’s refining sector, by attracting new players to the business.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- France’s Total has sold a cargo of contaminated Russian Urals oil to Poland’s PKN Orlen for its refinery in Lithuania, reported Reuters with reference to sources.

PKN Orlen said it had agreed on a deal in April to buy a cargo of Russian oil before any contamination was found. It said the crude was being diluted with clean oil so it could be processed in its Lithuanian refinery. The firm did not name the seller.

Russia’s oil industry was plunged into crisis in April when buyers discovered it was shipping oil contaminated with organic chloride, a chemical used in oil recovery but which can damage refining equipment.

Since then, several tankers loaded with the tainted crude have struggled to sell their cargoes.

The tanker Mendeleev Prospect was loaded from Russia’s Ust-Luga port on April 24, at a time when organic chloride levels in oil stored at the port was much higher than normal.

The three sources told Reuters the tainted crude in the Mendeleev Prospect, which was chartered by Total, was sold to PKN Orlen.

Refinitiv Eikon trade flows data show it discharged 72,700 tonnes of crude at Klaipeda port in Lithuania on June 29.

Two of the sources said the tanker’s remaining 30,000 tonnes were offloaded to storage in Poland’s Gdansk port and would then be sent to Klaipeda.

The two sources said the contaminated oil was stored in Klaipeda and transported by rail in stages to PKN Orlen’s refinery in the Lithuanian city of Mazeikiai.

"It’s only possible to refine this oil if you mix it with large amounts of clean Urals, so it will be a long process," a trader in Russian oil market told Reuters.

Industry sources say one barrel of the tainted oil may need to be diluted by 20 barrels of clean oil.

Mendeleev Prospect had been stuck in Gdansk since late April as no buyers could be found, traders said.

Two shipping sources said the delay in offloading could cost the company USD1 million or more in additional demurrage fees.

Total said it did not comment on trading activities.

Officials at Klaipedos Nafta oil terminal, Lithuanian Railways and the Mazeikiai refinery did not respond to requests for comment.

Klaipedos Nafta had said last week it had imported a cargo of crude oil in June for "an oil refinery in the region", which was loaded into rail tankers. But it did not name the refinery or give other details about the deal.

PKN Orlen operates the only refinery in the Baltic states. An industry source said the tainted shipment was transported to that refinery.

In Europe, a limited number of buyers have taken contaminated oil to refine, including Spain’s Repsol, Sweden’s Preem and Finland’s Neste Oil, according to traders and Refinitiv Eikon flows data.

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2017, Total inaugurated the new units at its Antwerp integrated refining & petrochemicals platform, which have progressively started up in the previous few months.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- After four years of teamwork for project development and execution, the new PolyFuel unit at Petrobrazi refinery was started-up and is fully functional since April 2019, said Chemengonline.

Based on the PolyFuel® technology licensed by Axens, the OMV Petrom’s project at Petrobrazi refinery enables to increase the FCC products value by upgrading LPG and Light Cracked Naphtha into high quality fuels.

In June 2019, the unit test-run was successfully completed, demonstrating that the unit performances are well in line with the expectations.

"The PolyFuel® unit of Petrobrazi refinery is the first of its kind valorizing C4 and C5 / C6 fractions into high quality gasoline and middle distillates, increasing the overall production of these products” said Bruno Domergue, Axens Clean Fuels, Bio, Olefins and Gas business line Director.

"The new Polyfuel unit brings the state-of-the-art technologies used in the petrochemical and refining industry to the Petrobrazi refinery. Due to sustained investments, Petrobrazi continues to rank among the most important refineries in Romania, operating at the highest standards –energy efficiency and environmental standards included – and contributing to the economic development of the area", said Radu Caprau, member of OMV Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Downstream Oil.
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