BP plans end-August maintenance at German Scholven oil refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP, the world's petrochemical giant, plans to begin a planned shutdown at the end of August on "some production facilities" at the Scholven site of its Gelsenkirchen oil refinery in Germany, according to EconomicTimes.

Various units at the plant will be shut down for around seven weeks, BP said.

The company did not specify which units will be shut at the refinery, which has a capacity to process 246,000 barrels per day.

BP operates two crackers (No. 3 and 4) in Gelsenkirchen with the total production capacity of 1,650,000 tonnes of ethylene and 645,000 of propylene per year.

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2018, BP Plc’s trading arm entered a tolling agreement with the owners of an idled oil refinery in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, cementing plans to bring the plant back online six years after it was idled by previous owners. Under BP’s tolling agreement with Limetree Bay Refining LLC, owner of the idled Hovensa refinery, BP will supply the facility with crude and sell its products, low-sulfur fuels that will meet an International Maritime Organization mandate in 2020.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

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) -- ExxonMobil has not determined the dates of the resumption of production at its recently shut cracker in Mossmorran (Scotland, UK), according to NCT.

Tus, the Fife cracker in Mossmorran is currently offline.

On Monday, 12 August 2019, ExxonMobil Chemical (Baytown, Texas/USA) shut down the plant due to mechanical failure of two boilers. Emergency flaring was required before shutting down operations.

On 15 August, the company announced that the cracker was at a standstill. How long the outage will last is not known, but repairs should have begun after investigations are carried out.

The cracker has had its controversies in the last several years due to frequent flaring. It is operated by ExxonMobil, but co-owned with Shell.

Mossmorran is connected to the Grangemouth-Wilton-FawleyUK ethylene pipelines. About 50% of ethylene output is processed at adjoining British petrochemical plants. The other half being transported via the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh to the port of Antwerp/Belgium.

As MRC wrote earlier, Exxon Mobil Corp is planning to spend more than 500 million pounds (USD650 million) to upgrade the UK’s largest oil refinery, Fawley, on England’s south coast.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Venture's dormant plant at Sulphur (USA) plans to start up operations again in late August, as per American Press.

The facility, previously owned by OxyChem, is on 250 acres located in Sulphur. Indorama (IVL), which began its work here in 2015, refurbished and expanded the dormant ethane cracker and had been attempting the start-up of operations that would produce 370,000 metric tons of ethylene and 30,000 metric tons of propylene.

Site Director Barre said most of the issues were the result of a byproduct of the process - an oil-like substance, getting into the "wrong places" and fouling up instrumentation. He said the contamination caused the boilers to trip, which in turn caused a loss of steam.

Regulators visited the site in July, and the company worked with them to resolve environmental and permit issues.

As MRC informed earlier, in August 2019, IVL, a global chemical producer, entered into an agreement to acquire Sinterama S.p.A, a leading Global polyester automotive interiors and high performance colored yarns manufacturer. The acquisition comprises five production sites in four countries in Italy, Brazil, China and Bulgaria, the last being a new market for IVL. It has a combined capacity of around 30,000 tonnes/ annum. Europe imports over 275 KT of yarns annually and Sinterama can grow and strengthen its position as local supplier. The company currently employs 889 people.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand, is one of the world's leading petrochemicals producers, a global manufacturing footprint with 59 sites in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The company's portfolio is comprises necessities and high value-added (HVA) categories of polymers, fibers, and packaging. Indorama Ventures has approx. 19,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of USD 10.7 billion in 2018. The company is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased in the first seven months of 2019 by 38% year on year, totalling 26,900 tonnes. At the same time, sales of Ukrainian PVC to foreign markets dropped by 7% year on year, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's PVC imports into the Ukrainian market rose to 6,000 tonnes from 2,600 tonnes in June, with North American resin accounting for the main increase in shipments. Overall SPVC imports reached 26,900 tonnes in January-July 2019, compared to 43,700 tonnes a year earlier.

European producers with the share of about 67% of the total imports were the key suppliers of resin to the Ukrainian market in the first seven months of 2019. Producers from the USA with the share of about 33% were the second largest suppliers.

This year's stronger demand for Ukrainian PVC from the domestic market led to lower exports. 12,400 tonnes of suspension were shipped to foreign markets in July, whereas this figure was 13,400 tonnes a month earlier. Overall, over 92,400 tonnes of PVC were shipped for export in January-July 2019 versus 99,800 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s planned privatization of eight Petroleo Brasileiro SA refineries has lured several of the world’s largest trading and oil companies as prospective bidders, reported Reuters with reference to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Around 20 companies have signed non-disclosure agreements granting them access to the refineries’ data and signaling that they are considering a bid, the sources added, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose private details of the sale.

The first round of non-binding offers for four of the eight refineries Petrobras put on the block is due on Oct. 11, the sources said. The eight refineries have total capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day.

Among the potential bidders are trading firms Vitol SA, Glencore PLC and Trafigura AG. Local companies Ultrapar Participacoes SA and Raizen, a joint venture of Brazil’s Cosan SA and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), also signed non-disclosure agreements.

Other companies interested, according to the sources, include PetroChina Co and Sinopec, which already has a Brazilian joint venture with Spain’s Repsol (REP.MC). Oil behemoth Saudi Aramco, which is planning one of the world’s largest initial public offerings, is also looking at the refining units’ numbers.

The request to access the data room is just the first step of companies interested in the deal, and does not mean they will deliver bids on Oct. 11.

Petrobras, PetroChina, Ultrapar, Sinopec and Vitol did not immediately comment on the matter. Raizen, Trafigura, Saudi Aramco and Glencore declined to comment.

The deal, to be one of Petrobras’ largest divestitures ever, would transform Brazil’s oil industry and may raise around USD18 billion, bankers working on the deal say. Refining has traditionally been state-owned in Brazil, triggering occasional calls for government price controls.

At least partial privatization is widely seen as one of the best possible ways to bring real competition to the Brazilian oil industry.

Antitrust watchdog CADE has already forced Petrobras to change its refinery sale process to boost competition, demanding the separate sale of each of the eight refineries. A single buyer will be barred from buying two of the largest refineries in the same area, whether it be the northeast, the south or the southeast.

Petrobras is also carving out logistics assets, such as oil pipelines and terminals, to sell along with the refineries, one of the sources said.

Most of the bidding groups are expected to include private pipeline operators, possibly including France’s Engie and Canada’s Brookfield, one of the sources said, explaining that oil companies are reaching out to them. Both companies recently acquired Petrobras assets.

As MRC informed earlier, in june 2019, Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it signed a deal with local antitrust regulator CADE regarding the proposed sale of some of its refining installations.

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