Russia will lower oil output in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Novak told reporters that the energy ministry was discussing the aftermath of a major oil contamination with oil giant Rosneft and pipeline monopoly, reported Reuters.

Russian oil output this month will be lower than it was in August, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an economic forum in Russia's Far East, Novak also told reporters that the energy ministry was discussing the aftermath of a major oil contamination with oil giant Rosneft and pipeline monopoly Transneft.

As MRC informed earlier, in May 2019, a government official said that Russia’s state pipeline monopoly Transneft will compensate all parties for losses incurred from contaminated oil, but they must prove the damage, as the first European refinery declared force majeure.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Badly hit after ONGC plant fire on Tuesday, CNG supply to pumps in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai has been competeley restored, said Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) officials on Wednesday, reported The Times of India.

The supply was badly hit on Tuesday following a fire at ONGC in Mumbai. The fire also affected public transport, with more than 40% autos off roads and equal number of Kaali Peeli taxis. The cut in supply had also affected buses, app-based cabs and private cars which run on green fuel.

"The services were gradually restored by Tuesday evening as the supply restarted from ONGC to the Mahanagar Gas Limited's City Gate station at Wadala. On Wednesday morning, the situation got completely back to normal and all pumps are getting sufficient supply," said an official.

As MRC wrote before, four people have been killed and three seriously injured in a fire at an oil and gas processing plant on the outskirts of Mumbai run by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. The fire broke out in the morning, on 3 September. ONGC supplies crude oil from the plant to the Mumbai-based refineries of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum as well as natural gas to city gas distribution company Mahanagar Gas Ltd in Mumbai.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is an Indian multinational oil and gas company. Its registered office is now at New Delhi, India. It is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company. It produces around 70% of India's crude oil (equivalent to around 30% of the country's total demand) and around 62% of its natural gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Ecopet, the largest producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia and Eastern Europe, plans to shut the production of PET for scheduled repairs in January 2020, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to the source, the scheduled maintenance works will last about one month. Plant capacities were loaded at a level close to maximum.

The producer have built up stocks of PET chips for a period of preventive shutdown.

Ecopet shipped a small batch of PET to the US market in the first time after a long break.

It was previously reported that in May 2017, Alco-Nafta CJSC was reorganized into a joint-stock company, and from June 26, 2017 it was renamed Ecopet AO.

The company is based on the territory of the free economic zone of the Kaliningrad region. The plant's total PET production capacities are 220,000 tonnes per year. PET chips are produced under the EcoPet trademark and is used for the production of food packaging and PET bottles.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd continue to import gasoline to plug a persistent supply gap as their refineries undergo maintenance and upgrade to produce cleaner fuels, reported Reuters.

BPCL on Wednesday bought 20,000 tonnes of gasoline for Sept. 16-18 arrival at Kandla at premiums of about USD4 a barrel to Singapore quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, industry sources who track the fuel said on Thursday.

This has pushed its total purchases for cargoes scheduled for a seven-month delivery period over March to September to at least 110,000 tonnes.

HPCL has a larger appetite for the fuel, buying more than 155,000 tonnes for September and October, with its most recent purchase made on Aug. 29 from Total, the sources said.

HPCL also has an outstanding tender to buy another 30,000 tonnes for Oct. 10-12 arrival at Visakhapatnam.

HPCL had been actively seeking gasoline since December last year but results of its earlier buy tenders were not clear.

The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

India remains a gasoline exporter despite the buying spree, although its net gasoline exports between January and July this year have been reduced to a monthly average of 950,000 tonnes compared with 1.11 million tonnes for the same period last year, official data showed.

Demand from India alone has been insufficient to drive the Asian gasoline market higher due to expanding refinery capacities in China, where gasoline shipments in July at 1.56 million tonnes were 75% higher than a year ago.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, India's HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, or HMEL, will start a new 500,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) plant in Bhatinda in 2021. The company has an existing 440,000 mt/year PP unit at the same site.India is short of around 0.5 million mt/year of polypropylene in 2019, according to S&P Global Analytics.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Emerson, a global engineering and technology company, announced it has acquired the Spence and Nicholson product lines from Circor International, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The acquisition complements Emerson’s broad portfolio of steam system solutions for process industries and commercial buildings.

The Spence and Nicholson lines are established industry-leading products that include steam regulators, control valves, safety relief valves, temperature regulators, steam traps and other steam accessories and solutions.

“This addition to our Final Control business demonstrates the continued value of bolt-on acquisitions that fill strategic gaps in our portfolio and diversify our product offerings in growth markets,” said Lal Karsanbhai, executive president of Emerson’s Automation Solutions business. “By adding Circor’s premium steam technologies and profitable product lines, we will strengthen our position to help customers optimize their operations and enhance energy efficiencies.”

“Spence and Nicholson’s capabilities will play an important role in bolstering our process offerings and expanding our opportunities with customers,” said Ram Krishnan, group president of Emerson’s Final Control business. “Enhancing these capabilities will strengthen our ability to serve customers, including automation customers, as well as hospitals, universities, commercial operations and the transportation industry, with a diverse portfolio of product offerings in the growing steam segment.”

The acquisition closed on August 30, 2019.
MRC