Saudi Petro Rabigh sees ethane gas supply cut by 8%, crude oil 12.5%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company, or Petro Rabigh, said it sees ethane gas supply cut by 8% and crude oil by 12.5%, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement Tuesday.

Several petrochemical companies announced feedstock supply disruptions after oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked on Saturday.

These companies are: Saudi International Petrochemical Company, or Sipchem, Advanced Petrochemical Company, National Industrialization Co, or Tasnee, Yanbu National Petrochemical Company, or Yansab, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company and Saudi Basic Industries Corp, or Sabic. The companies announced feedstock supply disruptions of around 30%-50%.

Attacks on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais field on Saturday morning have led to production cuts of around 5.7 million b/d, representing about half of the company's production capacity.

Petro Rabigh has a refinery in Rabigh with a crude processing capacity of 400,000 b/d. The company also has an ethane cracker which is able to produce 1.6 million mt/year of ethylene. Its downstream units can produce 600,000 mt/year of monoethylene glycol and 1.06 million mt/year of polyethylene.

Saudi Aramco supplies ethane and crude oil to Petro Rabigh and also owns a 37.5% stake in the company. Japan's Sumitomo Chemical owns another 37.5% stake in Petro Rabigh.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, 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.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
MRC

Saudi Arabia had at least 73.1M barrels of crude stored in early Sept

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia had 73.1 million barrels of crude oil in three major storage sites as of early September, according to satellite data and analytics firm Ursa Space Systems, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

At the country's key export terminal Ras Tanura, Ursa said it observed 39.2 million barrels in storage, or about 60% of tank capacity, on Sept. 5.

Ursa observed 31.1 million barrels at Yanbu on Sept. 9 and 2.8 million barrels at Khafji on Sept. 5.

U.S.-based Ursa uses a network of radar satellites to monitor global oil storage as well as other key infrastructure.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Arabia has pledged to use its oil reserves to compensate for the disruption of supply for its customers after Saturday's attacks on Saudi Aramco's oil facilities, while global condemnation of the attacks continued. The latest attacks on the Kingdom's oil facilities in the Eastern Province resulted in the halt of an estimated 5.7 million barrels of crude oil supplies, or about 50 percent of Aramco’s production, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said on Sunday. The attacks also caused a halt in associated gas production of about two billion cubic feet per day, he confirmed in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.


MRC

Indian Oil to restart naphtha cracker on 25 September after maintenance and expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has shut its only naphtha cracker and half of its Panipat refinery since early this month for maintenance, reported Reuters with reference to head of refineries S M Vaidya's statement Tuesday.

IOC shut a naphtha cracker which can produce around 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene and it has also idled 50% of its 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Panipat, Vaidya said at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.

The units will resume operations on Sept. 25, he said.

Capacity of the cracker is set to be raised to 1.1 million tpy in 2021/2022, he said.

As MRC reported before, Indian Oil witnessed a massive blast in its refinery at Panipat, Haryana. A domestic source informed then that the blast took place in the naphtha cracker of the refinery in the afternoon, on 22 January 2018. One contractual employee of IOCL was reportedly killed in the accident while 5 others were injured.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, 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.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

INEOS Styrolution sustainability report shows progress

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has published its fourth sustainability report titled ‘Living Sustainability, said Eppm.

Providing a detailed overview of the company’s recent sustainability efforts, the latest report includes proof-of-concept on chemical recycling, recipes for recycled ABS, and an 84 per cent reduction in SOx emissions, as well as 52 per cent reduction in landfill waste over the period 2014-2018.

INEOS Styrolution has continued its progress in achieving its 2017 sustainability targets. With an increased focus on circular solutions, the company has now added new sustainability targets focused on delivering circular solutions for styrenics, including 30 per cent recycled polystyrene in plastic packaging in Europe by 2025, and commercial-scale recycled ABS by 2020.

CEO Kevin McQuade said: “We have a clear vision to be recognised as the global leader in providing sustainable styrenics solutions. During the course of the past year, we have made clear strides to contribute to a circular economy, and we are committed to further exploring opportunities to drive sustainability not only within our own business, but also to work with our customers and stakeholders to develop sustainable and circular products and solutions throughout the entire styrenics value chain."

The company provides styrenic applications for everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, sport and leisure, and packaging.
MRC

Shenhua Baotou to shut its PP plant in China for turnaround on 18 September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shenhua Baotou is likely to undertake a planned maintenance at the polypropylene (PP) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has planned to shut the plant on September 18, 2019. The plant is expected to remain under maintenance for about six weeks.

Located at Baotou City, China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, last year, the company conducted maintenance turnaround at its PP plant from 1 September to end-September.

Shenhua Baotou also runs linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant at the same site. The company conducted maintenance at its LLDPE plant from 12 September to late September, 2017. Located at Baotou City, China, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

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.
MRC