BP interested to invest in ADNOC new petrochemical, gas projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP is interested to participate in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.'s new gas and petrochemical projects in the UAE, reported S&P Global with reference to the British company's UAE country manager.

"We see the dynamics of the gas and we like to be part of that solution .. or producing more gas, growing the gas business in Abu Dhabi through ADNOC," Salem bin Ashoor told S&P Global Platts on the sidelines of the Middle East ExecutivePetroleum Conference in Abu Dhabi.

BP has a 10% stake in ADNOC LNG, the sole producer of the fuel in the UAE. Other shareholders besides ADNOC's 70% share are Mitsui & Co (15%), and France's Total (5%).

ADNOC is planning to become self-sufficient in gas production and eventually export gas as it expands its production of the commodity. It has awarded stakes to international oil companies to help develop its gas deposits and boost output.

ADNOC LNG, which used to supply solely Japan until last year, is currently selling in spot markets and is looking formore customers, bin Ashoor said.

"In the last two years ADNOC LNG tried or changed their operating model to be more flexible to spot cargoes and that is a big shift," he said. One company in Japan is buying the LNG from ADNOC LNG at a different quantity, he said, decliningto be more specific.

ADNOC is spending USD45 billion with partners to boost its refining and petrochemical capacities at the industrial hub of Ruwais, west of the capital of Abu Dhabi.

State-owned companies are transforming themselves - not just to survive, but to thrive. Many NOCs are opening up, diversifying, driving a new wave of downstream development and trading businesses to reach new markets and evolve beyond just national champions.

BP is also interested in participating in petrochemical projects in Ruwais, bin Ashoor said.

"The change of concept of bringing more players into the downstream is significant," he said. "You can see the transition in ADNOC's mindset."

BP is evaluating participation in ADNOC's second oil and gas licensing round which was launched this year following its first ever round for six oil and gas blocks, he said.

Bids for the second round are due by the end of November, ADNOC's head of upstream, Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy said in May.

Abu Dhabi's five blocks open for bidding - three of which are offshore and two onshore - are known as Offshore Block 3, Offshore Block 4, Offshore Block 5, Onshore Block 5 and Onshore Block 2, with the latter offering two separate licensingopportunities for conventional and unconventional oil and gas, respectively. In total, the five blocks comprise an area ofapproximately 34,000 km2.

"Definitely if there is a good size opportunity but also commercially rewarding (in the licensing round), we will be more than happy to do more in Abu Dhabi," bin Ashoor said.

As MRC informed earlier, BP Plc is expected to resume operation at its small gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery in late October after about a month of the overhaul. The company began a planned overhaul of the small FCCU on 19 September, 2019.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP 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) -- An explosion at an oil drilling plant owned by China’s government-backed Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group has left five dead, five injured, while three are missing, reported Reuters with reference to a local county government's statement on Monday.

The accident occurred after the plant, Qilicun, started testing a new thermal technology to increase output on Sunday evening, according to the statement.

The plant, located 40 kilometres east of Yan’an city in northwestern province Shaanxi, is one of the oldest in China.

In 2017, Qilicun produced 385,500 tonnes of crude oil.

"Injured people have been taken to the hospital and their life signs are stable. Rescue work is continuing and the reason for the accident remains under investigation," the government said in its statement.

Yanchang could not be reached for comment. It was unclear if production had been halted at the plant.

As MRC wrote previously, Yanchang Petroleum Yan An Energy and Chemical has recently restarted its Methanol to olefin (MTO) plant following a maintenance turnaround. Thus, the company completed turnaround at the plant on October 14, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance on August 28, 2019.

The company also operates petrochemical plants at the same site. Thus, located at Shaanxi in China, the polypropylene (PP) low density polyethylene (LDPE) & linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) units has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Corp. Ltd.(abbreviated as Yanchang Petroleum Group), directly attached to Shaanxi People’s Provincial Government, is one of the four qualified enterprises for oil and gas exploration in China. In 1905, Yanchang Petroleum Factory was established; in 1907, drilled the first oil well in mainland China; in 1998 and 2005, two great restructurings were undertaken, resulting in integration and reorganization of Shaanxi YanchangPetroleum (Group) Co. Ltd. and in 2012, it ranked No.89 among top 500 Chinese companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is planning to build an engineering plastics compounding facility and a TPU plant as part of its proposed verbund (integrated) site in Zhanjiang, China, said the company.

The Zhanjiang project will boost the company's overall production capacity for engineering plastic compounds in China by 60,000 tonnes/y and in the entire Asia-Pacific region to 290,000 tonnes/y. Capacity details for the TPU site were not disclosed. BASF will invest approximately USD10 bn to develop the site, which comes after the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Guangdong Provincial Government in July 2018.

It is considered BASF's third largest site in the world after the facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

The company recently commissioned 15,000 tonnes/y of additional capacity for its Ultramid PA and Ultradur PBT products at its compounding plant in Altamira, Mexico. The expansion brings BASF's global compounding capacity for PBT and PA to over 750,000 tonnes/y.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF would expand the capacity of ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The total investment adds about 400 000 tpy to BASF’s production capacity for the corresponding products with an expected investment amount exceeding EUR500 million.

Ethylene is a feedstock for producing polyethylene (PE).

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.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has increase list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in the Americas, said the producer on its site.

The price increases below are effective for orders shipped on or after 24 October 2019, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices rose, as follows:

- by USD0.05/lb - for the USA and Canada;
- by USD125/mt - for Mexico & South America.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese also raised its October VAM prices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by EUR70/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, September EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,7% year on year to 3,420 tonnes from 4,430 tonnes in September 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-September 2019 by 18,2% year on year to 29,190 tonnes (35,690 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2018 net sales of USD7.2 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanchang Petroleum Yan An Energy and Chemical has restarted its Methanol to olefin (MTO) plant following a maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has completed turnaround at the plant on October 14, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance on August 28, 2019.

Located at Shaanxi in China, the MTP plant has an ethylene production capacity of 300,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

The company also operates petrochemical plants at the same site. Thus, located at Shaanxi in China, the polypropylene (PP) low density polyethylene (LDPE) & linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) units has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Corp. Ltd.(abbreviated as Yanchang Petroleum Group), directly attached to Shaanxi People’s Provincial Government, is one of the four qualified enterprises for oil and gas exploration in China. In 1905, Yanchang Petroleum Factory was established; in 1907, drilled the first oil well in mainland China; in 1998 and 2005, two great restructurings were undertaken, resulting in integration and reorganization of Shaanxi YanchangPetroleum (Group) Co. Ltd. and in 2012, it ranked No.89 among top 500 Chinese companies.
MRC