ADNOC will look for partners in Ruwais refinery project: executive

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which pumps most of the UAE's 3 million b/d of crude oil, will look to bring in partners for its new refinery project in the industrial hub of Ruwais as part of plans to boost refining capacity to 1.5 million b/d by 2026, reported S&P Global with reference to a company executive's statement.

"We are looking to bring in partners but we did not start this exercise yet," Hassan al Hosani, vice president of the refining business at ADNOC, said on Wednesday at the Middle East Executive Petroleum Conference in Abu Dhabi.

"We want to develop the project first and then we will look for partners," he said, adding that ADNOC is likely to retain a majority stake in the project.

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.

ADNOC plans to spend USD45 billion with partners to develop its downstream operations in Ruwais, west of the capital of Abu Dhabi. These projects include adding refining and petrochemical capacity. ADNOC is also on track to boost its oil production capacity to 4 million b/d by 2020 and 5 million b/d by 2030, CEO Sultan al Jaber said in September.

ADNOC Refining currently has a processing capacity of crude and condensate exceeding 922,000 b/d.

Earlier this year, ADNOC awarded Scotland-based Wood an USD8 million contract to deliver pre-front end engineering and design (pre-feed) for the new refinery project in Ruwais, which is expected to have a capacity of 600,000 b/d.

The new refinery will be designed to have full conversion and will be integrated with petrochemical projects planned in Ruwais.

ADNOC also this year awarded Austria's OMV and Italy's Eni 15% and 20% stakes, respectively, in ADNOC Refining as part of plans to boost its downstream business. The remaining stake is with ADNOC.

ADNOC has shortlisted a number of companies and will select one of them as technology licensor in the second quarter of next year, Hosani said.

Once the technology licensor is selected then the company can have a rough idea of the cost of the refining project, which could be built in phases.

"The intention is 600,000 b/d, but we are looking at it from a business case point of view," he said. "It all depends on the configuration and feedstock. We can do a new refinery. We could do a new refinery with a smaller one and debottleneck the existing one, that's all under discussion."

The current refinery project is made up of a West facility with a capacity of around 400,000 b/d, an East facility with 140,000 b/d and a condensate processing facility, he said.

ADNOC is also on track to upgrade the existing West refinery to process crudes other than Murban to free it up for export, he added. The USD3.1 billion crude flexibility program is currently in the engineering procurement and construction stage and will be done per schedule by 2022.

The program will allow the West refinery to process crudes such as Upper Zakum and others.

As MRC informed before, ADNOC conducted maintenance works at its Ruwais Refinery West Cracker in July 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 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lukoil, Russia’s second largest oil producer, does not plan to invest in Saudi Aramco’s planned initial public offering, its CEO and biggest shareholder, reported Reuters with reference to Vagit Alekperov's statement.

Saudi state oil giant Aramco plans to start the offering, set to rank it as the world’s most valuable company, on Nov. 17.

It has not said how much of the company will be floated or named any cornerstone investors.

"Lukoil is not considering investing in Saudi Aramco shares. Lukoil is not an institutional investor," Alekperov said.

The head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund said last week that the Russia-China Investment Fund is working to attract Chinese investors for Saudi Aramco’s IPO.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Stavrolen (part of Lukoil), Russia's major polyolefins producer, resumed its polypropylene (PP) production in Budennovsk after a long scheduled turnaround. The plant's customers said Stavrolen had fully resumed its PP production after the long scheduled maintenance by 15 October. The outage began on 6 September. The start-up of the plant"s high density polyethylene (HDPE) production took place with a week delay.

Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil company in Russia. The company's main activities include operations for exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest private oil company worldwide by proven hydrocarbon reserves. Lukoil's structure includes one of the largest Russian petrochemical plant - Stavrolen.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNH, part of the TAIF group) reduced many Russian buyers' orders for purchasing of polystyrene (PS) by 30-50% this month, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's representatives explained the reduction of available quantities by the launch of production of large acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) volumes.

On the other hand, several major converters of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material said they were provided with PS in accordance with their needs.

Buyers of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's PS also reported delays in shipments from the Russian producer. The shortage of Russian PS is expected to remain in December.

As reported earlier, Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced its November selling prices of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) for Russian buyers. Thus, prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material dropped by Rb2,000/tonne in November. Thus, prices of its GPPS for injection moulding and extrusion will be in the range of Rb90,500-95,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, and for foaming - at Rb88,500-93,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in November, whereas HIPS prices will be at Rb95,500-100,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

PJSC "Nizhnekamskneftekhim" (NKNK) - one of the largest Russian manufacturers of petrochemical products. The industrial complex of the company includes ten major production plants and ten departments (Railway Transport, Ethylene trunk, etc..). NKNKh produces more than 120 types of chemical products, including synthetic rubber, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, surfactants. Nizhnekamskneftekhim is a member of TAIF Group of Companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased in the first ten months of 2019 by 28% year on year, totalling 41,300 tonnes. Sales of Ukrainian PVC to foreign markets also dropped by 2% year on year, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's PVC imports into the Ukrainian market rose to 5,900 tonnes from 4,200 tonnes in September, with North American resin accounting for the increase in shipments from major windows producers. Overall SPVC imports reached 41,300 tonnes in January-October 2019, compared to 57,100 tonnes a year earlier.

European producers with the share of about 64% of the total imports were the key suppliers of resin to the Ukrainian market in the first nine months of 2019. Producers from the USA with the share of about 36% were the second largest suppliers.

This year's stronger demand for Ukrainian PVC from the domestic market led to lower exports. About 17,000 tonnes of suspension were shipped to foreign markets in October, whereas this figure was 12,900 tonnes a month earlier. Overall, about 136,400 tonnes of PVC were shipped for export in January-October 2019 versus 139,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD710/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival December 2019, said the company.

The December 2019 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

The price is on a cost-&-freight (CFR) Asia basis.

As MRC informed earlier, MEGlobal nominated its November monoethylene glycol (MEG) Asian Contract Price (ACP) at USD740/tonne, up by USD10/tonne from its October nomination.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption dropped in September 2019 by 10% year on year, totalling 58,210 tonnes. Overall, 551,320 tonnes of PET was processed in Russia in the first nine months of 2019, up 9% year on year.

MEGlobal is a world leader in the manufacture and marketing of merchant monoethylene glycol and diethylene glycol (EG). Established in July 2004, the company is a joint venture between The Dow Chemical Company and Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait and is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With approximately 200 employees worldwide, MEGlobal serves customers around the world, and has production facilities in Fort Saskatchewan and Prentiss, Alberta, Canada.
MRC