ExxonMobil to take over US Strategic Petroleum Reserve lease at St. James terminal from Shell

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Pipeline in January will take over operations of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve's 2-million-barrel capacity St. James, Louisiana, terminal that can distribute government-owned crude to Gulf Coast and Midwest refiners, reported S&P Global.

The Department of Energy said Monday that ExxonMobil signed a 20-year lease to operate the St. James marine terminal and 36-inch-diameter Redstick pipeline that connects to the Bayou Choctaw SPR facility. The lease will end Shell's 22-year operational control of the facilities.

St. James is the pricing hub for Gulf Coast benchmark Light Louisiana Sweet crude. In the event of an emergency SPR drawdown, the terminal can distribute crude from the SPR's Bayou Choctaw site to the Midwest via Capline, and to Gulf Coast refineries via Locap, Shell, NuStar and Plains terminals.

The St. James terminal has two marine docks and six storage tanks. It sits on the Mississippi River about 30 miles southeast of Baton Rouge.

In 2016, DOE considered retaking operational control of the St. James facility over concerns it would not be able to distribute government-owned crude without displacing commercial flows while a private company operated it.

"This lease helps ensure the free flow of crude oil in the Gulf region so we may continue to strive for energy independence and embrace America's energy renaissance," Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement. "It's a win-win for producers, refiners, consumers, and taxpayers."

DOE operated the St. James facility from 1980 to 1997, before leasing it to Shell.

As MRC informed before, ExxonMobil's cracker at Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France, had an "unexpected stoppage" on Friday, 6 December, following a technical failure this October. An electric fire Saturday morning, 19 October, 2019, on the ExxonMobil facilities in Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (Seine Maritime) resulted in a plume of smoke, below the regulatory thresholds, which could remain visible for several days.

Besides, last week, ExxonMobil halted polyethylene (PE) production at its site in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France due to commercial reasons, without providing further details. The site houses 500,000 tons/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, including metallocene linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE).

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has completed, through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company B.V., the acquisition of 17% of Hyundai Oilbank from Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, for approximately USD1.2 Billion, as per the company's press release.

The completion follows receipt of all necessary regulatory consents and approvals.

The investment in South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank supports Saudi Aramco’s Downstream growth strategy of expanding its global footprint in key markets in profitable integrated refining, chemicals and marketing businesses which enable Saudi Aramco to place crude oil and leverage its trading capabilities.

As MRC wrote previously, Saudi Aramco, which temporarily lost half of its oil production following the September 14 attacks on two key oil facilities, is running its local refineries at full capacity and is forging ahead with plans to start up new refineries. The company is also starting up a joint venture refinery in Malaysia next year. According to Aramco's bond prospectus released in April, the refining and petrochemical joint venture with Petronas - the Malaysian national oil company - collectively known as PRefChem, was supposed to start this year.

The PRefChem joint venture includes a 300,000 b/d refinery, an integrated steam cracker with capacity to produce 1.3 million mt of ethylene located in Johor, Malaysia. Aramco was supposed to provide a significant portion of PRefChem's crude supply under a long-term supply agreement. Jazan and PrefChem will help Aramco reach a gross refining capacity of 5.6 million b/d, it said in the prospectus. The company currently owns and has stakes in four refineries abroad with a total refining capacity exceeding 2 million b/d.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

Hyundai Oilbank is a private oil refining company established in 1964. The Daesan Complex, where Hyundai Oilbank’s major facilities are located, is a fully integrated refining plant with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The business portfolio of Hyundai Oilbank and its five subsidiaries includes oil refining, base oil, petrochemicals and a network of gas stations.

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) -- China will re-investigate anti-dumping duties it has imposed on some rubber products used for tires and hosepipes imported from ExxonMobil Corp, reported Reuters with reference to the Ministry of Commerce's statement.

In August 2018 China imposed anti-dumping duties on halogenated butyl rubber products from the United States, European Union and Singapore.

ExxonMobil Corp and ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd, hit with duties of 75.5% and 71.9% respectively, requested an re-investigation, the ministry said.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil has halted PE production at its site in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France due to commercial reasons, without providing further details. The site houses 500,000 tons/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, including metallocene linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, LLDPE shipments to the Russian market rose in the first ten months of 2019 by 11% year on year to 322,140 tonnes. Domestic producers increased their output by 30%, thereby reducing dependence on imports.

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) -- Overall imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to the Russian market decreased in the first eleven months of 2019 by 4% year on year to 31,300 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 32,700 tonnes in January-November 2018.

South Korean companies LG Chem and Lotte Advanced accounted for more than half of the country's ABS imports.

Styrolution and Trinseo shipped the bulk of European ABS. The share of their supplies is 23% of the total imports.

Last month's ABS imports to Russia fell by 20% year on year to 3,300 tonnes from 4,100 tonnes a year earlier, imports of material into the country were 3,500 tonnes in October 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) to the Russian market rose in the first eleven months of 2019 by 30% year on year to 19,800 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 15,200 tonnes in January-November 2018.

The Finnish producer Styrochem's material accounted for 36% of the total EPS imports, the Chinese company Loyal with the share of 21% occupied the second position.

Styrochem's imports grew over the stated period by 33% year on year: from 5,300 tonnes to 7,100 tonnes. Shipments of Chinese Loyal increased by 53% year on year: from 2,700 tonnes to 4,100 tonnes.

November EPS imports to Russia increased by 20% year on year to 2,100 tonnes from 1,800 tonnes a year earlier, imports of material into the country were 1,700 tonnes in October 2019.

MRC