PRefChem refinery commissioning delayed until H2 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The commissioning of Malaysia's Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex, also known as PRefChem, will be delayed until the second half of 2020 from the date of end-2019, due to the fire at some units in April 2019, reported S&P Global with reference to Saudi Aramco's statement in its IPO prospectus published recently.

Any delay would hold back some crude and product trade flows that were expected on the startup of PRefChem, in which Malaysia's state-run Petronas and Saudi Aramco own a 50% stake each.

Petronas had said in September the Pengerang Integrated Complex, where PRefChem is located, was on track to achieve commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2019, with overall progress of 99.7% as of 30 June 2019.

Saudi Aramco had a gross refining capacity of 4.9 million b/d as of 31 December 2018. It said it expects capacity additions from its purchase of a 17% interest in Hyundai Oilbank, the Jazan integrated petrochemical refinery and PRefChem to increase its gross refining capacity to 6.8 million b/d by the end of 2020.

The PRefChem joint ventures, Pengerang Petrochemical Co and Pengerang Refining Co, together include a 300,000 b/d refinery, an integrated steam cracker with a capacity of 1.3 million mt of ethylene, with associated propylene, butadiene, benzene, polyolefins and ethylene glycol facilities.

Saudi Aramco expects these facilities to be commissioned in the second half of 2020 and will provide a significant portion of PRefChem's crude supply under a long-term supply agreement, giving it an expansion opportunity in Southeast Asia and new geographies for its crude oil production, the document said.

PRefChem, located in Malaysia's southern state of Johor, adjacent to the regional trading hub of Singapore, will be supported by a deep-water oil terminal, an LNG regasification plant, crude and LNG storage and a cogeneration power plant.

It will produce Euro 5 gasoline and diesel and other refined products as well as feedstock for the production of three million mt/year of petrochemical products.

Saudi Aramco will provide long-term placement of 150,000 b/d of crude to PRefChem, with an option for an additional 60,000 b/d and have offtake rights for 50% of production, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene, olefins, polymers and glycol.

Additionally, Aramco said it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Reliance Industries on 12 August 2019 to purchase a 20% stake in the Indian refining major's oil to chemicals division.

The document also said the Jazan refinery is expected to begin operations at the end of 2019 and is expected to be ready for full operations in the second half of 2020. Jazan has a capacity of 400,000 b/d.

As MRC informed before, PrefChem received commerical ethylene and propylene at its new cracker in Pengerang on 13 September, 2019.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

PrefChem a joint venture between Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, and Saudi Aramco. The Pengerang Refining development, part of Petronas’ USD27 billion Pengerang Integrated Complex, consists of a 300,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) oil refinery and a petrochemical complex with a production capacity of 7.7 million tonnes per year in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS) grades, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) grades in Europe, according to the company's press release.

Effective January 1, 2020, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose as follows:

-- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR75 per metric ton;
-- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR75 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR70 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR70 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo reduced its prices for all PS grades on 1 December 2019, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR20 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR20 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, the Russian PS market had finally become balanced and stabilized by the end of last year. Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material was received by all market participants in the required quantities in December. Prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material will remain in January at last month's level, in accordance with the agreements between the plant and customers in late November.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.6 billion in net sales in 2018, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,500 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR won the first commercial contract for its K-PROTM Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) Technology which the company introduced in January 2019. This innovative and environmentally friendly technology will be utilized for a 600 kTA PDH plant by a client in Asia, as per the company's press release.

K-PRO provides lower capital and operating costs and environmental benefits for customers. The technology delivers proven reliability that allows facilities to operate for longer periods of time between shutdowns compared to existing commercially available technologies.

K-PRO employs KBR’s well-proven OrthoflowTM Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) reactor technology. It also leverages KBR’s expertise in designing optimized olefins recovery systems, gained through decades of licensing KBR’s SCORETM steam cracking and K-COTTM catalytic olefins technologies.

At the heart of the K-PRO process is an innovative catalyst that contains no costly precious metals and no environmentally sensitive chromium, which are used in existing commercially available technologies.

"We are very excited that our K-PRO technology was selected for this project," said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology Solutions. "Consistent with our corporate focus towards sustainability, K-PRO is a great example of KBR investing in process technologies that are innovative, cutting-edge, and also environmentally friendly."

The planned PDH unit is expected to start up in 2023.

As MRC informed before, KBR has recently been awarded a contract for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) technology by Shenghong Refining Petrochemical (Lian Yun Gang) Co. Ltd., China.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

KBR has more than 50 years of experience in providing technologies, flexible solutions and expertise that petrochemicals operators rely on to produce ethylene, propylene, acetyls, phenolics, vinyls and other specialty products from a variety of feedstocks, safely and efficiently.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A strike at French oil refineries hit shipments of oil products but did not disrupt traffic on the roads as oil companies and the government kept fuel flowing to gas stations, reported Reuters.

At the end of the second day of a four-day strike by workers at oil refineries over government pension reforms, less than 2% of France's 11,000 petrol stations had run out of fuel, petroleum lobby UFIP said.

The strike action is part of national protests against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plans, which has seen a month-long strike on the national rail and Paris metro systems and comes ahead of a fourth day of major demonstrations on Thursday.

Oil industry specialists said police action to unblock picketing at fuel depots and action taken by oil companies to manage oil reservoirs has prevented a repeat of 2010, when a refinery strike against then president Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform plans lead to widespread fuel shortages nationwide.

An official at UFIP said that following the 2010 and earlier strikes at refineries, France's logistics and regulatory chain had been made more robust, making it harder for unions to twist the government's arm by squeezing fuel supply.

"The government has learned that as soon as an oil depot is blockaded, it has to send police to intervene," oil industry expert Jean-Louis Schilansky said.

Market leader Total said less than 5% of staff at its four refineries were on strike and there was no risk of fuel shortages. ExxonMobil also said disturbances were limited at its plants.

Crucially, truckers did not take part in the strike, as the government has already confirmed they can keep their rights to early retirement.

"Without the truckers, it is hard to bring France to a halt," said Jacques Percebois, a professor at Montpellier University.

Oil companies said that although trucks and pipelines were blocked by striking workers, refineries continued to operate, storing their output in onsite tanks.

Industry specialists say that if the strike were to continue into next week, some refineries may have to shut down as their capacity to store output is limited.

Union leaders said it was to soon to comment on a possible extension of the strike.

The government also has strategic stocks worth three months of consumption and can rely on increasing imports, as France already imports half of the diesel it needs.

As MRC informed before, French oil major Total said that strikes against the government’s pension reform were having no impact on its fuel supply and distribution ahead of a four-day nationwide strike in French oil refineries.

We also remind that in November 2019, Total disclosed that it is evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has decided to establish its subsidiary’s second factory in Shanghai to produce high-purity gases for electronics, said the producer.

Shanghai Showa Electronics Materials Co., Ltd. (SSE), which is SDK’s wholly owned subsidiary producing high-purity gases for electronics, acquired a right to use a site for its second factory adjacent to the First Factory for 50 years, and will establish facilities to produce high-purity nitrous oxide (N2O) and high-purity octafluorocyclobutane (C4F8) gases and a dangerous goods warehouse to stock high-pressure gases. The second factory will start its operations in the second half of 2021.

High-purity N2O is a specialty gas used to form oxidized films on surfaces of integrated circuits which will compose semiconductor chips or display panels. High-purity C4F8 is a specialty gas used for etching of those oxidized films and other micromachining processes. Due to progress in information communication technologies including 5G mobile communication technology and Chinese government’s policy to nurture high-technology industry, the market in China for semiconductor chips and display panels (e.g., organic electroluminescent display panels for TVs, etc.) is expected to expand.

The Showa Denko Group is now producing high-purity N2O at Kawasaki Plant and a site of a group company in the Republic of Korea, and high-purity C4F8 at Kawasaki Plant and SSE’s First Factory in Shanghai. In order to strengthen its adaptability to changes in needs of the market, including the need for stable supply of high-purity gases, the Group now aims to promote “local consumption of locally produced high-purity gases” further. Moreover, in the present situation where the Chinese government is strengthening regulations on chemicals, establishment and expansion of the Showa Denko Group’s dangerous goods warehouse in Shanghai to stock high-pressure gases will enable the Group to strengthen its supply chain and competitiveness. By combining its production and quality-control technologies and getting best supply system ready for customers, the Showa Denko Group will further strengthen its high-purity gas business.

As per MRC, Showa Denko K.K. in March 2018, it stopped production at a cracking unit in Oita (Oita, Japan) for preventive maintenance. Maintenance at this enterprise with a capacity of 691 thousand tons of ethylene per year continued until April 19, 2018.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Showa Denko K.K. Mainly engaged in the petrochemical business. The company's petrochemical division produces and markets industrial gases, olefins, organic chemicals, and others.
MRC