US crude stockpiles drop, product supplies higher

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, the Energy Information Administration said, in a report largely in line with analyst expectations, reported Reuters.

Crude inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week to Dec. 13 to 446.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop.

Oil prices rose as the report contradicted Tuesday’s data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute, which showed an increase in crude inventories.

"The market reaction was abruptly stronger due to the fact that we were so far away from industry estimations in the way of a net build," said Tony Headrick, an energy markets analyst at CHS Hedging.

Refinery crude runs fell by 35,000 barrels in the last week, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates were unchanged.

US crude pared losses, and was down 12 cents to USD60.82 a barrel as of 10:43 a.m. ET (1543 GMT). Brent dipped 3 cents to USD66.07, also off earlier lows.

US gasoline stocks rose by 2.5 million barrels in the week to 237.3 million barrels, the highest since March, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel rise.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week to 125.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 312,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 541,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 265,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thai Polyethylene Co, a subsidiary of Siam Cement Group, has restarted its high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit following a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on December 14, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance and owing to economic fundamentals on November 26, 2019.

Located in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the unit has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, on June 28, 2017, Thai Polyethylene took off-stream its No. 4 HDPE plant in Thailand for 15 days owing to tehcnical issues. Located at Map Tha Phut in Thailand, the unit has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's HDPE production totalled 729,500 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, down by 8% year on year. Two producers out of three reduced their output.

SCG Chemicals is a subsidiary of SCG and is one of SCG’s 3 core businesses consisting of Chemicals, Paper and Cement-Building Materials. SCG embarked upon the chemicals business in 1989. At present, SCG Chemicals manufactures and supplies a full range of petrochemical products ranging from upstream petrochemicals such as Olefins, intermediate petrochemicals such as Styrene Monomer, PTA, and MMA, to downstream petrochemicals such as Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyvinyl Chloride, and Polystyrene resins. SCG Chemicals is now one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Thailand and a key industry leader in the Asia-Pacific region.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. has little leverage to prevent the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany from being completed, two administration officials said, acknowledging the failure of a years-long effort to head off what officials believe is a threat to European security, as per Bloomberg.

The massive USD11-billion project is just weeks away from completion and has led President Donald Trump to call Germany “a captive to Russia.” He has criticized the European Union for not doing more to diversify imports away from the nation that supplies more than a third of its gas.

Senior U.S. administration officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the administration’s take on the project, said sanctions that passed Congress on Tuesday as part of a defense bill are too late to have any effect. The U.S. instead will try to impose costs on other Russian energy projects, one of the officials added.

The admission is a rare concession on what had been a top foreign-policy priority for the Trump administration and highlights how European allies such as Germany have been impervious to American pressure to abandon the pipeline. It also shows how the U.S. has struggled to deter Russia from flexing its muscles on issues ranging from energy to Ukraine to election interference.

The administration is hoping to sharpen its focus on Russia when Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who was confirmed as ambassador to the country last week, heads to Moscow next month. The post has been vacant since early October, when former envoy Jon Huntsman stepped down, and ties between the two countries have only continued to sour.

On a visit to Poland in February, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the Nord Stream 2 project “funnels money to Russians in ways that undermine European national security.”

Trump has indicated that he’ll sign the legislation passed Tuesday. The penalties on companies building the project, led by Russian energy company Gazprom PJSC, would be effective immediately, according to a Senate Republican aide.

As MRC informed earlier, Gazprom Neft and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have entered into a Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation. The companies will explore opportunities for implementing joint projects in the upstream and downstream sectors, as well as in information technologies, artificial intelligence, and other areas.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 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) -- Axens has signed an agreement with PKN Orlen for Vegan Technology License and Process Book Supply for the production of renewable diesel and jet fuel, through hydrotreating of vegetable oils in its Plock Refinery in Poland, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Based on a flexibility to operate either on diesel mode or kerosene mode, the new unit would be capable of producing Hydro-treated Vegetable Oils (HVO) for true drop-in high quality biofuels for diesel or jet fuel. This project falls into a commitment to address today’s environmental regulations entering the low-carbon energy sector in Downstream while ensuring diversification of feedstock.

“Investing in new technologies is among PKN ORLEN’s strategic objectives. Renewable energy sources are gaining prominence in transport. The RED II Directive, which raises targets for the use of next-generation biofuels, will have a major impact on the fuel market in the future. By investing in environmentally-friendly solutions in advance, we will be well-positioned to meet the ambitious EU targets”, states Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.

Vegan technology is able to hydro-treat a wide range of lipids and to produce low-density and high cetane renewable diesel as well as renewable sulfur-free jet fuel. Backed by fifty years of experience in middle distillates hydro-treatment and hydrocracking/hydro-isomerization, Vegan® technology is using catalysts manufactured and provided by Axens.

As MRC reported earlier, in H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN Orlen had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN ORLEN facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Levima Advanced Materials Technology Corp has planned to restart an Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plant following a brief maintenance, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company is likely to resume operations at the plant this weekend. The plant was shut on December 17, 2019.

Located at Tengzhou in Shandong provinces of China the EVA plant has a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, Shandong Levima New Material took its methanol-to-olefin (MTO) plant off-stream for maintenance in early-October, 2017. The plant remained off-line for around 6 weeks. Located in Shandong, China, the MTO plant has an ethylene capacity of 170,000 mt/year and a propylene capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's DataScope report, November EVA imports to Russia dropped by 8,9% year on year to 3,440 tonnes from 3,780 tonnes in November 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-November 2019 by 18,9% year on year to 35,95 tonnes (44,330 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2018).
MRC