Belarus in talks with Latvia over oil supply from Baltic ports

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The leaders of Latvia and Belarus are discussing supplying oil to Belarus from Latvia’s Baltic Sea ports, reported Reuters with reference to Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Karins said.

"We are interested in starting such business," Karins said.

Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus from Jan. 1, but partially restored them on Jan. 4. Two Russian oil firms, controlled by tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev, supply Belarus with oil essential to minimum operations at its two refineries.

As MRC wrote before, Belarus’ state oil company Belorusneft suspended supplies of its own oil to Germany this month as Minsk needs to compensate for shortages of Russia-sourced oil amid a contract dispute with Moscow.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, "Clearlake") in partnership with management announced that it has acquired Pretium Packaging ("Pretium" or the "Company") from Genstar Capital, said the company.

Pretium, of Chesterfield, Missouri, is focused on rigid packaging for end markets such as food and specialty beverage, healthcare, sports nutrition, personal care, beauty, and household products.

Its packaging solutions are based primarily on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HPDE), and polypropylene (PP) resin, with an array of options, including up to 100% post-consumer recycled material content.

The company has 19 manufacturing facilities in the US.

Clearlake teamed up with Pretium’s management to buy the company from Genstar Capital. Paul Kayser, Pretium’s CEO, and the existing management team will continue to lead the company.

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.

Pretium Packaging is a leading North American manufacturer of customized, short-to-medium volume, rigid plastic packaging solutions. The company produces containers, bottles, and closures for the food and specialty beverage, healthcare, sports nutrition, personal care, beauty, and household products end markets. Pretium serves its customers through nineteen facilities across the U.S. and Canada, and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a leading private investment firm founded in 2006. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are industrials and energy; software and technology-enabled services; and consumer. Clearlake has managed over USD16 billion of institutional capital since inception and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 200 investments.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global chemical giant BASF is set to move its UK headquarters to 2 Stockport Exchange, said the company.

The company has been operating in the UK since 1880, with its companies supplying raw materials to most industries including agriculture, automotive chemicals, construction, energy and pharmaceuticals.

Its new home – which covers six storeys – will sit at the heart of the wider ?145m development and reach completion in February 2020.

Richard Carter, managing director of BASF in the UK and Ireland, said: "We are looking forward to moving our UK headquarters from Cheadle to this exciting new connected location later this year. Our new office space in Stockport Exchange will feature open and collaborative workspace to enable new and more agile ways of working.

"The move is part of an ongoing Future of Work project which will deliver a better workplace experience through improved digitalisation, increased flexibility and empowered leadership."

The wider transformation is being brought forward in partnership by Stockport Council and Muse Developments.

Council leader Elise Wilson added: "Today marks a real milestone in what we have achieved in Stockport. The building is looking fantastic and has been finished to a really high standard, complementing our ambitious plans for the town centre, like the Mayoral Development Corporation and the thousands of new homes and business opportunities it will create, the new Transport Interchange and improvements to Merseyway.

BASF has 13 locations in the UK, eight of them manufacturing sites, where it employs about 850 people.

As MRC informed before, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, restarted its No. 1 steam cracker on September 30, 2019, following a maintenance turnaorund. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

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.

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. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude stocks fell in the latest week while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statment.

US crude oil production rose to a record high of 13 million barrels per day in the week, the EIA said.

Crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels in the last week to 428.5 million barrels, much more sharply than the 474,000-barrel drop analysts had expected in a Reuters poll.

"What sticks out for me is the dramatic builds we saw in products decidedly overtaking the sentiment here, despite the draw in crude oil," said Tony Headrick, energy markets analyst at CHS Hedging.

Crude and products futures turned negative after the data. US crude traded down 57 cents at USD57.67 a barrel by 11:27 a.m.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 342,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs rose by 76,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.8 percentage points, in the week

US gasoline stocks rose by 6.7 million barrels in the week to 258.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.4 million-barrel rise.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 8.2 million barrels in the week to 147.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

"That’s just a gigantic build at a time of year when you’re supposed to be getting draws to heat people’s houses," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 595,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), Shell Overseas Services Ltd. (Shell) and Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (AMG) have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to evaluate the potential for construction and operation, subject to regulatory approvals, of a spent catalyst recycling facility in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, reported Kemicalinfo.

The signing took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The MOU will allow SAGIA, Shell and AMG to explore the feasibility of building a world class facility to reclaim valuable metals by recycling spent residue upgrading catalysts generated by refineries in Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region.

Residue upgrading catalysts help refineries upgrade the bottom of the oil barrel into more valuable products, including generation of petrochemicals feedstocks. Such a facility would help maximise the benefits from the Kingdom’s natural resources while addressing the need to provide environmentally responsible management of spent residue upgrading catalysts.

"We are pleased to sign this MOU with AMG and Shell for the safe, efficient and clean processing of the growing quantities of spent catalysts in the region and recovery of vanadium and other precious metals for utilization in specialty steel production," said H.E. Ibrahim Alomar.

"This MOU reflects Shell’s interest in growing its presence in Saudi Arabia and serving its clients locally and regionally. New global fuel regulations, combined with the growing trend of crude oil to chemicals production, are leading refiners to develop sustainable waste management plans for their spent catalyst," said Andy Gosse.

"The recycling process also allows for the extraction of specialty alloys from spent catalysts for use by the steel market. Reclamation of these alloys in the recycling process allows steel manufacturers to benefit from a low CO2 method of sourcing the alloys as an alternative to mining. It is also the basis for building stationary batteries used for grid stabilisation for the growing renewable energy sector in Saudi Arabia. All of that is in line with AMG’s vision to enable CO2 reduction through its technologies and products," said Heinz Schimmelbusch.

The MOU will provide a framework for conducting the required studies to assess the commercial feasibility of this proposed project and, subject to regulatory approvals, the potential construction of a spent catalyst recycling facility in the region.

As MRC informed earlier, Shell Singapore restarted its naphtha cracker in Bukom Island in early December 2019, following a two months maintenance shutdown since the beginning of October 2019. Thus, this cracker was taken off-stream for the turnaround on 1 October 2019. The cracker is able to produce 960,000 tons/year of ethylene and 550,000 tons/year of propylene.

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.

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.
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