Kazakhstan halts contaminated oil from spreading outside country

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan has contained the spread of contaminated oil within its borders by reducing exports to China and altering the schedule of supplies to domestic refineries, reported Reuters with reference to energy ministry and pipeline operator KazTransOil.

Kazakhstan suspended its oil exports to China earlier this month after organic chlorides contamination was found in crude supplied by a Kazakh producer less than a year after the "dirty oil" crisis in neighboring Russia.

Unlike the Russian Druzhba pipeline problems in April last year, when 5 million tonnes of oil were contaminated with organic chlorides, the origin this time was Kazakh oilfields and the volumes were much less, at around 150,000 tonnes.

KazTransOil told Reuters that organic chlorides content in oil at major pipelines, including the Russia-bound Atyrau - Samara pipeline, was within allowed levels.

Trading sources said Kazakhstan had also reduced its plans for oil transit via Russia by 100,000 tonnes in February.

On Tuesday, Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Murat Zhurebekov said oil exports to China had not yet been restored. The authorities have also been working on plans for dirty oil utilization. It could be diluted by cleaner oil, shipped off by rail or sent to inventories, market sources said.

The contaminated oil crisis has also hit supplies to Kazakh domestic refineries. KazTransOil has reviewed shipment plans for the Shymkent and Pavlodar oil refineries, it said without providing any details on volumes.

Trading sources said the Shymkent refinery would slightly reduce its oil throughput to 395,000 tonnes this month from an initially planned 400,000 tonnes.

At the same time, Atyrau refinery will process extra 30,000 tonnes from the planned 486,200 tonnes.

As MRC informed before, South Korea's LG Chem said in January 2016, it had decided to drop a plan to jointly build a USD4.2-billion petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan, citing a prolonged slump in oil prices and a sharp increase in facility investments. In 2011, the chemical company said it would construct the complex near the western Kazakh city of Atyrau as part of a 50-50 joint venture with two Kazakh companies. The plan involved building ethylene and polyethylene plants with annual capacities of 840,000 tonnes and 800,000 tonnes, respectively. The project was announced in 2013.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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) -- Production remains cut on the small crude distillation unit (CDU) and gasoline-producing unit at Lyondell Basell Industries’ 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery, said Gulf Coast market sources, as per Reuters.

Clogging of the desalter section of the 120,000 bpd Unit 536 CDU has reduced production on that unit and the 90,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), the sources said.

As MRC wrote previously, LyondellBasell shut down its cracker in La Porte (Texas, USA) on 19 September, 2019, because of the flooding, caused by the tropical storm Imelda. According to the company's statement, this plant, which can produce 1,150,000 tonnes of ethylene per year, was shut last Wednesday when water entered a building containing electrical components and damaged critical process control equipment.

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.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to the Belarusian market rose in the first eleven months of 2019 by 8% year on year to 6,700 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 6,200 tonnes in January-November 2018.

November 2019 ABS imports to Belarus dropped by 4% year on year. Thus, imports of material into the country were 656 tonnes over the stated period versus 680 tonnes in November 2018.

South Korea, Russia and Belgium are the main countries-importers of ABS to Belarus.

Imports of Korean material to the Belarusian market increased in the first eleven months of 2019 by 2 times year on year: from 1,100 tonnes in January-November 2018 to 2,700 tonnes. The share of ABS imports from South Korea in the total shipments to the country rose significantly in January-November 2019 to 40% from 18% a year earlier.

November 2019 shipments of Korean ABS into the Republic of Belarus were 250 tonnes versus 273 tonnes in October 2019, whereas imports of material were 104 tonnes in November 2018.

Deliveries of Russian material decreased in January-November 2019 by 29% year on year: from 2,500 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes. The share of Russian companies' ABS in the overall imports to the country fell in the first eleven months of 2019 to 26% from 40% a year earlier. Shipments of Russian material to Belarus were 153 tonnes in November 2019 versus 126 tonnes in October 2019, whereas imports of Russian material were 218 tonnes in November 2018.

Imports of material from Belgium also dropped in January-November 2019. Thus, shipments of Belgian ABS to the country decreased by 29% year on year: from 2,200 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes. November ABS imports from Belgium fell by 33% from October to 176 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) to Belarus rose in the first eleven months of 2019 by 13% year on year to 35,500 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 31,400 tonnes in January-November 2018.

GPPS and HIPS imports from Russia into the country accounted for 82% of the total imports in the first eleven months of 2019 or 29,200 tonnes, up by 3,800 tonnes year on year.

Imports of material to the Belarusian market did not change significantly in November 2019, totalling 3,300 tonnes, as a month earlier. November GPPS and HIPS shipments into the Republic of Belarus increased by 24% year on year (2,700 tonnes a year earlier).

November 2019 imports of Russian material into Belarus grew by 34% year on year to 3,000 tonnes from 2,200 tonnes a year earlier, October 2019 shipments were 2,800 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Houston pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners has started operations at two new natural gas processing plants last week, reported Oil&Gas360.

The company announced on Thursday morning that it had started its Bulldog cryogenic natural gas processing plant in the Haynesville Shale of East Texas.

Located in Panola County, the plant, can process 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and extract up to 12,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.

The East Texas announcement comes two days after Enterprise started its Mentone cryogenic natural gas processing plant in the Permian Basin of West Texas.

Located in Loving County, the plant can process 300 million cubic feet of natural per day and extract more than 40,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.

Founded in 1968 with a pair of propane delivery trucks, the Houston pipeline operator has more than 7,000 employees across the United States.

Enterprise, the largest exporter of crude oil and natural gas liquids in the US, reported a USD4.2 billion profit and USD36.5 billion in revenue in 2018.

As MRC informed before, Enterprise Products Partners and LyondellBasell Industries said in September 2019 they had executed long-term contracts to support construction of EPD's second propane dehydrogenation plant at the Mont Belvieu, Tex. complex. The decision to build the PDH 2 plant stems from recently executed long-term polymer grade propane (PGP) supply contracts between Enterprise and LyondellBasell Industries N.V.

Besides, we remind that Enterprise Products Partners' Mont Belvieu PDH in Texas restarted from planned maintenance in the first week of December, 2019. The PDH unit went offline for maintenance on November 13, 2019. That day, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that the RAC "B" turbine shut down, which resulted in flaring. The flaring was estimated to last 72 hours. The unit has a capacity of 750,000 mt/year.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. It acquired GulfTerra in September 2004. The company ranked No. 105 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue
MRC