Oil, gas producer targets 2030 operational carbon neutrality

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil and gas producer Kosmos Energy, which plans to produce at least 62,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year, aims to make its operations carbon neutral by 2030, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

To achieve its target, Kosmos plans to increase the weighting of gas in its portfolio, improve the carbon footprint of its operations and invest in so-called nature-based solutions such as wetlands restoration and reforestation projects.

Kosmos Energy said its next steps would include developing a target for so-called Scope 3 emissions, meaning greenhouse gases emitted from the end-use of its products, for example diesel or petrol in a passenger car.

Some integrated oil companies such as BP and Repsol , which have refining and marketing units, have Scope 3 targets already. However, Kosmos would be among the first pure oil and gas producers to develop a such a goal.

Mediterranean-focused oil and gas producer Energean has committed to reducing its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Kosmos, which has specialised in exploring for new barrels, also said it would “not seek access to new frontier oil basins”.

The company posted a loss of $36.6 million for the fourth quarter earlier on Monday, and said its Chief Financial Officer Thomas Chambers would retire in May.

Kosmos shares were down 15% in London by 1545 GMT, tracking a 5% drop in Brent crude oil.

As MRC informed earlier, Oil prices fell around 1%, pressured by growing worries about fuel demand as a coronavirus epidemic spread further beyond China, and as major crude producers appeared to be in no rush to cut output to buttress the market. Brent crude was down 64 cents, or 1.1%, at USD58.67 a barrel by 0703 GMT, while U.S. crude dropped 54 cents, or 1%, at USD53.34 a barrel.

As MRC infomed earlier, the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, averaged USD64 per barrel (b) in 2019, USD7/b lower than its 2018 average. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, averaged USD57/b in 2019, USD7/b lower than in 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 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing introduces InFocus Online Platform

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil announced that ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC has launched its ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing introduces InFocus Online Platformto help customers optimize plant performance, increase operational efficiency and minimize production interruptions, said Chemicals-technology.

Users can now use secure, near-real-time data to make faster, more informed decisions and collaborate more easily with ExxonMobil technical support. The platform has been tested and piloted with early adopters and has already been fully deployed in multiple facilities.

"Our customers are under increasing pressure to improve profitability and be more efficient,” said Dan Moore, president of ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing. “Our InFocus Platform will provide deeper insight into their operations and will enable concrete recommendations on ways to optimize plant performance and minimize interruptions. The platform’s common data view enhances collaboration between the operator and ExxonMobil experts. Access to technical expertise and trusted advice defines our customer experience. This technology enhances this value and we are excited to get it into our customers’ hands."

Leveraging more than a century of experience in refinery and chemical plant leadership, the cloud-based InFocus Platform currently provides two solutions.

The predictive tool enables users to quickly and cost effectively test the impact of feedstock and operational changes on lube product yields and quality. Developed from years of ExxonMobil expertise and experience, the tool can also be tuned to match actual unit performance, delivering valuable data enabling users to evaluate feed flexibility, optimize product mix and maximize operational value.

The InFocus online lube optimization model includes lube hydrocracker (LHDC) and MSDW™ dewaxing technology modules, which can be run independently or linked. Each module predicts process performance, product yields and qualities based on key operating variables such as average reactor temperature, space velocity, pressure, product fractionation cut point and separation efficiency.

The InFocus unit monitoring tool enables timely technical insights to improve process performance. Drawing on ExxonMobil’s breadth of technical and operational experience, the monitoring tool provides users with easier access to ExxonMobil expertise, early identification of potential operational concerns and more meaningful analysis.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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

Exxon Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery aims to restart CDU this week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp plans to restart the large crude distillation unit (CDU) and a coker this week at its 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery this week, sources familiar with plant operations said, said Reuters.

The 240,000 bpd PSLA 10 CDU and the 50,000 bpd coker were shut on Feb. 12 following a natural gas pipeline fire that idled most of the production units at the refinery, the sources said.

Exxon spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said on Monday operations were continuing at the Baton Rouge refinery and adjoining chemical plant. He declined to discuss the status of individual units.

PSLA 10 and the coker could restart as early as the middle of this week, if all goes as planned, the sources said. Three of the four CDUs at the refinery were shut by the fire. The pipeline that caught on fire supplies natural gas that fuels boilers on the units, the sources said.

The CDUs do the primary breakdown of crude oil into the hydrocarbon feedstocks, from which motor fuels like gasoline and diesel and plastics are made in other production units at the refinery. Restarting PSLA 10 has been a top goal with for Exxon since the fire, the sources said. Restart efforts depend on restoring the natural gas feed to the unit.

Returning the refinery to production is expected to take at least a month from the date of the fire, sources have said.

The coker converts residual crude oil from distillation units into feedstock for motor fuels or petroleum coke, a coal substitute.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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

Rosneft allocates CEFC's share of April ESPO crude to Trafigura

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft has allocated ESPO Blend crude supplies in April to European trader Trafigura, leaving none for China’s CEFC which has a long-term deal to buy oil from the Russian oil giant, four people with knowledge of the matter said, as per Reuters.

It was not immediately clear why Rosneft changed its allocation of ESPO crude, a popular grade among Chinese “teapots”, or independent refineries that collectively make up a fifth of the country’s crude imports.

But the changes may suggest that Rosneft’s deal with CEFC, which was supposed to end in 2022, might have been adjusted or even terminated earlier than expected, the sources told Reuters.

Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment. Calls to CEFC in Singapore went unanswered. Trafigura declined to comment.

“There was a discussion going on for a while to cut supplies to CEFC ... it looks like Trafigura could get it,” said one of the sources familiar with the talks.

A change to Rosneft’s crude supply deal would be another blow to CEFC, which has been under pressure since its founder and chairman Ye Jianming was detained by Chinese authorities in 2018.

Trafigura received six cargoes for April loading and the Swiss commodities trading house could become the major lifter of Rosneft’s ESPO crude this year, replacing CEFC, two of the sources said.

Trafigura, which was the term lifter of Rosneft’s ESPO before CEFC took over in 2018, has since sold one of the April cargoes to oil major Royal Dutch Shell, traders said.

Rosneft had pledged to supply CEFC with 61 million tonnes of oil over five years starting from Jan. 1, 2018. In 2019 the Russian firm switched its crude supply deal to CEFC’s trading unit in Singapore from the China-based unit.

Rosneft also supplies Urals crude to CEFC under the contract and it is unclear if this supply will be affected from April, traders said, adding that Rosneft has allocated at least one 80,000-tonne Urals cargo to CEFC to load from Novorossiisk in March.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft posted a 45% growth in fourth quarter net profit and a 20% growth in 2019 crude oil sales despite the impact of a pipeline contamination and global efforts to cap output.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

India refiners getting rare oil cheap as China demand slows

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refining companies are snapping up rare crude grades as the coronavirus outbreak curtails China’s demand for processing, executives and traders said, with prices for some grades falling by as much as 15%, said Hydrocarbonprtocessing.

Chinese refiners have slashed output by at least 1.5 million barrels a day in February, or over 10 percent, after the virus outbreak hit domestic fuel demand, leading to swelling stocks.

"Opportunity for Indian markets is more in the context of what is happening in China and in recent times we received crudes which are appearing to be attractive as compared to their value earlier,” said R. Ramachandran, head of refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Refiners in India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, rarely get the opportunity to buy suitable grades from areas like the Mediterranean and Latin America due to higher freight rates.

However, shipping rates have plunged by nearly half since the virus outbreak, and after the U.S. partially lifted sanctions on part of Chinese shipping firm COSCO. BPCL will receive a million barrels each of Brazil’s Sapinhoa and Mediterranean CPC blend in April, Ramachandran told Reuters.

It is also scouting for a million barrels each of Angola’s Palanca, a grade BPCL processed years ago, and Nigerian Okoro “as pricing appears attractive” for April, he said. “This is an opportunity for Indian refiners to buy new and rarely purchased grades that are available at cheaper rates,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at consultancy FGE.

Asia’s spot premiums for Middle East, Russian, West African and Brazilian crude have all dropped this month with grades favoured by Chinese buyers, such as ESPO, Lula and Angolan, hurt the most. “For the Brazilian and CPC blend we have seen crude cost lower by 10-15% compared to what we used to see,” Ramachandran said.

Ample crude supplies allow other buyers to shop around and buy crude cargoes at cheap prices, although some Chinese refiners are also still chasing cheap supplies. “For March-loading, April-arrival West African crude cargoes, premiums have dropped across-the-board,” said a West African crude trader.

“Different crude grades are reacting differently... In general, most grades were down more than USD1. Rare grades are very cheap,” the trade source said. National oil companies in China buy a lot of Middle Eastern heavy crudes and medium grades, while independents process medium-to-heavy sweet grades from Latin America and Africa.

“In spot tenders we are seeing a reduction in premiums. We are seeing offers for sale of new grades. Opportunities have increased,” said M. K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL).

“We are seeing offers for rare grades from Africa like Angolan Nemba and U.S. crude like WTI Midland at very competitive rates.”

As MRC informed earlier, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Dusseldorf, Germany) announced that Henkel Adhesives Technologies has officially inaugurated its new production facility in Kurkumbh, India, near Pune. With a total investment of about EUR50 million, the business unit aims to serve the growing demand of Indian industries for high-performance solutions in adhesives, sealants and surface treatment products. Designed as a smart factory the new plant enables a wide range of Industry 4.0 operations and meets the highest standards for sustainability.

Also, State-run oil supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan has recently opened a representative office in New Delhi as part of its plans to set up a plant in India and forge ties in the petrochemical industry here.

As MRC informed earlier, CPC Corporation took one of its naphtha crackers off-stream on 8 November 2019 for major maintenance work. The cracker number 4 remained offline for about 65 days and resumed operation by mid of January 2020. The No. 4 unit has an annual capacity of 380,000 tons/year of ethylene and 193,000 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 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC