S. Korea thirst for U.S. crude to keep growing in 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea is on track to overtake Canada as the top buyer of U.S. crude oil in 2020 as a mix of steep price discounts to alternative supplies, attractive refining economics and rebates on shipping charges prove too good to resist for big refiners, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

South Korean purchases more than doubled in the first 11 months of 2019 from a year earlier to 142.3 million barrels, Energy Information Agency (EIA) data showed. That was by far the fastest growth rate among top destinations for U.S. crude, and placed South Korea less than 10 million barrels behind top market Canada.

With the United States set to become a net exporter of crude for the first time in 2020, Asia is expected to be a focus for more shipments, especially as European refiners have limited capacity for more shale. Historically attractive pricing has been a key driver behind U.S. export momentum.

South Korea, the world’s fifth-biggest oil importer, bought more than 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) of U.S. oil in 2019, taking its share of Korean imports to nearly 13%. Buyers paid on average $1.70 a barrel less than for crude from top supplier, Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters calculations based on state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) data.

This compares with a 97 cents a barrel premium in 2018. “It is economically more attractive, and trade companies, midstream (firms) and producers have been aggressive seeking out buyers for American crude in Asia,” said Stephen Wolfe, a Houston-based oil analyst at Energy Aspects.

"Light sweet (crude) is attractive in Korea as a substitute for Iranian South Pars, especially in petrochemically-integrated plants, and especially after the implementation of IMO 2020 (ship fuel rules).”

U.S. crude oil is normally more expensive for Asian buyers than Middle East grades due to longer journey times and the fact that it yields more quality fuels at a lower refining cost.

Light sweet crude contains more naphtha, used in petrochemicals, and also has a lower sulphur content, making it suitable for very low sulphur fuel oil, which has been mandated for shipping since the start of 2020.

As MRC wrote before, Russian dealers of Hyundai sold 178,809 cars in 2019, which corresponds to the level a year earlier. As a result, Hyundai ranked fourth in sales among all automakers in Russia, and the brand’s market share was 10.2% versus 9.9% a year earlier, according to AEB.

In September 2010 Hyundai Motor Company launched a plant in St. Petersburg (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus). Currently, the factory produces Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio models. The Hyundai plant accounts for the bulk of cars produced in St. Petersburg. Hyundai Motor's Russian plant operates on a full production cycle. Creating a car begins with stamping body panels from steel coils. The welding process is fully automated. All paintwork both outside and inside the body is applied by robots.

Polypropylene (PP) is one of the main feedstock materials for the production of interior parts of the car.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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).
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Italian energy company Eni pledged on Friday to reduce its oil production from 2025 and slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and in one of the most ambitious clean-up drives in an industry under pressure from investors to go green, said Reuters.

The plan announced by Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi comes amid pressure on Eni to cut carbon emissions faster and also comes just weeks before the Italian government decides whether to reappoint the veteran oil man. Eni plans to boost its oil and gas production 3.5% a year until 2025 but then progressively cut back, mainly on crude, to ensure natural gas, which emits less carbon when burnt than oil, made up 85% of its overall output by 2050.

"The result will be a portfolio that is more balanced and integrated and will be stronger for its adaptability and competitive shareholder remuneration," Descalzi said. Descalzi, who ran Eni's exploration division before becoming CEO in 2014, is under pressure to prove he can shift the company towards cleaner sources of energy without inflicting too much damage on profitability.

Senior political sources told Reuters earlier this month the government, which owns 30% of Eni, was leaning towards giving Descalzi a third term - provided he works with a new board to speed up efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Under its new plan, Eni is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 in absolute terms, including emissions from refined products such as diesel or petrol when they are used by customers to drive cars, for example.

While rivals such as Britain's BP and Spain's Repsol have also included emissions from the use of their products in carbon targets, Eni went one step further.

It is including refined products made from oil and gas from third parties, as well at its own production which it says will grow as a percentage, while rivals have only pledged to cut emissions from barrels they have pumped out of the ground.

Others, such as Total and Royal Dutch Shell , have focused on cutting the amount of carbon emitted by each unit of energy they produce. Technically, that means their headline target measures could fall even though their absolute emissions rise with increased production.

"If you can't deliver green products you're going to lose your customers very quickly," Descalzi told analysts.

Oil and gas producers are feeling the heat from shareholders and environmental activists to cut emissions to meet the 2015 Paris climate goals with big institutional investors looking increasingly to green credentials to steer investments.

In a research note, Citi said as major European energy companies raced each other to be seen as the most sustainable, there was a risk some could commit to targets that end up being a rod for their back.

As MRC informed earlier, Italy’s Versalis (part of Eni) took its cracker in Dunkirk, France offline in early September, 2019, due to a fire which broke out at the company’s petrochemical plant. Local media sources also reported that the fire was brought under control with no reported injuries. The cracker has a production capacity of 380,000 tons/year of ethylene and 95,000 tons/year of propylene.

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

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 68 billion euros (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco expects the coronavirus impact on oil demand to be short-lived and for consumption to rise in the second half of the year, Chief Executive Amin Nasser told Reuters.

Oil prices have fallen this year as the rapid spread of the coronavirus in China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has dented demand. Prices fell again on Monday as the number of cases in countries outside China continued to climb.

“We think this is short term and I am confident that in the second half of the year there is going to be an improvement on the demand side, especially from China," he said. "I do not think it is going to have a long-term impact."

Nasser said that Aramco, the world’s biggest oil-producing company, has not evacuated its staff from China and that its key marketing staff have stayed to manage the company’s business in the Asian nation. The coronavirus has infected nearly 77,000 people and killed more than 2,500 in China, most of them in Hubei.

South Korea’s fourth-largest city, Daegu, became increasingly isolated on Monday after a rapid increase in the number of infections. Italy, meanwhile, reported a seventh death from the flu-like virus and 220 infections in Europe’s biggest outbreak.

Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq on Monday recorded their first new coronavirus cases, all involving people who had been in Iran, which has had 61 cases and 12 deaths.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de-facto leader, has held talks with other OPEC members and Russia to discuss potential deeper oil supply cuts to counter the impact on crude prices. But Russia has yet to announce its final position on the proposal.

OPEC and allies are due to meet over March 5-6 to decide on production policy.

As MRC wrote earlier, in October 2019, McDermott International announced that it had been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Amiral is a JV in which Aramco holds 62.5% and Total the rest. The plant, designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, will be one of the world's largest mixed-feed crackers.

Aramco and Total launched their USD5-billion Amiral JV project in October 2018. The steam cracker will be fed with a mixture of 50% ethane and refinery off-gases. It will supply ethylene to a downstream 1 MMt/y polyethylene manufacturing complex and other petrochemical products. The project aims to fully exploit operational synergies with the adjacent refinery, owned by Satorp, another JV between Aramco and Total. Third-party investors, including Daelim and Ineos, will locate plants at the value park adjacent to Amiral with a combined investment of USD4 billion. A final investment decision is expected in 2021.

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).

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- TPC Group (Houston, Texas) says it aims to restore terminal operations at its Port Neches, Texas, facility during the first half of 2020, but reconstruction of portions damaged by the November 2019 explosion and fire will take up to five years.

The company will therefore be laying off about 100 of the 183 staff employed at the site.

"The company has received preliminary third-party engineering reports that indicate a construction timeline of two to two and a half years to rebuild," says a press release issued on 25 February. "This timing, combined with an anticipated two to two and a half years of upfront engineering and permitting, results in an approximate five-year time frame for resumption of production at Port Neches."

The fire at Port Neches mainly affected distillation towers used to process crude C4. The terminal operations include about 100 storage tanks, of which 12 were damaged. TPC says 96% of the high-purity butadiene that had been stored at Port Neches has been moved offsite, as well as more than half of the material containing 1,3-butadiene.

As MRC wrote before, TPC Group said last Tuesday that 96% of the high purity butadiene and more than 50% of material containing 1,3 butadiene has been transported from the blast site. Once those transfers are complete, TPC Group said it would move crude C4, raffinate, polyblend and other process materials to other locations and finish securing the site.

Butadiene is one of the feedstocks for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to MRC's DataScopr report, overall ABS imports to the Russian market decreased in 2019 by 4% year on year to 33,700 tonnes.

Headquartered in Houston, TPC was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Jurors in the criminal case against the U.S. arm of a French company on Thursday heard it routinely stored combustible chemicals where floodwaters could reach them and failed to alert emergency workers as toxic fires erupted, said Reuters.

Arkema SA's U.S. arm failed to relocate chemicals made at the Crosby, Texas, plant ahead of 2017's Hurricane Harvey and every prior storm, charged prosecutor Michael Doyle. Arkema, its U.S. chief executive, Richard Rowe, and the plant manager, Leslie Comardelle, are charged with the toxic releases. Former logistics chief Michael Keough who helped coordinate the response was charged with assault over injuries to emergency workers who inhaled the fumes.

The plant outside of Houston in 2017 became waterlogged and lost power needed to cool volatile chemicals after Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches (1.27 m) of rain on the area. Twenty-one people sought treatment for exposure to fumes from three chemical fires that erupted.

"The question is not when should it be removed, but should it be kept there when severe weather is threatening?" Doyle told a jury of nine women and three men. The plant is in a flood plain and had never removed its chemicals ahead of storms.

The executives face up to five years in jail on an endangerment charge and the company could be hit with a fine of up to USD1 million. All pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday. Defense attorneys accused the state of criminalizing "an act of God," and insisted no one could have foreseen the flooding that led the volatile organic peroxides to ignite, releasing toxic fumes.

The plant had never previously flooded and never lost power, said Arkema attorney Letitia Quinones. It would have been more dangerous to residents to move the chemicals through city streets, she said.

"No one knew it was going to be like this," said Quinones. She said law enforcement officials determined the area to be evacuated, not company officials. Two of the deputies that were injured entered the exclusion area without taking proper precautions, she said.

Judge Belinda Hill rejected defense motions for a mistrial after Doyle cited testimony given under immunity that the judge had ruled was not permitted in court.

The trial began after a series of petrochemical fires in the region last year fouled the skies over several cities, raising worries about chemical industry practices. The state's top environmental regulator called for a compliance review after businesses and schools were evacuated by fires at sites making gasoline, rubber, resins or storing petrochemicals.

The Crosby plant produced organic peroxides that are used to make plastic countertops, consumer goods and automotive parts. More than 350,000 pounds of the chemicals ignited and burned during three separate fires, a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board found.

As it was written earlier, in October 2019, Arkema (Colombes, France) announced the proposed divestment of its Functional Polyolefins business to SK Global Chemical (Seoul, South Korea), a subsidiary of SK, the major South Korean corporation. With this project, Arkema continues its shift towards specialty chemicals and advanced materials.

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).
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