Belarus plans April crude oil supply to refineries of at least 1 mln tons

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belarus plans to supply its oil refineries with at least 1 million tons of crude oil in April, reported Reuters with reference to the RIA news agency, which cited Belarus state oil company Belneftekhim.

Russia, the main supplier of oil to Belarus, has yet to restart deliveries in full, which have been suspended since the start of the year due to a pricing row.

The goal is to reach two million tons of crude oil supply, Belneftekhim said.

In late January 2020, as MRC wrote before, the country's Naftan refinery received 80,000 mt of Norwegian oil to test out new routes and compare losses with the current price of Russian oil.

Lukashenko said in mid-December 2019 that Russia had agreed in principle to supply 20-22 Bcm of gas and 24 million-25 million mt of oil in 2020 to Belarus.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, lower capacity utilisation at Polymir (part of Naftan) in January 2020 did not affect the balance of the local low density polyethylene (LDPE) market, there was no shortage of polyethylene (PE). Local companies partially compensated for the absence of domestic PE by higher shipments from Russia.

Polymir (part of Naftan) is Belarus' largest petrochemical company, producing a wide range of chemical products, such as LDPE, acrylic fibers, products of organic synthesis, hydrocarbon fractions, etc. Polymir was founded in 1968. The producer uses technologies of the largest foreign companies from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy (Courtaulds, Asahi Chemical Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Gosho, SNIA BPD, etc.), as well as the developments of scientific research institutes and design institutes of the CIS countries. The plant"s annual production capacity is 130,000 tonnes.
MRC

Citgo group owes USD143M for Philadelphia oil spil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Supreme Court on Monday found a Citgo partnership liable for USD143 million in cleanup costs from a 2004 oil spill in the Delaware River, which was caused when an abandoned anchor pierced the single hull of the Athos I oil tanker on its final approach to a Philadelphia-area refinery, reported Reuters.

Resolving a split in the federal circuits, the 7-2 court held that the "safe-berth" clause in Citgo Asphalt Refining Company (CARCO)’s contract with the shipping firm’s agent amounted to a warranty that the boat would be able to reach the refinery dock safely.

As informed before, in May 2019, Citgo restarted larger reformer at its US Corpus Christi 52,000 bbl/day refinery with capacity 225,000 benzene; 180,000 toluene tonnes/year.

Benzene is a feedstock for the production of styrene monomer (SM), which, in its turn, is a feedstock for manufacturing polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics rose in February 2020 by 14% year on year to 39,890 tonnes. The estimated consumption totalled 80,570 tonnes in the first two months of 2020, which corresponded to the last year's figure.
MRC

Motiva Port Arthur, Texas, refinery FCC shut due to leak

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Motiva Enterprises shut the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to repair a leak, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The 81,000-bpd FCC was shut on Monday night to begin repair of the leak, the sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, Motiva is evaluating opportunities to build a new polyethylene (PE) line within its proposed steam cracker and aromatics project in Jefferson County, Texas. The new PE capacity will be located at the company’s Port Arthur Refinery Complex in Jefferson County, Texas. The planned capacity of the unit was not specified, while the value of the project is reportedly estimated at around USD3.1 billion.

Besides, in late 2019, Motiva Enterprises acquired 100% of Flint Hills Resources chemical plant, adjacent to its Port Arthur, Texas, oil refinery. The Flint Hills plant operates a 1.57 billion-pound-per-year ethylene cracker, a unit producing nylon component cyclohexane, and a network of pipelines and storage caverns. Saudi Aramco, in its IPO prospectus, said the cash payment will be determined as per the project value at SAR 7.13 billion (USD1.9 billion).

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

Motiva Enterprises, LLC, is a fully owned affiliate of Saudi Refining Inc. and headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States with revenue of USD24 billion. Previously, it was a 50–50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company (the wholly owned American subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell) and Saudi Refining Inc. (controlled by Saudi Aramco).
MRC

Plastic makers are driving change to eliminate plastic waste

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PBS’s Frontline last night aired an episode called “Plastic Wars.” ACC’s Keith Christman, managing director of plastics markets, as per Americanchemistry.

Plastic waste is a very real problem, and America’s plastic makers are helping to drive change and modernize today’s plastics recycling systems. From working with customers to design reusable and more recyclable packaging, to innovating and improving traditional recycling operations, to expanding collection and investing in next-generation advanced recycling technologies that transform used packaging into completely new plastics – much of this work is underway today. We are acting now to help build a future without plastic waste.

Plastic plays a vital role in modern life. Too often it is not recycled or recovered, and far too much winds up in our rivers and oceans. Designing waste out of our systems requires a sustained commitment and ongoing collaboration with government, major brands, nonprofits, and other stakeholders. More than ever, consumers are driving demand for more sustainable products, and brands are committed to using more recycled content. Right now, plastics makers are developing the products and processes to deliver recycled materials needed for viable, long-term markets.

Unfortunately, Frontline failed to acknowledge this changing economic and technology landscape, or mention the industry’s rapidly growing and tangible investments in traditional and advanced plastics recycling technologies and their growing impact.

In the last three years, the private sector has invested $4.6 billion in improving recycling in the United States, primarily in advanced plastics recycling technologies that are already beginning to revolutionize the way we recycle and reuse the vast majority of plastic packaging in use today. Plastic makers are proud to be on the forefront of reshaping our own business models and are committed to help make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030 and reusing, recycling, or recovering all plastic packing by 2040.

Plastic makers also are committed to helping end plastic waste in the environment – because plastic does not belong in our oceans or waterways. That’s why many of our members helped found the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which has committed to invest $1.5 billion over five years, primarily in many of the rapidly developing countries highlighted on Frontline. Through the Alliance and other initiatives, new systems and investments are underway that will have positive, substantive, long-term benefits for communities and our planet.

As MRC informed earlier, Shell announced it has successfully made high-end chemicals using a liquid feedstock made from plastic waste. The technique, known as pyrolysis, is considered a breakthrough for hard-to-recycle plastics and advances Shell's ambition to use one million tons of plastic waste a year in its global chemicals plants by 2025.

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

ACCrReleases February 2020 resin production and sales statistics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. production of major plastic resins totaled 7.2 billion pounds during February 2020, an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the same month in 2019, according to statistics released today by the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Year-to-date production was 15.1 billion pounds, a 6.7 percent increase as compared to the same period in 2018, said Americanchemistry.

Sales and captive (internal) use of major plastic resins totaled 7.2 billion pounds during February 2020, an increase of 3.1 percent from the same month one year earlier. Year-to-date sales and captive use was 15.0 billion pounds, a 5.0 percent increase as compared to the same period in 2019.

As MRC informed earlier, in February of this year, the index of production of chemicals in the Russian Federation grew by 9% compared with the same period a year earlier. Thus, the cumulative release for the first two months of 2020, the release of basic chemicals showed an increase of 6%, follows from Rosstat materials. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes in January - February came from polymers in primary form.
MRC