Clean-up crews tackle Valdez Marine Terminal oil spill in Alaska

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clean-up crews were working to contain an oil spill at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System’s (TAPS) Valdez Marine Terminal, officials said on Wednesday, but the volume spilled was not preventing tankers from loading at the site, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A sump overflow spilled oil into the water at the terminal on Sunday night. By Wednesday, clean-up crews had recovered 574 barrels (24,108 gallons) of an oil-water mix, authorities said. A team composed of system operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is managing the response and cleanup, now in its third day.

The Valdez terminal is located in Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska, at the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Workers have put booms on the water to try to stop the spread of an oil sheen, collecting oily snow and digging into the area where the spill originated, the unified command said in a statement.

Despite the spill, regular TAPS operations continue, the statement said. One tanker loaded with crude departed the Valdez terminal Wednesday morning and another had likely arrived by midday to start loading, said Alyeska spokeswoman Michelle Egan.

“We are working with the USCG and ADEC to make sure the loading area is sheen-free so that tankers can arrive and depart,” Egan said in an email.

Alyeska needs to continue loading oil tankers to manage inventories, said Donna Schantz, executive director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, an oversight group. “It’s going to be going on for quite some time. It’s not something that’s going to be over tomorrow,” she said.

As MRC informed earlier, British oil major BP Plc agreed to sell all its Alaskan properties for USD5.6 billion to privately held Hilcorp Energy Co, exiting a region where it operated for 60 years. The deal, which includes interests in the most prolific oil field in US history at Prudhoe Bay, and the 800-mile (1,300-km) Trans Alaska Pipeline, is part of BP's plan to raise USD10 billion over the next two years through asset sales to further strengthen its balance sheet, it said.

Also, BP Plc’s three largest US refineries are operating between 80 and 85% of their individual crude oil processing capacities because of limited storage. Previously, the sources had told Reuters that BP’s 430,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery, 242,000-bpd Cherry Point, Washington, refinery, and the 155,000-bpd joint-venture refinery in Toledo, Ohio, were operating at 85% of their capacities.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (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.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saipem (Milan), leading a consortium that also includes Petrojet (Cairo), has been awarded a contract by Egyptian Ethylene & Derivatives Co. (Ethydco) for Egypt’s first polybutadiene rubber (PBR) production facility, according to Chemweek.

The plant, to be built at Alexandria, will be designed to produce 36,000 metric tons/year and use the Versalis process.

Saipem and Petrojet will be jointly responsible for detailed engineering design, procurement and supply of equipment and materials, construction, precommissioning, commissioning up to start-up, and performance testing. The overall value of the contract is for approximately USD150 million.

Ethydco operates a Lummus-process steam cracker designed to produce 460,000 metric tons/year of ethylene; two Univation Technologies–process polyethylene units, each designed for 200,000 metric tons/year; and a 20,000-metric tons/year Lummus-process butadiene unit.

We remind that as MRC reported earlier, in May 2019, Italian oil services company Saipem signed a Preliminary Agreement with JSC GazpromNeft Moscow Refinery and an EPC Contract with Infrastructure Development and Construction (IDC) for an aggregate value of around 500 million Euro. The Preliminary Agreement in Russia covers the execution on an EPC basis of a new "Sulphur Recovery Unit" (SRU) inside the existing Moscow refinery. The signature of the final EPC Contract is expected to take place by the end of the Second Quarter 2019 on the basis of the main terms and conditions agreed between the parties as an integral part of the same agreement. The EPC contract in Serbia encompasses the design and construction of about 150 kilometers of gas pipeline and the engineering of the relevant compressor station.

Butadiene is the main feedstock for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to MRC's DataScope report, overall ABS imports to the Russian market increased in the first two months of 2020 by 8% year on year to 4,800 tonnes. This figure was at 4,500 tonnes in January-February 2019. February imports of material into the Russian Federation rose by 48% year on year to 2,500 tonnes from 2,700 tonnes a year earlier. Imports were 2,300 tonnes in January 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ConocoPhillips said it would cut gross production by 225,000 barrels of oil per day while also suspending its share repurchase program and cutting back further on capital spending to weather the collapse in oil prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Oil and gas producers have sunk deep into crisis mode over the past month as the slump in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns left the world’s big producers producing far more than current needs and crude prices falling below USD30.

ConocoPhillips said it was currently cutting back production at its Surmont oil sands facility in Canada by about 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) due to low prices for Canadian crude. The independent producer also plans to begin reducing production across the lower 48 U.S. states from May, with an initial cutback of 125,000 bpd.

North American oil producers have so far announced cuts of more than 550,000 oil equivalent barrels per day (boepd) for the year, data compiled by Reuters showed, with more expected to come in quarterly earnings reports over the next few weeks.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects U.S. crude oil production to fall about 500,000 bpd this year to an average 11.8 million bpd in 2020. ConocoPhillips also said it would cut its operating capital expenditures by an additional USD1.6 billion to USD4.3 billion. This comes on top of a USD700 million reduction announced last month and brings the total cut to about 35% from its original guidance of USD6.6 billion.

U.S. and Canadian producers, generally burdened with higher costs than some of their global competitors, have already slashed spending by more than USD37 billion, or around 30%.

ConocoPhillips said the roll back in spending would be primarily focused on North America. The company, which last month halved USDts USD3 billion a year share buyback program, said it would suspend repurchases and cut operating costs to save USD5 billion in cash.

As MRC informed earlier, ConocoPhillips has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao. Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a USD2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

MRC

1. SIBUR and Netkanika agree to boost supplies of polypropylene for protective medical devices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, Russia’s largest integrated petrochemicals company, and Netkanika, a major manufacturer of high-quality nonwoven materials, agreed to expand cooperation to provide the healthcare industry with high quality single-use personal protective equipment, said the company. SIBUR undertakes to deliver the polypropylene grade for medicinal and hygienic use in the quantities required to fully utilise Netkanika’s capacities. This grade is perfectly suited for the production of nonwoven fabric, which is light-weight and low density (g/cm2), and at the same time durable, soft and air permeable. End products made of polypropylene-based multilayer nonwowen fabrics are characterised by a high bacterial filtration rate, air permeability and fluid resistance. Polypropylene for medicinal and hygienic use is produced at several SIBUR’s sites, including ZapSibNeftekhim.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals is resuming construction activities in a phased approach at its Corunna site, according to Blackburnnews.

The company said beginning Thursday, April 16 it will gradually increase the number of workers involved in construction of the new polyethylene plant and the cracker expansion project.

NOVA announced late last month that it was sending home the majority of the construction workers at the Corunna site to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19. In an updated statement Wednesday, the company said it intends to safely and steadily resume some construction activities on both projects.

"In keeping with Ontario government directives for significant industrial petrochemical projects and our company’s foundational principles and core values, NOVA Chemicals has taken significant steps to maintain the health and safety of our employees, contractors and community," the statement said.

NOVA Chemicals President and CEO Todd Karran said many of them are working from home until future notice but they have site-critical employees and contractors working at their manufacturing locations and construction projects.

"I continue to be impressed by the resiliency and dedication of our workforce and I’m confident that together we are taking the necessary precautions to keep our people safe," said Karran. "With a strong commitment to social distancing and working responsibly, we can do our part to flatten the curve."

NOVA Chemicals is building a new polyethylene plant at its new Rokeby Line site adjacent to the existing Corunna plant. The Corunna cracker is being expanded to provide additional ethylene feedstock.

The start-up of the expanded facilities, costing approximately USD2.2 billion, was initially targeted for late 2021.

As MRC reported before, NOVA Chemicals expanded ethylene production capacity by 20% at its cracker in Corunna, Ontario from the previous capacity of about 839,000 tpy. The expansion occurred between 2014 and 2018 and was part of a wave of expansions and upgrades to NOVA's existing facilities near Sarnia, Ontario. Other upgrades in the plan included a debottlenecking of the Moore low-density polyethylene (LDPE) line and a retrofit of the Moore high-density polyethylene (HDPE) line.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (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.

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC