Belarus refineries received 2 million tons of oil in April, mainly from Russia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belarusian refineries received 2 million tons of oil in April, of which 1.56 million tonnes came from Russia, a spokesman for state energy group Belneftekhim told reporters, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Belarus, which had a dispute with Russia over oil prices earlier this year, plans to reduce its Russian oil imports to 1.13 million tons in May, the spokesman said.

According to MRC"s DataScope report, February PP imports into the Republic of Belarus were about 9,700 tonnes, compared to 7,800 tonnes a month earlier, local companies raised their purchasing of PP in Russia. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 17,500 tonnes in January-February 2020, compared to 16,000 tonnes a year earlier, demand for all PP grades increased, with homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) accounting for the greatest growth.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy reported on Wednesday first quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts and revenue that topped expectations, said Investing.

Valero Energy announced earnings per share of USD0.34 on revenue of USD22.10B. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of USD-0.15 on revenue of USD20.27B. That with comparison to EPS of USD0.34 on revenue of USD24.26B in the same period a year before. Valero Energy had reported EPS of USD2.13 on revenue of USD27.88B in the previous quarter. Analysts are expecting EPS of USD-0.72 and revenue of USD19.2B in the upcoming quarter.

Valero Energy shares are down 38.21% from the beginning of the year , still down 43.26% from its 52 week high of USD101.99 set on November 5, 2019. They are under-performing the S&P 500 which is down 11.75% year to date.

Valero Energy follows other major Energy sector earnings this month Valero Energy's report follows an earnings matched by BP ADR on Tuesday, who reported EPS of USD0.24 on revenue of USD59.54B, compared to forecasts EPS of USD0.24 on revenue of USD48.03B.

ENI ADR had missed expectations on Friday with first quarter EPS of USD0.04 on revenue of USD15.04B, compared to forecast for EPS of USD0.17 on revenue of USD14.45B.

As MRC informed earlier, One worker was injured in a fire at Valero Energy Corp’s 125,000 barrel-per-day Meraux, Louisiana, refinery early Friday morning. Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas said the injured worker was taken to a local hospital. The extent of the person’s injuries was unknown. All other workers at the refinery were accounted for. Energy industry intelligence service Genscape said the refinery was shut at about the time the fire broke out, shortly before 1 a.m. CDT (0600 GMT).

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) -- CNOOC Limited reported Wednesday that its first-quarter oil and gas sales revenue reached around 39.95 billion Chinese yuan, down 5.5 percent from last year, mainly due to the lower realised oil and gas price, despite increased oil and gas sales volume, said Businessinsider.

First-quarter total net production was 131.5 million barrels of oil equivalent or BOE, an increase of 9.5 percent from the prior year.

Production from China increased 9.7 percent from last year to 87.1 million BOE. Overseas production grew 9 percent to 44.5 million BOE.

During the period, the company made two new discoveries and drilled 21 successful appraisal wells.

For the first quarter of 2020, the company's average realised oil price decreased 19.3 percent year-over-year to $49.03 per barrel, which was in line with the trend of international oil prices.

The average realised gas price was USD6.38 per thousand cubic feet, down 7.3 percent from last year, primarily due to the declined gas price in North America.

Looking ahead, the company reduced fiscal 2020 net production target to 505-515 million BOE from 520-530 million BOE expected earlier.

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) -- McDermott International, Inc. announced CB&I Storage Solutions has been awarded one large and two sizeable contracts for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPFC) of 38 tanks and 13 spheres in multiple locations across Saudi Arabia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"CB&I Storage Solutions has had a significant presence and strong track record in Saudi Arabia since the 1930s," said Cesar Canals, Senior Vice President of CB&I Storage Solutions. "This experience, and our strong partnerships with international contractors and major oil & gas operators, has established us as one of the most reliable providers of storage and EPFC solutions in the country."

The awards will be reflected in McDermott's first quarter 2020 backlog.

*McDermott defines a sizeable contract as between USD1 million and USD50 million and a large contract as between USD50 million and USD250 million.

CB&I Storage Solutions is the world's leading designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks and terminals. With more than 59,000 structures completed throughout its 130-year history, CB&I Storage Solutions has the global expertise and strategically-located operations to provide its customers world-class storage solutions for even the most complex energy infrastructure projects.

As MRC informed before, in late November 2019, McDermott International, Inc. was awarded a sizeable technology contract from Baltic Chemical Company (BCC) and a sizeable Extended Basic Engineering (EBE) contract from China National Chemical Engineering No. 7 Construction Company Limited (CC7). The ethane cracking project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha. McDermott's Lummus Technology will provide both the Process Design Package (PDP) Engineering and the license for its olefin production and recovery technology. Lummus Technology's proprietary ethylene steam cracking process is the most widely-applied process for the production of polymer-grade ethylene, representing approximately 40 percent of the world's capacity.

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.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Our proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Customers rely on McDermott to deliver certainty to the most complex projects, from concept to commissioning. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices were mixed as optimism about the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions reassured markets, although traders remained cautious with storage capacities filling up fast and supply cuts not deep enough to counter falling demand, reported Reuters.

Brent crude rose 78 cents, or 4%, to USD20.77 a barrel at 1338 GMT, following a 6.8% slide on Monday.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 46 cents, or 4%, at USD12.32 a barrel. The contract plunged 25% on Monday.

"While wild price swings are set to last in the very near term, we see more upside than downside from prices around USD20 per barrel. The oil price should recover in the longer term," said Norbert Rucker, analyst at Swiss bank Julius Baer.

From Italy to New Zealand, governments announced the easing of restrictions, although Britain said its too dangerous to relax a lockdown for fear of a deadly second outbreak. More parts of the United States looked set to restart business.

German retailers sought on Tuesday to persuade the government to let all stores operate normally from May 4, saying the decision to only allow smaller stores to open was confusing for customers.

"While we expect oil demand to modestly recover from the April lows as countries ease some lockdown measures, demand will remain under severe pressure in the near term because of the COVID-19 pandemic," said UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney told Reuters his company expected global oil demand to drop by about 15 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter due to coronavirus-related movement restrictions.

That is more than the 10 million bpd of cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allied producers. The reductions are due to be implemented from May 1.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday oil markets would start balancing out once an output deal took effect, but no significant rise in prices was likely in the near future due to high levels of global storage.

Analysts said part of the WTI decline was due to retail investment vehicles like exchange-traded funds selling out of the front-month June contract and buying into months later to avert massive losses like last week, when WTI fell below zero.

The United States Oil Fund LP (USO), the largest oil-focused U.S. exchange-traded product, said it would further shift its holdings into later-dated contracts.

"The exodus in our view remains motivated by concerns over the saturation of storage capacity at Cushing and the associated risk of negative pricing," Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

Global storage onshore was estimated to be about 85% full as of last week, according to data from consultancy Kpler.

In a sign of the energy industry’s desperation for places to store petroleum, oil traders are resorting to hiring expensive US vessels to store gasoline or ship fuel overseas, shipping sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, global oil consumption cut by up to a third. What happens next in the oil market depends on how quickly and completely the global economy emerges from lockdown, and whether the recessionary hit lingers through the rest of this year and into 2021.

We remind that earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We also remind that, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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