Eni Sannazzaro de Burgondi refinery in northern Italy started another cycle of maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni's Sannazzaro de Burgondi refinery in northern Italy started another cycle of maintenance and upgrade works, even as a decision on when to reactivate its Eni slurry technology (EST) unit, which has been offline since a 2016 fire, is still outstanding and not expected to be taken before demand for refined products picks up, according to a source close to the refinery, said S&P Global.

"The planned maintenance activity is ongoing according to the scheduled programs, and will be completed by the end of May," a spokeswoman for Eni said. No information was provided on which plants were involved in the maintenance and upgrade works, nor when the EST plant would be restarted.

The works being carried out are not the series of works planned for the EST unit that had previously been suspended, the source said. The refinery underwent maintenance in early March involving "units internal to the refinery," an Eni spokesperson said at the time. The work has been completed, the source said.

As it was informed earlier, in the late May, Versalis’ cracker is still offline a week after it was expected to be back in operation because, according to local media reports, the authorities failed to sign off on the restart because of environmental concerns. ENI have filed an appeal. In a press release dated 12 May, the company announced a five day outage starting from 13 May.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and 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) -- Producer Yantai Wanhua restarted its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant on time - on June 10, 2020, after a month turnaround, reported S&P Global.

Thus, maintenance works began at this PDH facility around mid-May.

And the company is on track to run its 750,000 mt/yr plant at full rate by June 15.

As MRC wrote before, China’s top petrochemical maker Wanhua Chemical Group aims to increase LPG imports to about 5.5 million mt in 2020 from 4 million mt last year as it procures feedstock from diversified sources ahead of new projects in Yantai and widens trading activities in Asia.

A 1 million mt/year ethylene integration project - phase two of its petrochemical project in northeast Shandong province - will be the first ethylene cracker to use LPG as feedstock globally and is set for commercial production in the second half of 2020. Together with associated downstream units and a nearby feedstock storage rock cavern with a capacity of 1.2 million cubic meters, the project is costing around Yuan 20 billion.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy refinery in Pembroke, Wales has started its maintenance at the end of May and is due back later in June, according to market sources, as per S&P Global.

The company was not immediately available to comment. In its Q1 results, Valero said Q2 planned work at its two non-US refineries -- the 235,000 b/d Quebec City refinery and the 270,000 b/d Pembroke plant -- will reduce throughput to between 315,000 b/d and 335,000 b/d, without providing data for each of the two refineries.

We also remind that Valero Energy Corp restarted the small CDU at its Port Arthur refinery after repairing a valve on 25 September 2019. And in late October 2019, Valero Energy Corp shut the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Port Arthur refinery. The 75,000-bpd AVU 147 CDU was shut to repair a heat exchanger.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldor Topsoe’s HydroFlex selected for revamp of refinery for renewable fuel production, said Hydrocarbomprocessing.

The retooled refinery will produce low-carbon renewable fuels that meet the California Low Carbon Fuels Standard as well as the ASTM D975 diesel specs. Compared to traditional fuels, renewable diesel will result in significant reductions of CO2 emissions due to a lower carbon index (CI).

“We are thrilled to announce this exciting project for the production of environmentally friendly renewable diesel from our proprietary camelina oil as well as a traditional slate of biofuel feedstocks. The project will generate both direct and indirect job opportunities in the region and will contribute to a growing diversified domestic energy mix. For this important project, we have chosen Topsoe’s HydroFlex™ solution, an industry-proven, safe, and efficient technology,” comments Richard Palmer, Chief Executive Officer of Global Clean Energy Holdings.

The HydroFlex™ unit will process a variety of feedstocks including GCE’s proprietary camelina oil as well as a traditional slate of waste fats, oils and grease.

“We are honored that Global Clean Energy has trusted Topsoe with supplying licensed technology for this large renewable fuels unit. HydroFlex™ is the preferred choice for refiners leading the industry adaptation of renewable fuels, and it is a privilege to add yet another US project to our portfolio,” says Henrik Rasmussen, Vice President of Haldor Topsoe.

Topsoe’s HydroFlex™ technology is the industry-leading technology for the production of renewable jet and diesel. This commercially proven technology provides refiners with lower CAPEX, lower OPEX and better CI score. HydroFlex™ can be deployed in both grassroots units and revamps for co-processing or stand-alone applications.

As MRC wrote earlier, in December 2014, SIBUR-Khimprom (a subsidiary of SIBUR Holding) and Air Products entered into an agreement to build a new air separation unit in Perm and to supply the facility with locally produced gases. The unit came on-stream in 2016. After the commissioning Air Products will supply industrial gases for SIBUR-Khimprom over the next 20 years.

Besides, we remind that in September 2019, SIBUR, the largest petrochemical comples in Russia and Eastern Europe, and BASF, Geman petrochemical major, agreed to closely cooperate on sustainable development to share their best practices.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (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) -- U.S. petroleum inventories climbed again last week to a record 2.1 billion barrels, mostly as a result of rapid crude imports, with an unusually large volume again arriving from Saudi Arabia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Once the extra tankers loaded at the height of the Saudi-Russian volume war have finished discharging, which should be within the next week or two, U.S. crude stocks should stabilize.

Total stocks of crude and refined products increased by almost 12 million barrels in the week to June 5, and are up by a total of 197 million barrels over the last 12 weeks.

Crude accounted for two-thirds of last week’s rise, with 6 million barrels put into commercial storage and another 2 million added temporarily to the strategic petroleum reserve.

But the flow of crude into inventory each week has decelerated by roughly half compared with the peak, when the lockdown was most intense in April.

Crude imports remained unusually elevated at 7 million barrels per day (bpd), which was in the 75th percentile for all weeks over the past year.

Much of the brisk importing is being sustained by an unusually heavy flow of crude loaded in Saudi Arabia.

As MRC informed previously, 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.

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 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 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC