Australian Ampol to weigh refinery reopening at end-August

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia’s Ampol Ltd will consider reopening its Lytton refinery at the end of August, when it expects to complete four months of maintenance work, reported Reuters with reference to its new boss.

Ampol brought forward the refinery turnaround to May as refining margins crashed and extended the outage from two months to four months to the end of August to allow for social distancing of workers at the site.

“We’ll consider at that time what the overall economics equation looks like for the refinery and we’ll make a decision on that basis,” Chief Executive Matt Halliday, who was appointed on Monday after taking the role on an interim basis in March, told Reuters.

As MRC wrote before, Takeover target Caltex Australia Ltd said in early April that it would bring forward and extend the planned shutdown of its sole oil refinery Lytton refinery to ward off the expected hit to refining amid the pressures on demand from the coronavirus pandemic. The company said that operations at the refinery will restart once margin conditions recover.

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) -- Hilco Redevelopment Partners closed on its USD225.5 million deal with Philadelphia Energy Solutions, reported Reuters with reference to the developer, acquiring the site of the largest and oldest East Coast oil refining complex.

PES put its 335,000 barrel-per-day Philadelphia refinery up for sale and filed for bankruptcy after a fire and series of explosions tore through the plant last summer.

HRP plans to turn the 1,300-acre site, which was used for oil refining for the past 150 years, into a mixed-use industrial park.

“We see the investment as a once-in-a-generation investment. These 1,300 acres are very strategically located from a supply chain perspective on the East Coast,” said HRP Chief Executive Officer Roberto Perez, noting the site’s rail yards, access to waterborne shipments and pipeline connectivity.

Cleaning up the deeply-contaminated refinery land will fall on HRP and former refinery owner Sunoco. The cost is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Perez said.

HRP is not considering restarting any portion of the plant, but it is retaining a tank farm and other energy logistics that came with the sale, Perez said.

“The Schuylkill River Tank Farm and its connectivity to pipelines - we see it as a tremendous asset,” Perez said.

The next phase of the project will include demolishing the massive refining complex. Rebuilding the site is expected to take about 10 years.

PES filed for bankruptcy and shut its refinery after a series of explosions and fire at one of its gasoline processing units on June 21, 2019. More than 1,000 full-time employees were laid off without benefits, including 640 United Steelworkers members.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney applauded the sale.

“The action creates jobs, ensures the future commercial viability of the site, and decreases the former refinery’s environmental impact,” Kenney said in a statement.

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

1. Crude settles lower as coronavirus spread hampers recovery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude futures settled slightly lower June 23 as expectations of higher demand stemming from improved economic activity were offset by increases in coronavirus cases, as per S&P Global. NYMEX August crude settled 36 cents lower at USD40.37/b, while ICE August Brent settled 45 cents lower at USD42.63/b. In refined products, NYMEX July RBOB settled 81 points higher at USD1.2994/gal, and July ULSD settled at $1.203/gal, down 1.56 cents.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian oil major Eni is planning to create a division to focus on new energy solutions which could be headed by its CFO, as it steps up preparations for a decarbonised future, reported Reuters with reference to two sources.

Eni’s restructuring plans come as the oil and gas sector faces a collapse in global oil consumption following the coronavirus epidemic and long-term uncertainty over energy demand as governments battle climate change.

The state-controlled group is looking to create the new green division to look after renewables and other clean energy business while keeping oil and gas activity in a separate unit, the sources familiar with the matter said.

Long-time CFO Massimo Mondazzi could be moved across to head up the new division, or part of it, one of the sources said, adding that no final decision had yet been taken. “Mondazzi is going to be head of downstream, chemicals and renewables,” the second source said.

Eni declined to comment.

Eni, headed by veteran oilman Claudio Descalzi, pledged earlier this year to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% in one of the most ambitious clean-up drives in an industry under pressure from investors to go green.

To reach the goal it is looking to have less oil and more gas in its portfolio, build its renewable capacity, convert refineries to bio-fuels and step up forestry and carbon capture projects.

“The restructuring underway is a move that will focus minds and give the market an idea of the actual size of Eni’s green business,” one of the sources said.

The sources said the new division was likely to include the group’s chemical business Versalis, its retail activities and probably refining, though final details had yet to be ironed out.

As MRC informed before, none of the big oil companies currently meet U.N. targets to limit global warming despite the most ambitious targets set by Royal Dutch Shell and Eni .

We also remind that the ongoing transition to low-carbon energy sources may accelerate as economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, said the head of oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell in the May statement.

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) -- Dongguan Grand Resource Science and Technology Co Ltd (JuZhengYuan) is planning to shut its No. 2 polypropylene (PP) plant for scheduled maintenance on 10 July, 2020, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Based in Dongguan, China, the company has a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant with production capacity of 600,000 tons/year and two PP plants with a combined production capacity of 600,000 tons/year.

As MRC wrote before, Dongguan Grand Resource Science and Technology Co Ltd restarted its No. 2 PP plant on January 16, 2020, following a turnaround. The plant was shut for maintenance on January 6, 2019.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Dongguan Grand Resource Science and Technology Co Ltd is owned by Juzhengyuan Energy (Shenzhen, Guangdong, China). On 26 October 2019, Dongguan Grand Resource’s (Dongguan, Guangdong, China) integrated complex for polypropylene production in Dongguan officially started up.
MRC