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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The BP and Sinopec
marine fuel bunkering joint venture will start deliveries of high sulfur and low
sulfur fuel oils to Fujairah next month, a source close to the matter told S&P Global.
The 50:50 venture,
BP Sinopec Marine Fuels Pte., was started five years ago and focused on Asia in
the early years, and now has rented storage space for the fuels at the UAE port,
the source said. BP and Sinopec declined to comment.
BP and Sinopec had
said when the venture was announced in May 2015 that they plan to serve ports in
Singapore, Fujairah, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and China's Tianjin,
Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen.
Sinopec started producing LSFO
for bonded bunkering in January with a target production capacity of 10 million
mt in 2020.
Production of LSFO has gathered pace since the Chinese
government introduced a rebate of Yuan 1,218/mt (USD174.24/mt) consumption tax
and 13% VAT on domestically produced fuel oil, effective Feb. 1.
Over
January-May, China's fuel oil exports totaled 5.2 million mt, up 29.8% year on
year, latest data from the General Administration of Customs
showed.
Sinopec is the world's largest refiner by capacity and accounts
for nearly 40% of China's total crude throughput.
Fujairah produces its
own fuel oils, with three refineries located at or near the port. VTTI's
refinery has a capacity of 82,000 b/d, Uniper Energy has two 40,000 b/d
distillation columns, and Ecomar Energy Solutions has a 15,000 b/d plant
producing naphtha, kerosene, gasoil and residual fuel.
Fujairah fuel oil
prices won't be under pressure from the additional supplies, the source said,
noting that the market recently has been reacting to crude oil prices. Delivered
bunker fuel for marine fuel maximum 0.5% sulfur in Fujairah was assessed by
Platts at USD325/mt on July 8, up from USD322/mt a week earlier.
As MRC
wrote
previously, Sinopec Tianjin Co (Tianjin United Chemical) is in plans to
bring on-stream its naphtha cracker following a turnaround. The
company was likely to resume operations at the cracker by early-July, 2020.
The cracker was shut for maintenance on May 9, 2020. Located at Tianjin, China,
the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 240,000 mt/year and propylene
capacity of 100,000 mt/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for
producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five
month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers,
except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an
increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP
shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020
(calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of
exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
China Petrochemical
Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical
enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China
Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group"s key business activities include the
exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other
chemical products, oil refining.
BP is one of the world's leading
international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for
transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals
products for everyday items. |
