PetroChina Ningxia completes turnaround at PP plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina Ningxia PC has brought on-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant following a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company resumed operations at the plant on August 18, 2020. The plant was shut for maintenance on July 1, 2020.

Located at Yinchuan, China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, PetroChina has nearly doubled the amount of Russian crude being processed at its refinery in Dalian, the company’s biggest, since January 2018, as a new supply agreement had come into effect. The Dalian Petrochemical Corp, located in the northeast port city of Dalian, was expected to process 13 million tonnes, or 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude in 2018, up by about 85 to 90 percent from the previous year’s level. Dalian has the capacity to process about 410,000 bpd of crude. The increase follows an agreement worked out between the Russian and Chinese governments under which Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft was to supply 30 million tonnes of ESPO Blend crude to PetroChina in 2018, or about 600,000 bpd. That would have represented an increase of 50 percent over 2017 volumes.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 30% of US Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and 25% of natural gas output remained offline Sept. 17 after Hurricane Sally made landfall the day prior, reported S&P Global with reference to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Oil producers began to redeploy evacuated crews, but even more oil was reported shut in than on previous days. Crude producers have shut in 567,770 b/d of crude and 670 MMcf/d of gas output, 30.69% and 24.73% of total offshore US Gulf output, respectively. A total of 70 platforms and rigs were still evacuated as of Sept. 17, down from more than 150 facilities in advance of the storm, according to BSEE.

Chevron said it has begun to "redeploy personnel and restore production at our Blind Faith and Petronius platforms that were shut-in for Hurricane Sally."

Other producers have been slower to signal startup, keeping facilities offline. Shell on Sept. 15 shut in production at its Appomattox platform, while also curtailing oil volumes at its large Olympus, Mars and Ursa facilities. Late on Sept. 16, Shell said, "There are no impacts to drilling operations, and production remains shut in at Appomattox."

Murphy Oil confirmed it evacuated multiple platforms and took production volumes offline, but a spokeswoman declined to specify which facilities were impacted.

In addition, BP had evacuated nonessential personnel from its Na Kika and Thunderhorse platforms.

Sally did not impact oil operations as heavily as Hurricane Laura did at the end of August. Laura managed to shutter nearly 85% of Gulf oil production - more than 1.5 million b/d - and 2.3 million b/d of refining capacity.

However, there's already another disturbance offshore of Mexico that the National Hurricane Center gives a 90% chance of developing into a depression or named storm as it moves toward the US Gulf this weekend and into next week. This is the busiest Atlantic hurricane season since 2005 when hurricanes Katrina, Rita and others devastated the USGC.

Phillips 66's 255,600 b/d Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, was shut in advance of Sally. And, although the storm missed almost all of southeastern Louisiana, Phillips 66 said the Alliance refinery will remain closed for now.

"Phillips 66 can confirm that our Alliance Refinery is preparing to begin planned maintenance work originally slated for October, during which much of plant operations will remain down in order to conduct the work safely," the Houston refiner said.

Chevron spokesman Sean Comey said the company's 356,400 b/d Pascagoula Refinery in Mississippi is still operating. Chevron also resumed operations at its Empire and Fourchon terminals in Louisiana and brought back online the related pipeline systems.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port restarted operations on Sept. 16 at its marine terminal.

Shell reduced rates at its Mobile refinery in Alabama during the storm, but found no serious damage afterward.

"The Shell Mobile Refinery is running normally. Rain, storm surge and winds from Hurricane Sally had only minimal operational impact," Shell said in a Sept. 17 statement.

However, two major refineries - Phillips 66's and Citgo Petroleum's Lake Charles refineries in southwestern Louisiana - still remain shuttered after sustaining damage and the loss of power from Laura.

Phillips 66 spokeswoman Melissa Ory said the company's 260,000 b/d Lake Charles refinery, which was shut ahead of Laura, could start up in two weeks after it has reliable electricity and operate while repairs are being made, which are expected to take several months. Electricity provider Entergy, which is rebuilding the destroyed transmission lines to the refinery and other facilities, said it hopes to restore power by the end of September.

All told, that is close to 1 million b/d of crude refining capacity currently offline in Louisiana.

Likewise, the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System, known as CHOPS, has remained closed since service was disrupted by Laura. Flows on the system, which normally deliver to end points on the Texas Gulf Coast, are being redirected to the Poseidon or Auger pipelines for transportation to locations onshore in Louisiana, a Genesis Energy representative said.

CHOPS, the representative said, appears unlikely to resume normal operations before Oct. 1. An increase in Gulf of Mexico produced sour crude flows to the Louisiana area would provide more competition for Mars crude, which also delivers to end points in Louisiana, thus applying pressure on differentials for the grade.

Genesis said it expects to provide another update no later than Sept. 22.

As MRC wrote before, earlier this month, Chevron Phillips Chemical deferred a final investment decision on a USD8 billion joint venture petrochemical complex project along the US Gulf Coast that was expected in 2021.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Material suppliers Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo are advancing their plans to build what’s being called a "first-of-its-kind" polystyrene (PS) recycling in Wingles, northern France, said the company.

The planned full commercial scale recycling facility will be capable of processing up to 50 tons-per-day of post-consumer PS feedstock, the companies said in a Sept. 17 statement, and is expected to be fully operational by mid-2023.

The companies said they will evaluate two different technology pyrolysis-based concepts during the conceptual design phase, one from Agilyx Corp. and the other from Swindon, England-based Recycling Technologies Ltd., in terms of quality, efficiency, and adaptation to different waste streams.

When completed, the plant will use the depolymerization process. "In previous project milestones, the depolymerisation of PS has proven to be an ideal recycling process showcasing polystyrene’s unique intrinsic capability for full circularity,” the statement said. “The plastics-to-plastics depolymerisation technology converts PS food packaging waste directly back into its original liquid monomer, which then can be repolymerised into recycled polystyrene for the same high-quality end applications, including food contact applications much like virgin PS."

"We are excited to move to the next phase of engineering of this plant, as we are well on track to deploy the game-changing depolymerisation technology with the construction of this recycling plant in France,” said Nicolas Joly, vice president, plastics & feedstocks at Trinseo. “This plant will be part of establishing a novel recycling infrastructure for styrenics in Europe together with key players from across the entire value chain, which will mark a step change in PS recycling."

"Our collaboration between Trinseo…is a significant commitment of capital and resources and a major milestone in truly closing the loop with food grade recycled content,” said Sven Riechers, vice president, business management, standard products EMEA at Ineos. “It forms part of Ineos’ and Trinseo’s commitments to use, on average, 30 per cent recycled content in products destined for PS packaging in Europe by 2025."

As it was written earlier, AmSty, INEOS Styrolution and Trinseo signed Joint Development Agreement to advance the circularity of polystyrene.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, the high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) market
participants in Russia said demand for material remained strong amid its shortage. Large buyers were generally provided with material according to their needs, whereas small ones could not fully meet their needs, as there were no free quantities of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's polystyrene (PS) for injection moulding, extrusion and production of XPS-boards at the beginning of autumn.

Ineos Styrolution is the leading global styrenics supplier, with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 90 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering innovative and sustainable best-in-class solutions, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets, and at the same time, help make the circular economy for styrenics a reality. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, packaging and toys/sports/leisure.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italy’s Eni has proposed building bio-refineries in Abu Dhabi, reported Reuters with reference to the energy group’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi.

The Italian oil major has been focusing on developing new clean technologies in recent years as it steps up preparations for a decarbonized future.

“Technology becomes a bargaining chip to speak a different language...in areas that are oil and gas,” Descalzi said in an online conference.

Eni has recently made a series of oil and gas agreements in Abu Dhabi, including buying a 20% stake in ADNOC Refining.

As MRC informed before, Eni has been present in the UAE upstream sector since March 2018 when it was awarded a 10 percent interest in ADNOC’s Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a 5 percent interest in the Lower Zakum concession, followed in November 2018 by the award of a 25 percent interest in the Ghasha Concession, ADNOC’s mega offshore sour gas project. On 12 January this year Eni was awarded a 70 percent interest in offshore exploration blocks 1 and 2. In addition to the United Arab Emirates, in the Middle East Eni is also present in Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq.

We remind that oil major Chevron is in talks with Italy's Eni over the possibility of selling its stake in the Indonesia Deepwater Development project in offshore East Kalimantan in Southeast Asia.

We also remind that US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Injection molding machine maker Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery is nearing the end of its relocation project to move from its plant in Strongsville, Ohio, to a 30,750-square-foot facility in Cleveland, Ohio that will be a dedicated centre for the company’s USD10 million replacement parts inventory and machine rebuilding service, said Canplastics.

Suwanee, Ga.-based Sumitomo Demag said the new Cleveland plant is strategically located adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with immediate access to a full range of shipping and transport services. Sumitomo Demag had occupied the Strongsville plant since 1969.

The Strongsville employees performing what the company called “essential operations” have already transitioned to the new facility and will eventually be joined by the ones who are still working remotely. The company has also invested in new equipment at the facility to improve the efficiency of picking, packing. Other services that will be offered at the new facility will include control upgrades, complete barrel assemblies, injection unit repair and rebuilding, manifold rebuilding, electrical cabinet rebuilding, linkage rebuilding, ball screw rebuilding and full assemblies, and OEM legacy and new machine option kits.

The developments in Cleveland cap a busy 12 months for the company, which also opened a new 74,500-square-foot facility in Suwanee, Ga.; a new 15,300-square-foot technology centre outside Chicago in Buffalo Grove, Ill.; and a training and demonstration centre in Anaheim, Calif.

The company had planned on holding a grand opening for the Buffalo Grove site in March with four machine demonstrations, but it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"2019 was a year of extensive U.S. expansion for us," said John F. Martich III, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s U.S. operations. “2020 has focused on investments in infrastructure, logistics and efficiencies. Our Georgia facility, in addition to being the company’s headquarters, has now been improved with the necessary equipment and structural improvements to serve as the centre for our large inventory of U.S.-stocked machines. From a logistics standpoint, the facility is just four hours away from the Port of Savannah which is now the third largest U.S. container port."

As it was written earlier, in July, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery completed the expansion and modernisation of its training centre and embarked on the next phase of its growth strategy by breaking ground on a new 1600 m2 warehouse, both at its site in Schwaig, Germany.

As per MRC, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in July 2020 by 3.1% year on year under the pressure of seasonal factors. However, this figure increased by 1.6% year on year in the first seven months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, July production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 118,200 tonnes from 114,700 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-July 2020 by 9.1% year on year to 736,800 tonnes.
MRC