Indian Oil to fully restart Paradip refinery by Saturday

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, the country’s top refiner, will restart all units at its 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) Paradip refinery in Odisha by Saturday, reported Reuters with reference to a government official.

The refinery’s maintenance shutdown has been extended by a few days due to shortage of laborers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Out of about 1,400 workers and supervisors mobilized for shutdown jobs from outside, less than 400 are there,” said Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, the top bureaucrat in the district of Jagatsinghpur, where the refinery is located.

He said only two of the nine major units that had undergone shutdown have started.

“Remaining seven are being started in sequence as all are connected and start up will complete over the next two days,” Mohapatra told Reuters.

Separately, an IOC official said some secondary units have resumed operations using feedstock available with the plant, while others including the crude unit will start by Saturday.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

As MRC infromed before, Indian Oil Corp will continue to operate its refineries below capacity in 2020/21 as it sees local and overseas fuel demand remaining subdued.

We remind that Indian Oil Corp restarted operation at its naphtha cracker in India in early-October, 2019, after completing maintenance works. The cracker was shut in early-September, 2019 for a maintenance turnaround. Located in Panipat, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 857,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 425,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siam Cement Group’s (SCG) proposed flexible-feed cracker project in Vietnam is being configured to take as much as 80% propane as feedstock for production, said Vir.

The USD5.4bn Long Son Petrochemical (LSP) Complex in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tao province “is designed to use up to 20% - 80% propane”, SCG stated in a July presentation to investors, citing low cost of this feedstock during the summer and winter seasons.

SCG’s Vietnam project progress rate was at 34% as of the first quarter and is on track to start up in 2023, SCG said. Construction stared in the fourth quarter of 2018. Under a 15-year contract signed in the second quarter of 2018 with Qatar Petroleum, an annual feedstock supply of 2m tonnes of propane + naphtha was secured for the project.

SCG’s configuration of the Vietnam cracker provide it with options to adjust feedstock based on cost advantage.

SCG expects its chemical production capacity to increase by 70% in 2023, largely on account of the Vietnam project. Apart from olefins, the project is expected to produce 1.3m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The project is proceeding as planned and was not a casualty in SCG’s decision to expunge capital expenditures (capex) this year.

As MRC wrote previously, SCG Plastics, part of SCG, took its high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant off-stream for a maintenance turnaround on November 26, 2019. It remained under maintenance until December 14, 2019. Located in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China is set to expand its commercial crude storage capacity by at least 15.11 million cubic meters, or 95.04 million barrels, by the end of 2020, reported S&P Global with reference to company sources and media reports.

The new capacity, which will create more space to stockpile imports, comes as recent customs data showed China's crude imports hit an all-time high of 11.37 million b/d in May.

Data from trade flow and inventory tracker Kpler showed that China's crude stocks have been rising since the week starting May 10 and hit a record high of 831 million barrels in the week starting May 31. This was up 6.8% from the previous all-time high of 778 million barrels recorded in the week starting June 9, 2019.

Among the new storage facilities, Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) will have the biggest capacity at 3.6 million cu m, or 22.64 million barrels, a company source told S&P Global Platts.

Hengli started construction of the storage tanks in late first-quarter of 2020 and plans to complete in the shortest time possible by July so that it can start storing crude at current low prices. Typically, a storage facility of this size takes more than a year to complete.

Hengli will construct a total of 24 new crude storage tanks, each of 150,000 cu m capacity. "We plan to start up six of the new tanks (or 900,000 cu m) in July, and gradually put the rest into use in the second half of the year," the company source with Hengli said.

Located on the Changxing Island in Northeast China, the Hengli storage facility currently has 32 crude storage tanks, each of 100,000 cu m. With the addition of the 24 new tanks, Hengli's total storage capacity will be more than doubled to 6.8 million cu m.

Chinese refiner Sinopec started operations at its new Baisha Bay Phase II storage facility in Shanghai from June 1, according to Shanghai Petrochemical's WeChat platform.

In addition to the 950,000 cu m of storage that is already under operation at the site, the startup of the Phase II storage facility brings the total capacity of the Baisha Bay facility to 1.4 million cu m, Shanghai Petrochemical said.

Sinopec also completed construction of a 800,000 cu m storage facility in central China's Luoyang city in May. This is expected to be online from second-half of 2020, Platts has reported. Another 800,000 cu m of storage capacity will be added to the Luoyang site by June 2021.

The Luoyang storage facility will support Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical's requirements as it expands refining capacity from the current 160,000 b/d to 200,000 b/d in 2021.

Sinopec also started operating its storage tanks - with capacity of 1.6 million cu m - at Dongjiakou port in east China's Shandong province from March.

With all these additions, Sinopec's total commercial crude storage capacity is set to increase by at least 2.85 million cu m, or 17.93 million barrels, in 2020.

Most of the new storage capacity will be added in the Shandong province - long considered the Texas of China and home to about 80% of China's small independent refiners.

The province will see its crude storage capacity rise by 10.26 million cu m, or 64.54 million barrels, by the end of 2020, Platts has reported.

As MRC reported earlier, Sinopec Zhongyuan Petrochemical, part of Sinopec Group, is in plans to bring on-stream its cracker following a maintenance turnaround. The company is likely to resume operations at the cracker by mid-September, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on August 1, 2020. Located at Henan in China, the cracker has a ethylene capacity of 220,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 95,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A limited reopening of Libyan oil terminals could allow the export of some crude oil and condensate stored at Es Sider, Brega, Zueitina and Hariga, but leaves a months-long blockade of the ports in place, oil engineers say, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

East Libyan authorities said on Wednesday they would permit exports of the stored products in an effort to ease an electricity supply crisis that has resulted in increasingly lengthy power cuts. The ports have been blockaded since January by east Libyan factions as part a wider conflict, leading to the loss of most of Libya’s oil production and billions of dollars in income.

A build-up of gas by-products at the terminals and a drop in local refining has led to shortages of fuel for local power generation. The possible export of condensate and crude stored at Brega and Zueitina ports would allow some oil and gas production by Sirte Oil Co to supply power stations, a local engineer said. Several petrochemical products would also be exported, he said.

Ongoing diplomatic pressure and appeals from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in the capital Tripoli over lost revenue and damage to idled facilities has failed to lift the oil blockade. NOC, which handles all exports, is yet to comment on the move. It has also previously warned of a risk of accidents or attacks at the ports amid military mobilisation in the area.

Officials at Ras Lanuf told Reuters this week that products including highly flammable ethylene were safely stored, even though many workers have left the port due to the blockade and restrictions to counter the new coronavirus. It was not immediately clear how much crude and condensate is stored at the ports. The NOC has struggled to maintain infrastructure in the area during years of fighting and past blockades.

Es Sider has 19 tanks with a storage capacity of 6.2 million barrels of oil, and Waha Oil Co has been working to repair previously damaged tanks and expand storage capacity, an official from the company said.

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.

And 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 DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- California-based biofuels producer Aemetis has become the latest US ethanol producer to modify its operations to produce high-grade alcohol for the hand sanitizer and disinfectant market, said Chemweek.

CEO Eric McAfee told OPIS this week that upgrades are underway at the company's Keyes, California, plant to produce 65 million gal/year of US Pharmacopeia (USP) grade alcohol by the first-quarter of 2021. A new subsidiary, Aemetis Health Products, will blend gel and liquid sanitizer for delivery in bulk as well as packaged form to customers, the company said.

McAfee in a prepared statement said the upgrades will make Aemetis "the largest producer of high-grade sanitizer alcohol in the western United States." Demand for high-grade alcohol for sanitizer production jumped earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading a number of ethanol companies to expand their production of high-grade alcohol.

Green Plains last week said it had signed a deal to supply high-grade alcohol through 2021 to Reckitt Benckiser, which makes disinfectants under the Lysol brand. The deal follows a May announcement that Green Plains would provide Xerox Holdings with Food Chemical Codex-grade high-grade alcohol from its beverage ethanol plant in York, Neb. And in early June, the company signed an agreement with GE Connect for joint production of cleaning products and disinfectant.

Green Plains in July also said that it plans to install a 25-million-gal/year industrial alcohol facility at its Wood River, Neb., ethanol plant, boosting the company's annual production of high-grade alcohol at the two plants to 75 million gal/year. It is upgrading both facilities to produce USP-grade alcohol.

In addition, South Dakota-based ethanol producer POET said it plans to increase output of industrial- and beverage-grade alcohol at plants in Indiana and Ohio by a combined 70 million gal/year to help meet growing demand. In June, Archer Daniels Midland said it was "significantly boosting" output of industrial alcohol at its Clinton, Iowa, facility in order to speed efforts to produce pharmaceutical-grade, alcohol-based hand sanitizer. A number of smaller ethanol producers have announced similar projects.

Separately, McAfee told OPIS that the pandemic has delayed until early 2021 project financing for the planned construction of a 12-million-gal/year cellulosic ethanol facility in Riverbank, Calif. In February, McAfee said that the company expected to complete engineering and procurement work on the facility in time to begin construction this year. Construction is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

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.

And 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 DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC