Motiva Port Arthur, Texas, refinery units to come on-line early this week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Motiva Enterprises plans to start bringing production units at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery back on-line early this week after they were shut for Hurricane Laura, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Production of finished motor fuels will depend on the length of time needed to restart all units from the cold shutdown of the refinery on Aug. 18, when Laura menaced the US Gulf Coast.

As MRC wrote before, Motiva Chemicals at Port Arthur, Texas, began shutting down light olefin operations last Monday to prepare for the arrival of Tropical Storm Laura.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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.

Motiva Enterprises, LLC, is a fully owned affiliate of Saudi Refining Inc. and headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States with revenue of USD24 billion. Previously, it was a 50–50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company (the wholly owned American subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell) and Saudi Refining Inc. (controlled by Saudi Aramco).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Refineria di Korsou, owner of the 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Isla refinery on the Caribbean island of Curacao, is suing former operator Petroleos de Venezuela for USD51 million in New York State court, reported Reuters with reference to a filing dated Aug. 26.

Refineria di Korsou said PDVSA had failed to make monthly payments to RdK from early 2018 to December 2019 as required under the two companies’ contract. PDVSA’s deal to operate the refinery expired at the end of 2019, and RdK is currently seeking a new operator.

Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela’s oil ministry immediately responded to requests for comment.

The refinery was largely idled during the period in which PDVSA did not make the utility payments, as an economic crisis in Venezuela and collapse in PDVSA’s crude output led it to reduce the amount of crude it sent to the Isla refinery, RdK said in the filing.

The plant’s total production over the final 22 months of PDVSA’s lease was 235,000 barrels total, or less than a day’s worth of output at its nameplate capacity, RdK said.

RdK obtained a judgment in Curacao court in March ordering PDVSA to pay, and is suing in New York in an attempt to enforce that ruling.

As MRC informed before, Russian state oil company Rosneft's decision to cease operations in Venezuela and sell its assets there to a Russian government-owned company was a "maneuver" made in reaction to collapsing oil prices, a US State Department official said earlier this year.

We remind that Angarsk Polymers Plant, part of Russian oil giant Rosneft, shut down its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production for a scheduled turnaround on 22 June. The outage was scheduled to last for one month. The plant"s annual production capacity is about 75,000 tonnes.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, June estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 55,260 tonnes from 45,490 tonnes a month earlier. Kazanorgsintez raised its PE output after a spring shutdown for a scheduled turnaround. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption rose to 291,270 tonnes in January-June 2020, up by 5% year on year. Russian producers raised their production, and LDPE imports also increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Venezuela’s Cardon refinery has stopped producing gasoline because its reformat unit has down, reported Reuters with reference to a union leader and two other people knowledge of the situation.

State oil company (PDVSA) restarted gasoline production at its naphtha reformer a week ago, amid severe fuel shortages in the OPEC nation whose refining network suffers from chronic operational problems.

US sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro also make it difficult to import fuel.

“Yes, the reformer is halted,” said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The 45,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) reformer is typically used to convert naphtha into blending components used to raise the octane of gasoline. But PDVSA has been using it to produce some 25,000 bpd of gasoline for the domestic market.

Union leader Ivan Freites told Reuters that Cardon’s 88,000-bpd fluid catalytic cracking unit, which is crucial for large-scale gasoline production, is halted.

That plant could restart in the coming days, said Freites and the two refinery sources. The catalytic cracking unit remains halted at the 146,000-bpd El Palito refinery.

Venezuela consumes about 180,000 bpd of gasoline amid an economic crisis and coronavirus quarantine measures. But PDVSA is only supplying 30,000 bpd, causing huge lines and protests.

In May, a shipment of 1.5 million barrels of Iranian fuel temporarily improved supplies, but lines have returned as supplies dried up.

As MRC informed before, Russian state oil company Rosneft's decision to cease operations in Venezuela and sell its assets there to a Russian government-owned company was a "maneuver" made in reaction to collapsing oil prices, a US State Department official said earlier this year.

We remind that Angarsk Polymers Plant, part of Russian oil giant Rosneft, shut down its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production for a scheduled turnaround on 22 June. The outage was scheduled to last for one month. The plant"s annual production capacity is about 75,000 tonnes.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, June estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 55,260 tonnes from 45,490 tonnes a month earlier. Kazanorgsintez raised its PE output after a spring shutdown for a scheduled turnaround. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption rose to 291,270 tonnes in January-June 2020, up by 5% year on year. Russian producers raised their production, and LDPE imports also increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow said its sites along the US Gulf Coast reported no major damage from Hurricane Laura, according to Chemweek.

Dow’s sites in Sabine, Beaumont, Deer Park, La Porte, Bayport and Texas City, Texas shut down operations prior to Laura making landfall. Dow's Freeport, Texas site continued operating as did facilities across Louisiana. Dow said it has not identified any significant structural damage or flooding at any of the facilities.

"We are beginning the process of restarting our sites and expect that Deer Park, La Porte, Bayport and Texas City will be fully operational on Tuesday," Dow said. "While our sites in Sabine and Beaumont experienced very minor damage, startup of these assets will progress as external infrastructure allows. While Dow experienced very limited logistics impacts due to the storm, we continue to assess impacts to infrastructure in the region."

As MRC reported earlier, Dow Chemical conducted a 45-day scheduled maintenance at its propane dehydrogenation (PDH)unit in Freeport, Texas, from 8 July, 2020. This PDH unit has the capacity of 750,000 mt/y of propylene.

We also remind that most chemical production facilities in the region between Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, have shut down in preparation for Hurricane Laura, which was forecast to make landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border last Wednesday night or early Thursday. Several olefin crackers and associated derivative polymer units have been shut down, as has about 2.5 million b/d of refining capacity.

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

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp restored stable power to its 369,024-barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery as it prepares to begin restarting production units, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Exxon’s Beaumont refinery and chemical plant were shut down on Tuesday as Hurricane Laura was menacing the southeast Texas coast.

In Beaumont, the company also operates a cracker with a capacity of 830,000 mt of ethylene and 195,000 mt of proplyelen per year, low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant with a capacity of 236,000 mt per year and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant with a capacity of 727,000 tonnes per year.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil has put off for a year work on its refinery expansion in Beaumont, Texas. The expansion project is now slated to be online sometime in 2023, versus the original 2022 proposal. Bloomberg first reported the delay. ExxonMobil declined to confirm the story, noting that it does not comment on the status of individual projects. The company "is evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term as a result of market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and commodity price decreases," the company said in a statement.

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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC