Preem drops USD1.65B Swedish refinery expansion plan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Preem announced it has scrapped plans for the expansion of Sweden’s biggest oil refinery that would potentially have created the country’s biggest polluter, blaming the economy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The government had not yet decided whether to allow the planned USD1.65 billion (15 billion crown) expansion. A court ruled in June it could go ahead, running counter to the Social Democrats-Greens coalition’s promise to cut emissions.

"In light of the economic future prospects, Preem’s Board of Directors has decided that the environmental permit application for Preemraff Lysekil will be withdrawn, and that the ROCC (Residue Oil Conversion Complex) project will be discontinued,” Preem said.

It said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to the project no longer being commercially viable. “Dismantling the ROCC project is a commercial decision,” Magnus Heimburg, CEO at Preem since August, said in a statement. Climate activists and others had opposed the expansion.

Greenpeace this month in protest blocked a tanker from delivering crude oil to the refinery. It said the expansion would result in increasing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1 MM tons per year, making it Sweden’s largest source of CO2 emissions.

Teen activist Greta Thunberg, who has said Sweden would fail to live up to its commitments to the Paris Agreement if it allowed the expansion, said on Twitter the news was “a huge victory for the climate and environmental movement”. Preem, owned by Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, is the largest refining company in Sweden. The group said it now instead planned to start production of renewable fuels at the Lysekil refinery.

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

US propane/propylene stocks jump 4.1 million bbl on week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US propane and propylene stocks surged 4.1 million bbl during the week ended 25 September, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), said Chemweek.

Nationwide stocks totaled 102 million bbl, up 4.2% on the week and 5.9% above year-ago levels. An OPIS survey of market participants on Tuesday called for an average build of 2.2 million bbl on the week, with estimates ranging from 500,000 bbl to 4 million bbl.

Demand, as suggested by product supplied, tumbled over the reporting period, coming in at 615,000 b/d, down 434,000 b/d. At the same time, refiner and blender net production increased by 123,000 b/d to 2.351 million b/d. Exports of propane and propylene increased by 276,000 b/d to 1.315 million b/d for the latest reporting week, while imports rose by 51,000 b/d to 161,000 b/d.

Regionally, PADD 3 (Gulf Coast) stocks rose 3.6 million bbl to 59.5 million bbl and were 2.8 million bbl higher than last year. PADD 2 (Midwest) increased by 400,000 bbl to 27.8 million bbl and were 300,000 bbl ahead of 2019. PADD 1 (East Coast) rose by 100,000 bbl on the week to 9.2 million bbl, up 1.3 million from 2019, and PADDs 4 and 5 fell 100,000 bbl to 5.4 million bbl (1.3 million bbl over last year).

Spot propane prices had limited reaction to the EIA data, with no post-report transactions confirmed at Mont Belvieu and bid/ask ranges largely holding to levels done earlier in the morning. TET (Lone Star) transacted from 49.5-51 cts/gal and non-TET (Enterprise) at 49.75-50.875 cts/gal. Conway propane last traded at 48.125 cts/gal, incrementally higher than a pre-EIA range of 46.5-48 cts/gal.

As per MRC's DataScope report, Russian companies significantly raised their purchasing of PP in foreign markets in August partially because of a major increase in demand, imports were 21,200 tonnes versus 17,200 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall PP imports into Russia reached 143,200 tonnes in January-August 2020, compared to 120,100 tonnes a year earlier. Purchasing of all grades of propylene polymers in foreign markets increased, with homopolymer PP imports accounting for the most noticeable rise.
MRC

Trump-backed Canadian railway to Alaska could free landlocked oil, faces high hurdles

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A private-sector proposal, endorsed by U.S. president Donald Trump, to build a railway from Canada’s oil sands to ports in Alaska would free landlocked crude but faces numerous steep challenges, said Hydrocarbonprocesing.

Trump wrote on Twitter over the weekend that he would issue a permit for the Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation (A2A Rail) project to move Alberta crude 1,600 miles (2,570 km) to the Alaskan coast, as well as freight in the other direction. “I will be issuing a Presidential Permit for the A2A Cross-Border rail,” Trump said. He said his decision was based on the recommendation of fellow Republicans Dan Sullivan, a U.S. senator, and Don Young, a U.S. representative. Projects that cross the U.S. border require presidential permits.

The USD17 billion project, which backers hope will be in service by the end of the decade, was first proposed in 2015 by Canadian infrastructure financier Sean McCoshen. It could carry up to 2 MM barrels of oil per day, along with potash, sulfur and grain that often back up at Canada’s Vancouver port, said Mead Treadwell, A2A’s vice-chair, Alaska. “The diversity of commodities helps reduce the risk,” he said.

The case for A2A has involved often-congested pipelines that move Alberta crude to U.S refineries. However, new pipelines are now under construction. Options to move crude from Canada, the world's fourth-largest producer, are useful, but A2A is "a very challenged project," said Dennis McConaghy, a former pipeline executive at TransCanada Corp, now known as TC Energy Corp.

Transportation costs to reach Asian or U.S. Gulf Coast refiners would be substantially higher than those involving pipelines, he added.“This project makes sense if it’s absolutely the last resort,” McConaghy said. A2A would require numerous regulatory clearances in the United States and Canada that would likely take years. Discussions with shippers have not yet happened in depth, Treadwell said. He added that A2A would offer indigenous groups in the area a chance to invest.

Shipping oil by rail has caused several high-profile accidents in both Canada and the United States in recent years. “At a time when California is banning gas-powered cars and China is pledging to transition off fossil fuels, it’s hard to imagine a bigger waste of money than building a rail line to move oil trains over the melting permafrost,” said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist at Greenpeace Canada.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on how soon Trump would issue the permit. Such a rail link “has been a dream for many generations,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy in a statement. Funded privately, it would reduce Alaska’s costs of goods and services, he said.

Alberta supports A2A as it would unlock new markets for the province’s exports, said Kavi Bal, senior press secretary for its energy ministry.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in August 2020 by 4.1% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.9% year on year in the first eight months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 126,300 tonnes from 118,200 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2020 by 8.3% year on year to 863,200 tonnes. Last month's production of non-porous polymer boards, sheets and films exceeded 38,700 tonnes versus 36,400 tonnes in July. Thus, overall output of these products reached 271,900 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.5% year on year.
MRC

ACC CAB posts gain in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) chemical activity barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator and index of industry activity, posted a sequential gain in September of 2.7% on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, said Chemweek.

It was the fifth consecutive month of gains for the index. On a year-on-year (YOY) basis, the CAB was down 4.3%. “With five consecutive months of gains, the September CAB reading is consistent with recovery in the U.S. economy,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC.

Production-related indicators were mixed in September, with gains in construction-related resins, pigments, and chemistry for light-vehicle applications, but more modest activity in resins for packaging, consumer, and institutional applications. Chemical equity prices were flat, while product and input prices were stable, and inventory and supply chain indicators were positive, ACC says.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in August 2020 by 4.1% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.9% year on year in the first eight months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 126,300 tonnes from 118,200 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2020 by 8.3% year on year to 863,200 tonnes. Last month's production of non-porous polymer boards, sheets and films exceeded 38,700 tonnes versus 36,400 tonnes in July. Thus, overall output of these products reached 271,900 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.5% year on year.
MRC

BASF announces new product innovations in its selective hydrogenation catalysts portfolio

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF announces new product innovations in its selective hydrogenation catalysts portfolio, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A new series of commercially proven alumina catalysts is now available with new performance features that can benefit selective hydrogenation applications such as first stage PYGAS or selective hydrogenation of dienes in C4 olefin streams. This new series of Pd on spherically shaped E15x catalysts replaces the E14x series of Pd alumina catalysts which have been used commercially for over thirty years in selective hydrogenation applications.

The new series of alumina supported catalysts offers better activity and tolerance to poisons such as sulfur due to higher Pd dispersion. The catalysts are also very uniform in size and shape which helps to prevent mal-distribution of feed in fixed bed reactor applications. This new series of selective hydrogenation catalysts is available with Pd contents ranging from 0.15 to 0.75 % Pd and can be produced in BASF plant sites in Europe and the United States as well.

Another innovation is the new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) catalyst CBA-250 which offers lower Pd content compared to the standard commercial PTA catalysts CBA-300 and CBA-400 as well as standard competitive PTA catalysts which have much higher Pd contents. The lower Pd content makes CBA-250 commercially attractive and easy to adopt as it is formulated to be equivalent to standard commercial PTA catalysts.

"BASF continues to drive innovation to help our customers be more successful and the new selective hydrogenation catalysts offer is creating exceptional value for our customers,” says Detlef Ruff, Senior Vice President Process Catalysts at BASF.

"We are looking forward to sharing more information on the new product offer with our customers during the upcoming virtual European Petrochemical Associations Conference (EPCA) from October 5-7,” says Adrian Steinmetz, Vice President Chemical Market Catalysts and Adsorbents at BASF, “We have set up specific webinars that can also be found on our selective hydrogenation catalysts website."

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