Hurricane Delta shuts most US offshore oil output in 15 years

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A large and powerful Hurricane Delta dealt the greatest blow to US offshore Gulf of Mexico production in 15 years, halting most of the region's oil and nearly two-thirds of its natural gas output, reported Reuters.

Delta was packing 120 mile-per-hour (195 km) winds Friday as it churned through the Gulf's prime oil-producing area toward landfall on coastal Louisiana in the evening. It was about 160 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana, according to a 7 a.m. CDT update from the US National Hurricane Center.

Delta has shut 1.67 MM barrels per day (bpd), or 92% of the Gulf's oil output, the most since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 100 offshore platforms and hobbled output for months.

Oil prices eased in London trading on Friday, but were on track for gains of about 10% for the week, boosted by outages in the Gulf of Mexico and a labor dispute in the North Sea. The two combined have removed 2 MM barrels per day from the market.

US natural gas prices on Friday were on track to close at the highest since November 2019 on the shut-ins. Front-month gas futures rose 11 cents, or 4.3%, to USDUSD2.74 per MM British thermal units.

Workers had evacuated 279 offshore Gulf of Mexico facilities and producers moved 15 drilling rigs away from Delta's large and strong wind field. Tropical force winds stretched up to 160 miles from its center, the NHC said, a sign of its large size.

Delta's force will decrease as it approaches the coast but is expected to remain at or near a Category 3 storm on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It will bring a 4- to 11-foot (1.2-3.3 meters) storm surge to the coast near landfall, the NHC said.

In addition to oil, producers have halted nearly 62% of the region's natural gas output, or 1.675 billion cubic feet per day. Offshore Gulf of Mexico fields produce about 15% of US crude oil and 5% of its natural gas production.

Total SA on Thursday began shutting an oil processing unit at its 225,500 bpd, Port Arthur, Texas refinery because of the threat from Hurricane Delta, people familiar with plant operations said.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it would continue operating its refineries in Convent, Geismar and Norco, Louisiana, through the storm.

Earlier, as MRC wrote before, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s oil refineries in Convent, Geismar and Norco, Louisiana, were monitoring and preparing responses to the threat from Hurricane Delta.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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) -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (Milwaukee, Wisc.) announced that it has acquired Oylo, a privately-held industrial cybersecurity services provider based in Barcelona, Spain, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Oylo is dedicated to providing a broad range of industrial control system (ICS) cybersecurity services and solutions including assessments, turnkey implementations, managed services and incident response.

"As connected smart devices are introduced into the plant floor, having a comprehensive cyber security strategy that spans across industrial operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) is more critical now than ever before. We are dedicated to the success of our customers in their Connected Enterprise journey, and the deep domain expertise that Oylo brings to Rockwell Automation will further accelerate our ability to provide this expertise globally," said Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice president, Lifecycle Services at Rockwell Automation.

The acquisition of Oylo demonstrates Rockwell Automation’s commitment to providing best-in-class cybersecurity services and solutions. Oylo’s OT cybersecurity expertise complements the IT cybersecurity expertise gained through the recent acquisition of Avnet Data Security. The addition of Oylo further accelerates our global delivery capability in this rapidly developing market and expands the offering of cybersecurity services available to the industrial market.

"We look forward to continuing to serve our loyal customers and partners while expanding our services to organizations around the globe," said Eduardo Di Monte, founder and CEO of Oylo.

Oylo will be reported as part of the Lifecycle Services operating segment. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem; The Woodlands, Texas) has announced its first commercial-scale production of polyethylene (PE) using chemical recycling technology, reported Chemweek.

The company says it is now taking steps to increase production by working with proven suppliers of pyrolysis oil, a feedstock made from waste plastic. CPChem is also pursuing certification of its circular PE through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC Plus) approach, which employs a mass-balance methodology.

“We are exceptionally proud to be the first company to announce production of a circular polyethylene on this scale in the US,” says Jim Becker, vice president/polymers and sustainability.

Upon certification, CPChem intends to market its new circular PE products under the trade name Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene.

CPChem says it has been exploring the technical viability of producing circular polymers from waste plastic for two years.

As MRC informed earlier, Chevron Phillips Chemical, part of Chevron Corporation, declared force majeure Sept. 1 on its PE products after assessing the impact of Hurricane Laura to its Gulf Coast PE operations.

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.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lukoil is planning a 280,000-metric tons/year PP plant at its integrated refinery and
petrochemicals facility at Burgas, Bulgaria, said Chemweek.

Lummus Technology has been awarded a contract by Lukoil (Moscow, Russia) to license its Novolen polypropylene (PP) process for a new 280,000-metric tons/year PP facility in Burgas, Bulgaria. The value of the contract and the timescale has not been disclosed.

The contract work scope for the proposed PP unit to be located at Lukoil subsidiary Lukoil Neftohim Burgas’ 180,000-bbl/d refining and petrochemical facility on the Balkan peninsula includes the technology license, as well as basic design engineering, training and services, and catalyst supply. It will be the first PP plant to use Novolen technology in southeast Europe, says Lummus. Lukoil first confirmed it was considering a new PP facility at Burgas in 2018.

The refinery-petchems complex currently has capacity to produce 80,000 metric tons/year of PP for domestic use and export, as well as naphtha and propylene feedstock for olefins products, and various motor and jet fuels.

Lummus Technology’s technology was also selected by Lukoil in September for a new 500,000-metric tons/year PP production unit at Kstovo, Russia. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Poliom took off-stream its PP production for the scheduled maintenance on 2 September; the shutdown will take a little more than two weeks. The plant's annual production capacity is 230,000 tonnes. It is also worth noting that Ufaorgsintez also shut its production capacities for a scheduled turnaround on 12 September, the outage will last until 10 October.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spolana Neratovice, a member of the refinery and petrochemical Unipetrol Group, has commissioned a new heating plant to generate steam needed for its operations. The investment totalled CZK 200 million, said hte company.

“The new gas-powered boiler room has replaced the existing heating plant powered by lignite. It was decommissioned and will be gradually disassembled in accordance with a valid integrated permit,” explains Miroslav Falta, executive director of Spolana. He adds: “After switching from lignite to natural gas and installing modern boilers, there has been a significant decrease in the volume of substances emitted into the atmosphere. Sulphur-dioxide emissions will drop by 99%; emissions of dust and nitrogen oxides will be 90% lower, and carbon-monoxide emissions will decrease by 60%."

The construction of the heating plant was a turnkey project. It contained all construction work, including the installation of two steam boilers powered by natural gas with an output of 2x 35 tonnes of steam per hour, a control system, connection to steam pipelines and preparation of reduction stations. A consortium of CEZ Energeticke sluzby from the CEZ ESCO Holding and Envir & Power Ostrava was responsible for the implementation.

"The coal age in the Czech Republic and in Europe is gradually coming to an end, and the energy companies will also switch to more environmentally friendly fuels with lower emissions of harmful substances and CO2, similar to Spolana. Interest in these solutions is growing, and thanks to them, we are also number one on the industrial energy market in the Czech Republic,” says Kamil Cermak, CEO of CEZ ESCO.

The biggest challenge of the entire project was the installation of two gas-fired boilers with dimensions of 10 m x 5 m, weighing 162 tonnes, in November 2018. The boilers, with an output of 70 tonnes of steam per hour, were manufactured by Bosch Industriekessel GmbH in Gunzenhausen near Nuremberg, Germany. Their transport to Neratovice over 400 km took five days. The entire transport distance was extended to 550 km due to traffic restrictions caused by the cargo’s abnormal dimensions.

“A team of our experts, in collaboration with the Police of the Czech Republic, planned the boiler transport carefully for several weeks. It was carried on a low-floor unit with a special hydraulic trailer for abnormal cargo which helped adjust the current height of the entire unit. It had to fit below ten low bridges on its way. The length of the transport unit was 34 metres,” said Miroslav Falta about the difficult transport and added: “For the cargo to pass our entrance gate, we had to disassemble a section of the fence, lay gravel around the gatehouse and temporarily disassemble stands holding entrance-card readers."

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.

The Unipetrol Group is the largest refinery and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude-oil processing and on the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. In all these areas, it belongs among the important players on the Czech and Central European market. The Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvinov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo with its Mogul brand in Pardubice and Kolin, Spolana Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvinov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes a network of Benzina filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With 417 filling stations, Benzina is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in terms of turnover in the Czech Republic. It earned over CZK 130 billion last year and employs more than 4,800 persons. In addition to its business development, Unipetrol is proud to be a socially responsible corporation. Therefore, it pays an equal amount of attention to initiatives which focus on the cultivation and support of sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment. In 2005, Unipetrol became a member of the PKN Orlen Group, the largest crude-oil processor in Central Europe.
MRC