Exxon presses Australia to release aid to oil refiners by January

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp is urging the Australian government to start releasing aid to the country's oil refineries by January after a decision last week by BP plc to shut the nation's biggest refinery, said Reuters.

Exxon owns Australia’s oldest refinery at Altona near Melbourne, which can process 90,000 barrels per day of oil, the smallest of the nation’s four refineries. The site supplies about half of the fuel for the state of Victoria, which has been subject to one of the world’s longest and tightest coronavirus lockdowns.

Exxon said the prolonged lockdown “has placed unprecedented pressure” on Altona, causing the plant to run at a loss. Victoria’s government only last week eased restrictions limiting people to a 5 km (3 mile) zone around their homes and allowed shops and restaurants to reopen for the first time since Aug 2.

The Australian government is in talks with the refining industry on an offer of AD2.3 billion (USD1.6 billion) in incentives over 10 years to keep refineries open to bolster of national fuel security. The country's two other refiners, Viva Energy and Ampol, are considering shutting their refineries.

Exxon said the proposed six-month time frame for talks with the government was “too long given the near term challenges faced by all refineries” and it was working with the refiners’ industry group and the government to get the first part of the fuel security package released by January 2021.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said the government should take over BP’s plant at Kwinana, Western Australia, the only refinery on the west coast, to prevent fuel supply disruptions.

“More than 90 percent of Australia’s liquid fuel already arrives via foreign owned and operated tankers, but that figure will only increase if the Kwinana refinery is allowed to close,” MUA Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray said in a statement.

We remind that ExxonMobil has undertaken a planned shutdown at its cracker in Singapore. The company halted operations at the cracker for maintenance on September 14, 2020. The cracker is expected to remain off-line till end-October, 2020. Located at Jurong Island, Singapore, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s gasoil consumption in October rose 6.6% from a year earlier, the first such increase since COVID-19 restrictions were imposed in late March, preliminary data showed on Sunday, signaling a pick-up in industrial activity, reported Reuters.

Diesel sales by the country's three state fuel retailers totaled 6.17 million tons in October, according to provisional data compiled by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's biggest refiner and fuel retailer.

Sales of gasoil, which account for about two-fifths of India’s fuel demand, rose 27.5% from September.

Rising diesel sales in the world’s third-biggest oil consumer and importer should help refiners, who had to cut crude-processing runs during the coronavirus crisis.

IOC hopes to operate refineries at full capacity in a couple of months, up from 95% now, as local fuel demand is rising, company chairman S.M. Vaidya said.

Rising gasoline and gasoil demand in India should also aid other markets hit by slow demand recovery.

Local gasoline sales in October rose above pre-pandemic levels for a second month in a row.

Gasoline sales rose 4% from a year earlier to about 2.4 million tons, about 8.6% higher than September, the data showed.

State companies IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum own about 90% of India's retail fuel outlets.

State retailers sold 3.8% more cooking gas in October than a year ago, at about 2.44 million tons, while jet fuel sales halved to 328,000 tons.

As MRC informed previously, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (IOC) has recently approved the addition of a petrochemical and lube integration component to its previously announced and long-planned project that will expand crude oil processing capacity of its 13.7 million-tonne/year Koyali refinery at Vadodara in India’s western state of Gujarat. Approved by the company’s board in late September, the revised 178.25-billion rupee expansion and petrochemical-lube integration project will increase crude processing capacity of the refinery by 4.3 million tpy to 18 million tpy as well as result in proposed production of 500,000 tpy of polypropylene and 235,000 tpy of lube oil base stock at the site, IOC said in filings to India’s National Stock Exchange Ltd. and BSE Ltd.

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

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, Russia"s estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

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) -- Dresser Natural Gas Solutions (Dresser NGS), a leading provider of measurement, instrumentation and piping solutions to the natural gas distribution and transmissions markets, has acquired Flow Safe, a manufacturer of spring-operated and pilot-operated high performance pressure relief devices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Dresser NGS has acquired the entire Flow Safe business, including 38 employees and two locations: Orchard Park, New York, and Houston. The acquisition will enable Dresser NGS to provide over-pressure protection for its natural gas customers.

The Flow Safe product line, which includes spring-operated and pilot-operated high performance over pressure protection devices, will focus on applications in Natural Gas Distribution, Pipeline, Aerospace, Marine, Industrial Gases and other liquid and gas process applications.

David Evans, president and CEO, Dresser NGS, said, “Dresser is excited about Flow Safe joining the family. We will help Flow Safe reach new customers, and Flow Safe will help us strengthen our working relationships with gas company risk managers, systems engineers, over-pressure protection specialists, measurement managers and technicians, all of whom realize value from Flow Safe’s industry-leading over pressure protection solutions."

Ryan Gannon, president, Flow Safe, said, “Flow Safe is excited to be a part of the Dresser NGS team and looks forward to expanding their reach into many different markets that Dresser NGS currently does not operate, including aerospace, marine, and industrial/specialty gas to name a few, helping to diversify the Dresser NGS portfolio."

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Freeport LNG has announced that it has loaded its 100th LNG cargo, which departed from Freeport LNG’s terminal on October 30, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“This is a tremendous achievement for Freeport LNG and our customers,” said Michael Smith, founder, chairman and CEO, Freeport LNG. “Achieving this milestone safely and efficiently is a true testament to the dedication, discipline and drive of our workforce who play an integral role in Freeport LNG’s continued success.”

Freeport LNG loaded its first cargo in September 2019. The company began full commercial operations of its USD13.5 billion, three train facility in May. In addition to achieving this 100th cargo, carried by BP’s British Contributor, Freeport LNG recently marked another significant milestone, its first nighttime transit. The vessel departed Freeport LNG’s terminal on the evening of October 6. The company anticipates having more routine nighttime transits by early next year.

As MRC reported earlier, BP Australia plans to shut its 146,000 b/d Kwinana refinery in Western Australia and convert it into a fuel import terminal, according to the company's statment Oct. 30. The continued growth of large scale, export-oriented refineries throughout Asia and the Middle East has structurally changed the Australian market, BP said, adding that regional oversupply and sustained low refining margins mean the Kwinana refinery is no longer economically viable.

We remind that a “technical defect” disrupted production at part of the Gelsenkirchen integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Germany, early last week. The company operates plants in the Horst and Scholven districts at Gelsenkirchen, with the defect occurring at Horst. BP sais it was working to resume normal operations as soon as possible. It did not specify which unit has been affected, with sources suggesting it was the fluid catalytic cracker, but this was not confirmed by the company.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Deliveries of refined oil products from Total’s Grandpuits plant in France were disrupted on Thursday after the CGT union said employees had begun a 48 hour strike to protest against planned job cuts at the site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Total confirmed in a statement that output had been affected, but added that it would continue “to ensure supplies for its network of petrol stations and clients”.

The CGT said production had been reduced to minimal levels and that deliveries of finished products by pipeline, truck or train from Grandpuits had been halted.

As MRC reported earlier, within the framework of its net zero strategy, Total will convert its Grandpuits refinery (Seine-et-Marne) into a zero-crude platform and will invest more then EUR500 mln into this project. By 2024 the platform will focus on four new industrial activities: production of renewable diesel primarily intended for the aviation industry, production of bioplastics, plastics recycling and operation of two photovoltaic solar power plants.

We remind that in November 2019, Total disclosed that itis evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC