Aramco omits some carbon data in disclosures to investors

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi oil giant Aramco has excluded emissions generated from many of its refineries and petrochemical plants in its overall carbon disclosures to investors, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The world's biggest oil company's self-reported carbon footprint might nearly double, adding as much as 55 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to its annual tally, if those facilities are included, according to the report.

Much of the omissions are because Aramco chooses to report data from facilities it wholly owns and ones located inside the kingdom, Bloomberg News said, while many of its refineries are joint ventures or located overseas.

Aramco said in a statement that it uses globally accepted guidelines to report the data and has "a clear and deliberate path to increase the scope and details of this disclosure."

The company said it would disclose this year direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 from wholly-owned operations in the kingdom and worldwide, subject to verification by a third party.

Aramco's 2019 emissions would have been between 75 million tons and 113 million tons if missing emissions are included, according to Bloomberg News' calculations based on data from a Nature Climate Change study published last year.

Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp, under increasing pressure from investors and climate change campaigners, said in December it planned to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years.

As per MRC, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has cut supplies of February-loading crude for some Asian buyer by up to a quarter while meeting requirements of at least four others. This comes after Saudi Arabia pledged additional voluntary output cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March under a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.

As MRC wrote previously, Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) was running its crackers in Taiwan at 100% capacity utilisation in end-December, 2020. The company"s crackers have combined ethylene production capacity of 2.935 million metric tons/year. Meanwhile, FPCC is planning overhaul of the smallest cracker in mid-2021.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
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COVID-19 - News digest as of 22.01.2021

1. Indian oil imports at near three-year high in December

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s crude oil imports in December soared to the highest levels in nearly three years to more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) as its refiners cranked up output to meet a rebound in fuel demand, reported Reuters with reference to data from trade sources. A boy walks past an oil tanker train stationed at a railway station in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, February 1, 2019. India’s year-end rush for crude supplies coincided with stronger demand from north Asian buyers during winter, boosting prices and an accelerating de-stocking of floating storage globally.

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USITC ruling in LG Chem-SK Innovation battery patent fray delayed until February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has delayed ruling on a trade secrets battle between SK Innovation and LG Chem until February 2021, according to Chemweek with reference to multiple media outlets. The decision, which could have wide-ranging implications for the electric vehicle battery market and disrupt US automakers’ access, comes after a default USITC judgment in an interim ruling was made in favor of LG Chem in February 2020.

If the USITC upholds this in its final determination, SK Innovation will face a ban on exporting batteries to the US.

LG Chem first filed suit against SK Innovation in April 2019 “for misappropriation of trade secrets, tortuous interference with prospective economic advantage, and other claims.” The suits were filed jointly by the subsidiary LG Chem Michigan Inc. (LGCMI), and LG Chem, concurrently with the US International Trade Commission (USITC) and the US District Court of Delaware. The suits allege that defendants accessed trade secrets by SK Innovation’s hiring of 77 highly skilled and experienced employees from the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery division of LG Chem. These employees include dozens of engineers involved in the R&D, manufacture, and quality-assurance testing of Li-ion batteries. The lawsuits contend that a significant number of these workers engaged in the theft of LG Chem’s trade secrets “to benefit SK Innovation in the development and manufacturing of pouch-type Li-ion batteries.” LG Chem sought injunctive relief to cease any US imports of Li-ion batteries, including commercial Li-ion battery cells and modules, and bar SK Innovation from importing the manufacturing and testing equipment necessary to build Li-ion batteries, since the machinery relies on LG Chem’s trade secrets.

In August 2020, LG Chem lost a compensation lawsuit it filed against LG Chem in Seoul, South Korea. The court in Seoul delivered a verdict in favor of LG Chem, saying that the patent settlement both companies signed in 2014 is only effective in South Korea. The court dismissed SK Innovation’s claim that LG Chem should drop its lawsuits against SK Innovation in the US.

As MRC reported earlier, LG Chem, a South Korean petrochemical major, shut down its naphtha cracker in Yeosu following a fire late last year. The company said a fire broke out at its central control room at the Yosu cracker complex at around midnight local time (15:00 GMT) on 5 November, 2020. The country's largest chemical company resumed production at this cracker on 18 January, 2020. The facility can process about 1.2 million tonnes of ethylene per year (tpy).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC

Imports of PE in Kazakhstan grew by 10% in January - November 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polyethylene (PE) in Kazakhstan increased by 10% in the eleven months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to about 162,400 tonnes. The greatest increase in demand accounted for high density polyethylene (HDPE), according to MRC analytics.

PE imports to Kazakhstan reached 8,400 tonnes in November, compared to 14,700 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased purchasing PE two times polymers in Russia. Overall PE imports totalled about 162,400 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, compared to 143,300 tonnes a year earlier. Purchases of HDPE increased significantly, while imports of other types of polyethylene decreased.

The structure of PE imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

November imports of high-density polyethylene decreased to 6,900 tonnes against 12,100 tonnes, Russian producers decreased their export sales to the local market. Overall HDPE imports totalled 134,200 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020, up by 17% year on year.
November LDPE imports decreased to 800 tonnes from 1,800 tonnes in October, several Russian producers decreased their shipments to the local market. Overall LDPE imports reached 16,700 tonnes over the stated period, down by 21% year on year.

November linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports reached 600 tonnes versus 800 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of these products exceeded 11,400 tonnes in January-November 2020, up by 1% year on year.
MRC

BASF plans early-March maintenance at Ludwigshafen TDI plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is planning to carry out maintenance work early in March at its 300,000-metric tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany, market sources have told OPIS, said Chemweek.

"The facility is expected to be in planned turnaround from early March until the end of May, but we don't know the exact dates of the turnaround," a source said. BASF declined to comment. "We do not comment on plant maintenance or run rates," a company spokesperson said.

Another source speculated that TDI production might start to slow from the site from the end of February in preparation for the turnaround. This will result in lower toluene consumption than in recent months, according to Eleanor Dann, principal toluene analyst at IHS Markit.

"Whilst the turnaround for TDI production will reduce consumption of TDI-grade toluene, this will not necessarily result in an additional 10,000-15,000 metric tons of length for the toluene market as supply is likely to be adjusted in knowledge of the outage," said Dann.

BASF had declared force majeure on 31 August 2020 after experiencing technical problems. After several attempted restarts, it lifted the force majeure at its TDI plant on 30 November, a company spokesperson confirmed.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF says its 420,000-metric ton/year steam cracker in Ludwigshafen, Germany is continuously running and has not caused any interruption of supply to its customers. Earlier, several media outlets reported that unscheduled flaring started on 13 January at the northern part of the Ludwigshafen site and was expected to last until 17 January and that an unspecified unit was shut, which "was not the case", as per the company's letter received by MRC.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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