Oil tanker market in rougher seas as supply surges, storage sinks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A plunge in the volume of crude oil stored on ships combined with unexpected cuts from top producer Saudi Arabia have created a glut of vessels available for hire, pressuring the outlook for supertankers this year, reported Reuters.

Earnings for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) in 2020 reached record highs of more than USD240,000 a day as the coronavirus battered demand, creating an oil surplus and a scramble for storage on land and sea. Rates have since dropped to USD7,000 a day.

“Right now, it is really as bad as it gets for the VLCC market. Floating storage has more or less unwound and the return of that tonnage to the spot market has pressured rates,” Aristidis Alafouzos, chief operating officer of Okeanis Eco Tankers, told Reuters.

“The loss of 1 million bpd of Saudi production equates to annualised tanker demand destruction of 23 VLCCs.”

Clarksons Research Services estimated that as of Jan. 22, 95 vessels - the equivalent of 130 million barrels - were being used for storage versus a peak of over 290 million barrels in May last year.

IHS Markit said volumes on ships - also static for 14 or more days - had dropped to 52 million barrels, the lowest level since the peak in mid-2020 when it reached 190 million barrels.

“IHS Markit does not expect a repeat of last year’s explosive floating storage growth in 2021,” said principal lead analyst Fotios Katsoulas.

“Declining floating storage could further support oil prices in the near-term, as it is considered an indication for demand recovering.”

The numbers exclude Iran’s fleet holding oil and non-commercial longer-term storage by companies.

Demand for floating storage at the peak of the crisis last year was also driven by a market contango, a price structure whereby cargoes for delivery in the shorter term are cheaper than those for later delivery. It encourages traders to store fuel until prices pick up.

As MRC reported earlier, Saudi Arabia's "brilliant move" to unilaterally reduce oil output additionally by 1 million b/d has been a great contribution to the stabilization of the global oil market, said Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF, in his statement on Jan. 27.

We remind that in October 2019, McDermott International announced that it had been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Amiral is a JV in which Aramco holds 62.5% and Total the rest. The plant, designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, will be one of the world's largest mixed-feed crackers.

Aramco and Total launched their USD5-billion Amiral JV project in October 2018. The steam cracker will be fed with a mixture of 50% ethane and refinery off-gases. It will supply ethylene to a downstream 1 MMt/y polyethylene manufacturing complex and other petrochemical products. The project aims to fully exploit operational synergies with the adjacent refinery, owned by Satorp, another JV between Aramco and Total. Third-party investors, including Daelim and Ineos, will locate plants at the value park adjacent to Amiral with a combined investment of USD4 billion. A final investment decision is expected in 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A feasibility study by a coalition of Belgian companies has concluded that imports of green hydrogen will play a key role in establishing the country’s future renewable hydrogen economy, and that ammonia, methanol, and synthetic methane are the “most promising” likely green energy carriers, reported Chemweek.

The study by the Hydrogen Import Coalition, consisting of DEME, Engie, Exmar, Fluxys, Port of Antwerp, Port of Zeebrugge, and WaterstofNet, states that Belgium needs to “look beyond its own production of renewable energy generated domestically or offshore,” to meet the challenge of transitioning to a carbon-neutral society by 2050, it says. The study concludes that this is both technically and economically feasible.

Local production of solar and wind energy will have to be supplemented by the supply of renewable energy from abroad, with hydrogen to play an important role in the blend of end-user solutions, it says. The study mapped out the financial, technical, and regulatory aspects of the entire hydrogen import chain, from production elsewhere to delivery via ships and pipelines to Belgium for internal distribution, also providing a basis for the further roll-out to industrial applications.

“Various types of hydrogen-derived carriers from a range of supply regions will be able to provide cost-competitive renewable energy and raw materials by 2030-2035. The most promising green energy carriers are ammonia, methanol, and synthetic methane,” the consortium states. These can be deployed through existing modes of transport such as pipelines and maritime transport, it says.

Belgium has maritime ports and extensive pipeline infrastructure, is linked to major industrial clusters, and has the capacity to meet both its own domestic energy needs as well as those of surrounding countries, it adds.

Planned next steps will include analysis of how to prepare seaports in Belgium to receive the identified future hydrogen carriers, with the aim of maximizing synergies. Specific pilot projects are also being set up in the area of logistics, industry, and technology for the development of a sustainable economy and the climate transition in the region and a broader hinterland.

“We want to give hydrogen every chance as an energy carrier, a basic element for chemistry and a fuel, and are therefore committing ourselves as an active pioneer in the hydrogen economy,” says Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO at Port of Antwerp. “As a world port and Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster, we are an important link in this chain. The outcome of this study and its next steps offer promising perspectives for a further large-scale roll-out of hydrogen applications.”

As MRC informed earlier, Shell is teaming up with three partners on a green hydrogen project in Hamburg, Germany, which includes a scalable electrolyser with an initial output of 100 megawatts (MW). Production of green hydrogen at what would be one of the largest electrolyser plants in Europe could begin in 2025, the companies – Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Vattenfall, and Warme Hamburg.

Besides, Essar Oil (Mumbai, India) and clean energy specialist Progressive Energy (Stonehouse, UK) say they have agreed to partner on the development of two low-carbon hydrogen production plants at Essar’s Stanlow refinery in Cheshire, UK, that will supply Progressive’s planned HyNet low-carbon regional distribution network. The companies have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly invest GBP750 million (USD1.02 billion) to build two hydrogen production hubs.

We remind that in late September 2019, Essar resumed operations at its cracker in Stanlow, UK with the capacity of 45,000 mt/year of ethylene and 165,000 mt/year of propylene. It was shut on 11 September, 2019, due to the power outage at the site.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Oqema Group (Korschenbroich, Germany), a chemical distributor, says it has acquired Claus Nitsche & Sohn (Nitsche; Hamburg, Germany), said Chemweek.

Nitsche supplies essential oils, natural flavors, fragrance ingredients, and ingredient solutions, and the portfolio will complement Oqema’s flavor and fragrance range, the company says. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Morton Schmidt, who has managed Nitsche for the past 11 years, will co-lead the company in the future. “Nitsche will initially act independently within the Oqema Group,” Schmidt says.

As per MRC, Azelis says it has signed an exclusive distribution deal for Mane’s (Le Bar sur Loup, France) flavor and fragrance products in the Benelux region, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The deal is effective from January 2021.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.

Oqema had 2019 sales of about EUR900.0 million USD1.1 billion).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Aramco announced a strategic alliance with SAP Saudi Arabia to expand the digitalization of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. The agreement with SAP is another step in Aramco’s digital transformation journey, paving the way for further integration of new technologies in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The SAP ERP system will deepen the deployment of innovative IR4.0 technologies including cloud-based services, embedded analytics, mobility, machine learning, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and Internet-of-Things solutions.

By extending the strategic alliance with SAP Saudi Arabia, Aramco’s contribution to the in-Kingdom business ecosystem will be enhanced through job creation, training and by localizing supplier services and R&D. In addition to enabling greater efficiencies, SAP’s Data Center in Saudi Arabia will offer new cloud solutions to Aramco and other companies.

Ahmad A. Al Sa'adi, Aramco Senior Vice-President of Technical Services, said: "We are committed to our digital transformation program, which is improving our ability to meet the needs of our customers around the world and setting a new standard for technology deployment in our industry. Technologies and solutions within digital transformation initiatives will touch all facets of our operations. This is just one more example of how we are applying best practice in this space and embracing 4IR solutions. It is an important milestone on our digital journey and also contributes to our iktva target."

Luka Mucic, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Chief Financial Officer, said: “In 23 years of strong collaboration, Aramco and SAP have become strategic partners. With numerous co-innovation initiatives, we have jointly introduced oil and gas best practices, enhanced business operations, and expanded the horizon of opportunities in this industry. Aramco has taken the next step on their digital transformation journey and towards becoming an Intelligent Enterprise, implementing S/4 HANA and the Business Technology Platform amongst others."

SAP’s new platform will serve the entire Aramco organization, supporting the Company’s Digital Transformation Program and enabling new processes for a majority of the company’s enterprise applications and solutions. The new architecture leverages emerging technologies that will propel Aramco into a new era of Intelligent Enterprise and benefits include faster processing, intuitive user experience, real-time reporting, integration with cloud solutions and system consolidation, which reduces total cost of ownership.

As per MRC, Saudi Aramco's shareholders may consider selling more shares of the company if market conditions are right, reported Reuters with reference to the statement of the head of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund (PIF), Yasir al-Rumayyan, in a televised news briefing. The Saudi government sold over 1.7% stake in Aramco in an initial public offering (IPO) in 2019 that raised a record USD29.4 billion. The listing has triggered more IPOs in the kingdom, which is also seeking to deepen its capital markets under reforms aimed at reducing its reliance on oil.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese chemical firm Sanyo Chemical Industries will provide additional financing to its subsidiary APB for the development of bipolar all-polymer lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, said Chemweek.

Sanyo will provide ?700mn ($6.8mn) of additional funds to start-up battery producer APB. Japanese casting and equipment producer Sintokogio and major private-sector bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial will also invest a total of ?400mn in APB, although the exact breakdown of their contribution is unclear. The batteries will be manufactured at APB's Takefu factory in Fukui prefecture, with the production line to be set up by Sintokogio.

This latest round of funding takes the total that APB has secured for the project to ?10bn. This includes investments by Japanese firms in June and March. Sanyo aims to produce sample batteries by April next year and begin operations at the Takefu plant in the autumn of 2021.

The all-polymer batteries have higher energy density and storage compared with conventional batteries and are expected to enable EVs to achieve longer driving ranges. The batteries, which are made of resins, also have higher resilience to shock, while production costs are lower because of their simple bipolar structure.

Sanyo cancelled a business integration agreement with catalyst producer Nippon Shokubai in October. But Sanyo's development of bipolar all-polymer Li-ion batteries is unaffected by the decision.

As per MRC, Nippon Shokubai and Sanyo Chemical have postponed their plan to merge via a share transfer, which would have formed an integrated holding company named Synfomix Co. The deal was announced in May 2019. The companies had planned to establish the holding company on 1 October 2020, located in Kyoto, Japan, subject to regulatory approval.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC