Indian refiners would buy Iranian oil if sanctions eased

MOSCOW (MRC) --Indian refiners would resume imports of Iranian oil if the United States eases sanctions against Tehran, reported Reuters with reference to the chairman of state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp's statement.

US President Joe Biden's administration is seeking a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute with Iran, which could see sanctions eased.

India, which was Iran's top oil client after China, had stopped oil imports from the OPEC nation in mid-2019 under pressure from the stringent sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump.

"Iranian crude had been in the (import) basket of Indian refineries ... we will be happy to take that crude as and when the situation warrants and the crude is available," M.K. Surana told a news conference.

Washington has been at loggerheads with Tehran for decades and relations between the two countries worsened under Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, and imposed more sanctions on Tehran.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for the first time hinted that Washington and Tehran should take synchronized steps to return to the Iran nuclear deal abandoned by Trump.

Surana said Iran was previously offering favourable terms for payment and freight discounts among others which made its oil "preferential" compared to other grades.

After stopping purchases from Iran, Indian refiners have diversified their crude imports.

"There are alternatives in the picture after that (sanctions). Now US crude is coming to India," he said.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan last year said India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, wants to diversify its oil imports, including the resumption of supplies from Iran and Venezuela, under Biden's rule.

Surana said refiners evaluate alternative crudes available in the market and the value they generate to maximise revenue. "But yes, there is possibility. If the (Iranian) crude is available people will definitely look at those options," he added.

As MRC informed before, 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.

We remind that India’s Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said in mid-December, 2020, the demand for chemicals and petrochemicals is expected to rise 9% annually, and the size of the industry is likely to grow to USD300 billion by 2025.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis (Vienna, Austria) says it has decided to start a process aimed at divesting its nitrogen business unit, including fertilizer, technical nitrogen, and melamine products, said Chemweek.

Any divestment “would be subject to information and consultation requirements with employee representatives as may be required under applicable laws,” it says. No potential value for the business has been given.

The company, majority owned by OMV (Vienna) with a 75% stake, operates fertilizer manufacturing plants in Austria and France and is one of Europe’s major producers with output of around 5 million metric tons/year of fertilizer products distributed via a network of approximately 60 warehouses in western, central, and southeastern Europe. It is also a market leader in the production of melamine, according to Borealis, with operations in Austria and Germany supplying the product primarily as a raw material to the woodworking industry.

Borealis says its share in the Rosier fertilizer production sites at Sas van Gent, the Netherlands, and Moustier, Belgium, is “presently not being considered within the potential sales process.” Borealis acquired a 56.86% majority share in Rosier in 2013.

The company will “continue to focus on its core activities of providing innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins and base chemicals,” with the aim of extending parent company OMV’s value chain “towards higher value chemical products and the transformation towards a circular economy,” it says.

The start of the divestment process for its fertilizer business follows previous statements by Borealis in 2019 of its search for partners to strengthen its fertilizer business. It placed the fertilizer, melamine, and technical nitrogen business into a separate entity in October 2018, stating at the time it believed more scale and consolidation was required to make a “long-term, sustainable, and healthy fertilizer, melamine, and technical nitrogen business."

In its fourth-quarter 2020 results announced today, Borealis says a rise in natural gas prices and operational issues "negatively impacted" the quarterly contribution of its fertilizers business, with the deteriorating fertilizer market also negatively impacting its full-year 2020 earnings. Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala owns the remaining 25% interest in Borealis.

As per MRC, Borealis has fully resumed production at its steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden. Thus, the cracker with the capacity of 625,000 mtyear of ethylene was restarted on 15-17 January, 2021. Meanwhile, the status of the force majeure on the products from this cracker remains unclear at the moment.

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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austrian oil and gas group OMV expects a recovery in the oil price in 2021 after its 2020 results were hit by the coronavirus pandemic although it does not see an improvement in the utilization rate of European refineries, reported Reuters.

OMV said on Thursday that its fourth-quarter operating profit fell by a third to 524 million euros ($629.38 million) on revenues down 18% to 4.956 billion euros as pandemic-related travel restrictions keep a lid on fuel demand.

As MRC informed earlier, OMV (Vienna, Austria) says it is investing EUR40 million (USD48 million) to expand and modernize a steam cracker and associated units at its refining and petrochemicals complex at Burghausen, Germany. The upgrade will increase the site’s ethylene and propylene production capacity by 50,000 metric tons/year. Following a planned turnaround of the refinery, the revamped cracker and petchem units are expected to start operations in the third quarter of 2022. Initial groundwork is already underway ahead of the upgrade.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide China will build new production capacities in Mianyang City (100 km Northwest of Chengdu), Sichuan Province and Chongqing City, said Chemweek.

These will supply BOE, the world’s leading company in flat-panel displays and an IoT company, in the context of new long-term supply agreements. Since 2017, Air Liquide’s total investment for BOE amounts to more than 100 million euros.

Air Liquide will build, own and operate new high-purity nitrogen production facilities with a total capacity of 75,000 Nm3/h, for BOE’s production of AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays, a technology that is increasingly used in high-end smartphones. It will also provide volumes of oxygen, hydrogen, argon and carbon dioxide to BOE fabs in Chongqing and Mianyang. The facilities are expected to begin operations in 2021.

Leveraging Air Liquide’s most advanced technologies, and in line with its Climate Objectives, the new power-efficient nitrogen production facilities are expected to have a reduced power consumption by 10% compared to previous units, which is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions of over 8,000 tons per year.

Since the beginning of its partnership with BOE in 2004, Air Liquide has continued to build on this relationship, with the construction of carrier gas plants on 10 sites across China to support the gas and services requirements of BOE.
Francois Abrial, member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Asia-Pacific, said: "Air Liquide is pleased to strengthen its over 15-year long partnership with BOE, which testifies of our ability to provide unique technical expertise as well as safe and reliable service to our clients over the long term. Air Liquide is a provider of innovative solutions for the growing electronics industry, particularly in the context of world deployment of 5G networks. Thanks to these new production capacities, the Group will not only support a strategic customer, but will also contribute to the development of an industry which is well established in the southwest of China."

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2020, Air Liquide finalised an agreement with Sasol to acquire the biggest oxygen production site in the world with a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30%. After the announcement on July 29, the international major industry gas company has now entered into a business purchase agreement with Sasol to acquire the oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa.

We remind that Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of LCCP, is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities that came online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at Sasol's Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide (Paris:AI) and BASF, a world-leading chemical company, have signed a contract in South Korea’s Yeosu National Industrial Complex to extend the term of their existing agreements over the long term. Within this context, Air Liquide leveraged the start-up in 2020 of its fourth hydrogen and carbon monoxide unit in this major industrial complex to increase by 20% the contractual volumes dedicated to BASF, according to BusinessWire.

Air Liquide’s first contract with BASF in Yeosu was signed 20 years ago. Since then, Air Liquide has significantly developed its industrial footprint in the Yeosu basin, culminating in the construction of a state-of-the-art, highly efficient hydrogen and carbon monoxide plant designed and built by Air Liquide’s Engineering and Construction. This latest unit, which started up in 2020, is fully integrated with Air Liquide’s three other plants through its 40 km pipeline supply network in Yeosu to ensure the highest level of safety, reliability, efficiency, and flexibility to its customers.

Recognising this strong industrial set up and customer focus of Air Liquide, BASF has renewed its trust in Air Liquide by extending the existing contracts over the long term, and increasing its reserved capacity by +20%, further reinforcing the long-standing relationship between Air Liquide and BASF.

Francois Abrial, member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Asia-Pacific, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our long-term partnership with BASF, a leading global company and long-standing strategic customer of the Group, by extending and expanding further our collaboration in the Yeosu basin. This major contract is a demonstration of BASF’s trust and confidence in Air Liquide to create value and deliver long-term performance to our customers.”

Air Liquide has been present in South Korea since 1996, providing industrial gases and related services to major industries (petrochemicals, oil refining, steel, automotive, and renewable energy, etc). Today, Air Liquide operates 4 main affiliates in Korea: Air Liquide Korea for industrial gases & services as well as the hydrogen energy market, VitalAire Korea for Home healthcare equipment & services, Air Liquide Solutions Korea for electronic gases & services, and Air Liquide Advanced Materials Korea for cutting edge production and development of advanced materials.

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902.

Air Liquide’s ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Air Liquide finalised an agreement with Sasol to acquire the biggest oxygen production site in the world with a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30%. After the announcement on July 29, the international major industry gas company has now entered into a business purchase agreement with Sasol to acquire the oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa.

We remind that Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of LCCP, is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities that came online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at Sasol's Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC