US crude oil and fuel inventories up due to higher output of refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- All US crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks increased in the second week of March, as refiners raised their output with more facilities coming back online following February's devastating storms in Texas, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Crude inventories grew by 2.4 million barrels in the week to March 12, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared with analysts' expectations for a rise of 3 million barrels.

Overall stocks have been rising since February, as refiners shut down and have been slow to come back online in the wake of the storms, which knocked out power for millions and killed dozens of people.

Refinery crude runs rose by 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 7.1 percentage points, boosting overall use to 76.1% of capacity.

"Clearly the refiners are making strides towards recovery," said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging. "I'd anticipate that trend continues for the next couple of weeks."

Gasoline stocks rose by 472,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a 3 million-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 255,000 barrels, versus forecasts for a 3.4 million-barrel drop.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 219,000 barrels per day. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 624,000 barrels, EIA said.

As MRC informed before, the largest US refinery, Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, plant, returned to normal operations. The refinery was shut on Feb. 15 when freezing temperatures, rarely seen on the US Gulf Coast, knocked out steam supply. Motiva began restarting the refinery on Feb. 24.

Motiva Chemicals has also resumed operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and finished late last week. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Repsol to construct first PU foam recycling plant in Spain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol will build Spain's first plant for chemical recycling of polyurethane (PU) foam at its Puertollano industrial complex, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing,

PU foam is the main component of mattresses, sofas, and vehicle seats, among other uses.

At the end of its useful life, PU foam is one of the most difficult plastics to process. The new recycling facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and will entail an investment of approximately EUR12 million.

Once operational, the plant will be capable of processing around 2,000 metric tons of PU foam per year, the equivalent of 380 linear kilometers of mattresses placed side by side.

Besides, Repsol plans on using this circular economy project to produce circular polyols from recycled PU foam. Polyols are one of the raw materials used to manufacture polyurethane foam, thus perfectly closing these essential products’ recycling circle and sustainability. Integrating this new recycling plant into the Puertollano petrochemical complex will ensure the quality of this circular product by allowing the maximization of synergies with the facility’s standard processes.

As MRC reported earlier, Repsol's refinery at Puertollano in central Spain has carried out an upgrade of its olefins unit. The modernization was a part of planned maintenance of the cracker and chemical derivative plants at the end of 2020.

We remind that Spain’s Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

Saint-Gobain invests in Continuous Composites

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French group Saint-Gobain has invested in Continuous Composites, a US 3D printing company based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said the company.

At the same time, the companies signed a joint development agreement for the commercialisation of Continuous Composites' patented Continuous Fiber 3D Printing (CF3D) process. CF3D combines continuous fibre with rapid curing thermoset resins to enable on-demand manufacturing of complex composite structures.

Under the process, dry fibre comes off of spools and enters a printer head, where it is impregnated on site with ultraviolet-curable resins. The process eliminates the need for pre-impregnation (pre-preg), removing a large chunk of the expense in making composite materials.

CF3D combines high performance continuous fiber with rapid curing thermoset resins to enable affordable manufacturing of complex composite structures. Continuous Composites says CF3D is an industry agnostic automated solution comprised of configurable hardware, proprietary software and tailorable materials solutions for strong, lightweight applications.

Last year, French chemicals company Arkema invested in Continuous Composites in a bid to advance the development of 3D composite manufacturing.

As MRC informed earlier, Saint-Gobain, the world's largest manufacturer of building materials, has opened the third plant in Russia for the production of dry building mixtures in the city of Yegoryevsk, Moscow Region. The total investment in the construction of the plant amounted to more than 500 mln rubles.

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.

Saint-Gobain is an international industrial group of companies headquartered in Paris. At present, the group includes 1.5 thousand companies from 64 countries, and employs about 190 thousand employees. According to the Forbes rating, Saint-Gobain is among the top 100 largest industrial companies in the world. The company operates in four sectors: innovative materials, construction products, glass containers and packaging, distribution of construction materials.
MRC

Global oil demand to rise every year through 2026

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Based on today’s policy settings, global oil demand is set to rise every year through 2026, but stronger policies and behavior changes could bring a peak in demand soon, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

World oil markets have rebounded from the massive demand shock triggered by Covid-19 but still face a high degree of uncertainty that is testing the industry as never before, according to a new IEA report.

The forecast for global oil demand has shifted lower, and demand could peak earlier than previously thought if a rising focus by governments on clean energy turns into stronger policies and behavioral changes induced by the pandemic become deeply rooted, according to Oil 2021, the IEA’s latest annual medium-term market report. But in the report’s base case, which reflects current policy settings, oil demand is set to rise to 104 million barrels a day (mmbpd) by 2026, up 4% from 2019 levels.

"The Covid-19 crisis caused a historic decline in global oil demand – but not necessarily a lasting one. Achieving an orderly transition away from oil is essential to meet climate goals, but it will require major policy changes from governments as well as accelerated behavioral changes. Without that, global oil demand is set to increase every year between now and 2026,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “For the world’s oil demand to peak anytime soon, significant action is needed immediately to improve fuel efficiency standards, boost electric vehicle sales and curb oil use in the power sector."

Those actions – combined with increased teleworking, greater recycling and reduced business travel – could reduce oil use by as much as 5.6 mb/d by 2026, which would mean that global oil demand never gets back to where it was before the pandemic.

Asia will continue to dominate growth in global oil demand, accounting for 90% of the increase between 2019 and 2026 in the IEA report’s base case. By contrast, demand in many advanced economies, where vehicle ownership and oil use per capita are much higher, is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels.

The global refining sector is struggling with excess capacity. Shutdowns of at least 6 mb/d will be required to allow utilization rates to return to normal levels. Meanwhile, China, the Middle East and India continue to drive new capacity growth. As a result, Asian crude oil imports are forecast to surge to 27 mmbpd by 2026, requiring record levels of Middle Eastern crude and Atlantic Basin production to fill the gap.

As per MRC, crude oil futures fell own during the mid-morning trade in Asia March 18, after the Energy Information Administration showed a build in crude and product inventories, even as a free-falling US dollar provided some cushion to the market. At 10:40 am Singapore time (0240 GMT), the ICE Brent May contract was down 38 cents/b (0.56%) from the March 17 settle at USD67.62/b, while the April NYMEX light sweet crude contract was down 37 cents/b (0.57%) at USD64.23/b.

As MRC informed before, the largest US refinery, Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, plant, returned to normal operations. The refinery was shut on Feb. 15 when freezing temperatures, rarely seen on the US Gulf Coast, knocked out steam supply. Motiva began restarting the refinery on Feb. 24.

Motiva Chemicals has also resumed operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and finished late last week. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

BP announces new blue hydrogen project in UK

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP has announced plans for the UK’s largest hydrogen project, which would produce 1GW of the national target by 2030 in Teesside, said the company.

The proposed facility in Teesside would produce up to 1GW of “blue” hydrogen by 2030 – 20% of the UK’s overall target – supporting the development of the region as a hydrogen transport hub. Named H2 Teesside, the site would capture and send for storage up to two million tonnes of Co2 per year, equivalent to capturing emissions from the heating of one million UK households.

BP said this would be a significant step in developing its hydrogen business, and make a significant contribution to the UK government’s production targets. The firm said the regions close proximity to North Sea storage sites and infrastructure means in its “uniquely placed” for H2 Teesside to help lead the low carbon transformation. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said it would lead to “clean, high skilled, well paid jobs”.

A final investment decision is scheduled for early 2024, and production could begin in 2027 or earlier. BP said the scheme would “support thousands of jobs“.

Dev Sanyal, executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy at BP, said: “Clean hydrogen is an essential complement to electrification on the path to net zero. Blue hydrogen, integrated with carbon capture and storage, can provide the scale and reliability needed by industrial processes.

“It can also play an essential role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify industries and driving down the cost of the energy transition." BP has also signed agreements with Venator to scope the supply of clean hydrogen to its flagship Teesside plant, and with Northern Gas Network to work on decarbonising gas networks in the UK.

As a separate initiative, BP has signed an MoU with Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to explore green hydrogen in the region, including making the Teesside the UK’s first hydrogen transport hub.

As per MRC, Rosneft will jointly develop its hydrogen business with BP. Together they will study the prospects for new projects using renewable energy sources (RES), as well as the use of technologies for capturing, utilizing and storing CO2.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

BP plc (until May 2001 - British Petroleum) is a British oil and gas company, the second largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world.
MRC