US Colonial Pipeline restarts after cyber attack

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Colonial Pipeline restarted operations Wednesday at approximately 5 p.m. ET after a ransomware attack last week forced the entire system offline on Friday evening, reported CNBC.

The company did warn, however, that its pipeline would not be fully functional immediately.

“Following this restart it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal,” Colonial said in a statement. “Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal,” the company added.

As MRC informed earlier, most of the pipeline, which is the largest fuel transmission line from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, has been offline since Friday. The company shut down its systems as a proactive measure after it fell victim to a ransomware attack by a criminal group known as DarkSide.

The pipeline is a critical part of US petroleum infrastructure, transporting around 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and jet fuel. The pipeline stretches 5,500 miles and carries nearly half of the East Coast’s fuel supply. The system also provides jet fuel for airports, including in Atlanta and Baltimore.

We remind that Valero Energy chartered an oil products' tanker for storage in the US Gulf Coast on Friday amid a cyber attack that shut the Colonial pipeline, the biggest US fuel pipeline.

Besides, earlier this week, Marathon Petroleum, the largest US refiner, said it could meet its supply commitments but was working to find alternative ways to ship motor fuels to the eastern United States if the Colonial Pipeline shutdown is extended.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

Marathon board agrees to convert Martinez refinery to renewable diesel facility

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said its board had approved the conversion of the Martinez refinery in California to a renewable diesel plant, reported Reuters.

Besides, the company made a final investment decision regarding this project.

Martinez, once complete, will be one of the largest renewables facilities in the country.

As MRC wrote before, most units were shut on Sunday night and Monday morning (15-16 February) at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 585,000 barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, as temperatures plunged due to a Arctic cold front reaching the Gulf Coast. They resumed operations in the first half of March.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation's largest refining system. MPC's marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets.
MRC

PTTGC increased output and sales volume in Q1

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical swung into a net profit in the first quarter of 2021 on higher product prices, increased output and sales volume, said the company.

Improved economic conditions and fewer plant turnarounds in the March quarter, compared with the same period last year, resulted in increased sales volume, the company said. First-quarter polyethylene (PE) average prices jumped 45% year on year, it said.

For the whole of 2021, the olefin plant utilization rate is projected at around 93% due to a planned 39-day turnaround at its olefins plant 3 from late Q3, while polymers plants’ utilization rate is expected to be around 105%, PTTGC said.

For aromatics, the company expects the 2021 utilization rate to be 102%, even as product spreads will remain under pressure from oversupply, it said. It expects the paraxylene-naphtha spread to be USD230-260/tonne in the second half of 2021.

“The expected demand from downstream business such as fiber and filaments industries, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and PET bottle resin are expected to gradually recover as new PTA plants started up in this year,” it said.

The price spread of benzene over naphtha is expected to be at $190-250/tonne in the second half of the year, PTTGC said, “while the demand for downstream products such as styrene monomer (SM) is expected to recover from new production, as well as phenol”.

As per MRC, TT Global Chemical (PTTGC), a subsidiary of leading Asian petrochemical company PTT, halted production at cracking units 1 and 4 in Map Ta Phut, Thailand on April 14 due to a power outage. It is expected that these enterprises No. 1 and 4 with a capacity of 461,000 and 515,000 tonnes of ethylene per year, respectively, will return to work in about one week.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) was founded on October 19, 2011 following the merger of PTT Chemical Company and PTT Aromatics and Refining Company to become the flagship of the PTT chemical group. As a result of the integration, the company's total capacity for the production of olefins and aromatics reached 8.2 million tons per year, and oil products - 280 thousand barrels per day, which makes it the largest integrated petrochemical and refining company not only in Thailand, but also in Asia.
MRC

Fuel shortages become more acute on sixth day of top US fuel pipeline shutdown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fuel shortages worsened in the southeastern United States on Wednesday, as the shutdown of the largest US fuel pipeline network entered its sixth day and gasoline stations ran out of supply in some cities, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline last week halted 2.5 million barrels per day of fuel shipments in the most disruptive cyberattack on US energy infrastructure. The pipeline stretches 5,500 miles (8,850 km) from US Gulf Coast oil refineries to consumers in Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states.

In Washington, D.C., top Biden administration officials met to discuss the incident and were considering ways to alleviate gasoline supply shortages, the White House said. Congressional committee members have asked that a White House interagency task force provide a formal briefing to discuss the federal response to the cyberattack.

Privately owned Colonial Pipeline manually opened portions of the line to release needed supplies in Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey and the Carolinas. It has accepted 2 million barrels of fuel to begin a restart that would "substantially" restore operations by week's end, the company said.

Gulf Coast refiners that rely on the Colonial Pipeline to move fuel to market have cut processing. Total SE trimmed gasoline production at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, and Citgo Petroleum pared back at its Lake Charles, Louisiana, plant.

Citgo said it was moving products from its Lake Charles refinery and "exploring alternate supply methods into other impacted markets." Marathon Petroleum, another large refiner, said it was "making adjustments" to its operations due to the pipeline shutdown.

We remind that Marathon Petroleum, the largest US refiner, can meet its supply commitments for now but is working to find alternative ways to ship motor fuels to the eastern United States if the Colonial Pipeline shutdown is extended.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

Oxy Petroleum reports narrower loss, best quarterly free cash flow

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum post-market after reporting a smaller than forecast adjusted Q1 loss and a lighter than expected decline in revenues, helped by higher crude oil prices and improved fuel demand, said the company.

Pre-tax income rose from the fourth quarter because of higher pricing in most of the segment's product lines, the company said. The rise was partially offset by the disruptions caused by winter storm Uri in February.

OxyChem had temporarily shut down production because of the polar storm. Uri also disrupted sales and caused prices to raise for the company's raw materials, mainly ethylene and power. OxyChem did not provide commentary on its year-on-year performance.

The segment's pre-tax income of USD251m exceed the company's guidance of USD225m.

As per MRC, OxyChem, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), a major international petrochemicals manufacturer, plans to resume caustic soda, chlorine production in Convent, Louisiana, USA on May 3. OxyChem in the United States is reopening its 350,000 tonnes of chlorine and 392,000 tonnes of caustic soda plant in Convention, Louisiana after a year of downtime. The plant was closed for commercial reasons in the second quarter of 2020. According to market sources, due to the increased supply of chlorine, it is being restarted.

Earlier it was noted that the March production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) amounted to 118 thousand tons (100% of the main substance) against 98.4 thousand tons a month earlier. In the first three months of the year, the total production of caustic soda amounted to 329.4 thousand tons, which is 0.7% less than the same indicator of the previous year.

OxyChem makes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and caustic soda. OxyChem is part of the US-based oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum.
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