Crude oil rises over 4% despite higher US inventories

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose more than 4% Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session as improved risk appetite provided support despite data showing an unexpected rise in US oil inventories, reported Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose USD2.88, or 4.2%, to settle at USD72.23 a barrel. U. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose USD3.1, or 4.6%, to settle at USD70.30 a barrel.

Futures are rebounding after dropping around 7% on Monday, following a deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+, to boost supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August through December.

The sell-off was exacerbated by fears that a rise in cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in major markets like the United States, Britain and Japan would affect demand.

“Overall the OPEC agreement has crystallized what the market should expect as to the restoration of production,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. “However, even according to OPEC+ numbers, it’s not enough to stem the overall world oil inventory decline, and to me, that is giving support to the market.”

The price gains on Wednesday come despite a rise in US crude stockpiles for the first time since May. Crude inventories rose unexpectedly by 2.1 million barrels last week to 439.7 million barrels, US Energy Information Administration data showed. Analysts had expected a 4.5 million-barrel drop.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, will supply full contractual volumes of August-loading crude to at least five Asian customers. However, Saudi Aramco has turned down two of the buyers' requests for extra barrels.

We remind that Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), said in June he expects the company's deal with Saudi Aramco to materialise this year. Meanwhile, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Saudi Aramco and the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, joined the board of Reliance as an independent director.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KABRA Extrusiontechnik has developed economical tubular film blowing lines, said the company.

In Russia, the Kabra Extrusiontechnik company is officially represented by the Scientific Company (St. Petersburg), whose engineers will help to select the equipment and recommend a technical solution to the buyer exactly his task.

KABRA Extrusiontechnik (KET, India) is one of the largest manufacturers of extrusion equipment for the production of plastic pipes and films from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) with more than 50 years of experience. Possessing high engineering qualifications and relying on the wishes of customers, the company successfully develops new technical and technological solutions.

One of the latest developments of the company is a cluster blowing line for the production of a single layer film, which consists of several extruders, blowing systems and from 2 to 10 winders combined into a single mechanism, fully synchronized and controlled from a single control panel.

It is noted that due to such a layout, it became possible to significantly save space for the location of production, make management easier and cheaper, and also produce a larger amount of finished products in a minimum time.

Elements of such a cluster line can be freely removed or added during operation, which allows for efficient and easy management of production facilities, quickly expanding them as needed, which provides a faster return on investment.

As per MRC, India has closed its investigation into the import of suspended polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from Japan at the request of local players. Local producers DCW Ltd, DCM Shriram Ltd and Chemplast Cuddalore Vinyls Ltd have requested that the investigation be closed due to "changes in the market situation," the DGTR said in a July 8 notice.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, the Russian PVC market remains unchanged, a serious shortage of resin remains, and prices have reached another record high. By Monday, the Bashkir Soda Company and Sayanskkhimplast stopped their production for routine maintenance.

Kabra Extrusiontechnik (KET) is a part of renowned Kolsite Group. With over 5 decades’ experience, more than 14,300 installations and presence in more than 91 countries in Americas, Middle East, Asia and Africa, KET enjoys leadership position in the extrusion market.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pinnacle Midstream plans to build a 200 million cubic feet/day (5.66 million cubic metres/day) natural gas processing plant in the Midland Basin in west Texas, said the company.

The Dos Picos Plant, located in Midland County, will complement Pinnacle’s existing high pressure, large diameter gathering and compression facilities that commenced operations during the first quarter of 2021. The project will provide access to the most competitive downstream markets, maximize netback and optionality for Pinnacle’s customers, and be equipped with an integrated Nitrogen Rejection Unit (“NRU”). The system will be readily expandable based upon continued customer demand.

Pinnacle remains committed to its environmental stewardship, prioritizing the responsible use and protection of the natural environment surrounding the Company’s assets. A supporting initiative is the Company’s ongoing evaluation to develop a fully integrated solar facility adjacent to the Dos Picos Plant to supplement electrical power needs with renewable energy to reduce the carbon intensity of the system. This low-impact solution should reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions for Pinnacle as well as indirect (Scope 2) emissions for its growing customer base. Furthermore, Pinnacle intends to deploy low-impact energy sources where applicable across its asset portfolio. The Dos Picos project itself will play a pivotal role in continuing to reduce the flare intensities across the Permian Basin and further aid in the reduction of our customers’ overall carbon footprints.

As per MRC, American Pinnacle Polymers, one of the main producers of polypropylene (PP) in the US, announced an increase in August prices for all grades of polypropylene (PP) in the US market. Thus, an increase in PP prices in the amount of 5 cents per pound or USD110 per ton will take effect on August 1, 2021 or under the terms of current contracts.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Pinnacle Midstream II, LLC is an independent midstream energy company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The Company is focused on providing high-quality natural gas services to producer customers throughout the Midland Basin.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industrial and specialty intermediates manufacturer SRF Ltd. (New Delhi, India) said that a major part of the BOPP film line in Thailand was commissioned and capitalized on 19 July 2021, reported Business Standard.

On 4 November 2019, the board of SRF approved setting-up BOPP (Biaxially Oriented PolyPropylene Films) film line in Thailand by the company's wholly owned subsidiary, SRF Industries (Thailand).

The cost of commissioning the project is approximately USD50.51 million.

As MRC wrote before, in August, 2020, SRF Ltd. announced the establishment of a biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) plant at Jaszfenyszaru, Hungary. The BOPET plant will be built with an investment of EUR80 million (USD94 million). The facility entails a 10.4 m wide BOPET film line, with a production capacity of 40,000 metric tons/year.

SRF operates production sites in India, South Africa, and Thailand. Earlier in August, 2020, the company announced its plans to build a chloromethanes plant in India. The plant will have a production capacity of 100,000 metric tons/year and is due to be completed by January 2022. It is being built at a cost of 3.15 Indian billion rupees (USD42 million).

SRF is a chemical based multi-business conglomerate engaged in the manufacturing of industrial and specialty intermediates. The company reported 96% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 381 crore on 40% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 2,608 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The merger of assets of SIBUR and TAIF will make it possible to enter the five largest companies in the world, said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Board of SIBUR Holding PJSC in an interview with Realnoe Vremya.

On April 23, the companies signed their intentions to conduct the deal. Shortly before that - on April 11 - the basic conditions were signed. And before that, for about half a year, TAIF and SIBUR worked in the mode of very frequent meetings and discussions of these basic conditions.

One of the key terms of the deal: implementation of TAIF investment projects. The adopted large-scale development plan of TAIF Group for the period 2015-2030, has 36 projects and is estimated at more than 2.2 trillion rubles, of which 1.5 trillion rubles fall within the perimeter of the transaction of the merged companies SIBUR and TAIF.

"The duty of SIBUR, as a member of the merged company, is to continue the projects, the implementation of which is already underway. We are clearly interested in the s of their implementation being completed and the production facilities being commissioned. Moreover, I think that implementation of these projects is one of the strong growth opportunities for the merged company ", D. Konov notes.

"The second part of SIBUR's responsibilities is to provide the missing financing for the implementation of investment projects of TAIF, which remains an independent legal entity within the framework of the transaction. As for investment projects that have not yet started, we also plan them. But since they need to start only after a few years, together we will check how much the market will change by that time, whether there are any raw material contracts, if raw materials are to be supplied by third parties, we will update the capital cost estimate, "he said.

It is necessary to discuss each of them in more detail with the leadership of TAIF, to make sure that they fully meet the criteria we jointly defined. And, if they are convinced of the feasibility and economic efficiency of the project, they will implement it. It is quite possible that given the fact that the merged company has more opportunities, they can be implemented in a shorter time frame.

SIBUR's interest is in joint efforts with TAIF to grow a petrochemical company of an international level and a global scale. Those products that will be produced at the jointly created facilities are a powerful tool for strengthening these positions. We are not yet discussing the expansion of the joint investment program.

For both of our companies, a fairly large synergy lies in improving efficiency. This is both a more efficient distribution of semi-products and raw material streams, and an optimal organization of production processes. For example, to provide the market with the necessary products.

There are a lot of such operational things that allow you to optimize processes. This applies to raw materials, and the distribution of semi-finished products, and the organization of the technological process, and production planning, and the organization of logistics in order to better provide customers with the necessary products. There are many synergies.

"There is also another synergy that is little talked about, but which is quite close to me. TAIF and I have different types of production sites. Nizhnekamsk site is quite closely integrated with oil refining. ZapSibNeftekhim is the entire Tobolsk cluster, which is more focused for light raw materials and is represented by larger installations. And there are products that we, as SIBUR, for example, can and would like to enter and start their production, but with much greater efficiency they can be produced at the TAIF site. that the production facilities have different raw materials and different infrastructure sites.The range of products that can be made on the basis of oil refining is wider than the potential range of chemistry based on gas processing. Such a correct, optimal distribution, including future projects, between a large set of production sites within the perimeter of one companies are also synergy. I am talking about the possibility of realizing more her effective projects in the right place and conditions for them. This is another of the important reasons why we are interested in TAIF's investment plan. "

Earlier it was reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) satisfied the petition of SIBUR, the largest petrochemical holding in Russia and Eastern Europe, to acquire 100% of the voting shares of TAIF holding.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC