BHP and Woodside remain focused on Sangomar project in Senegal

BHP and Woodside remain focused on Sangomar project in Senegal

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shares in Woodside Petroleum fell after an unsourced media report said Australia's top independent gas producer was in talks to buy some or all of BHP Group's oil and gas assets, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Woodside shares ended down 2 cents in a broader market that rose 0.8% and while BHP rose 1.3%. The report in The Australian's Data Room column followed a Bloomberg report which said that mining group BHP was considering selling its oil and gas business, which includes assets off Australia and Trinidad and Tobago and in the Gulf of Mexico.

BHP and Woodside declined to comment on what both companies called "market speculation". "We remain focused on the continued safe execution of our Sangomar project in Senegal and achieving our targeted final investment decision on the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 developments in Western Australia," a Woodside spokesperson said in an emailed comment.

Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic said there would only be a limited pool of buyers for BHP's Australian assets, partly because they include ageing assets which face hefty decommissioning costs within the next 10 years. He also said Woodside would be a "lead candidate" to buy BHP's Australian petroleum assets as Woodside already has stakes in two of them - the North West Shelf LNG project and the Scarborough gas field.

BHP Chief Executive Mike Henry said as recently as March that BHP sees "attractive value and returns to be generated for shareholders for the next decade" from oil and gas, but would sell off more mature assets.

As per MRC, BP acquired US shale assets from BHP Billiton for USD10.5 billion in the largest deal since the 1999 acquisition of Atlantic Richfield oil company. British oil and gas company BP bought US shale assets owned by mining company BHP Billiton.

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

Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical ethylene plant reaches performance guarantees

Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical ethylene plant reaches performance guarantees

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip Energies announced that the Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s 1,000 kta ethylene plant reached performance guarantees. Technip Energies provided the proprietary technology and process design for the liquid ethylene plant in Panjin, Liaoning Province, China, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Bora facility utilizes Technip Energies’ Ultra Selective Conversion (USC®) U-coil and Wcoil ethylene technology, which combined produce high energy efficiency and high yields, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions. It ranks in the first quartile of comparable crackers for having the lowest CO2 production per relative amount of high value chemical production.

The plant successfully started up in the middle of 2020 to reach its designed capacity shortly after the start-up and performance guarantee were met. By passing all performance guarantees, it is meeting the feed and raw material consumption, production rate and product specifications and the specific energy consumption intended. Known as one of the larger liquid ethylene crackers in China, the plant was completed and started up in 39 months from commencement of the process design package, and produced on-spec product within 42 hours after the feed-in. The plant was accepted in June.

As MRC informed earlier, some downstream plants at the Panjin complex also started up on the same day as the Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical' ethylene cracker - in early August, 2020. They include a 350,000 mtyear high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit, a 450,000 mtyear linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/HDPE swing plant and a 350,000 mtyear styrene monomer (SM) plant.

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.

Bora is one of more than 40 independent Chinese refiners that have grown rapidly since late 2015 to account for a fifth of China’s total crude oil imports.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Crude oil rises over 4% despite higher US inventories

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

KABRA Extrusiontechnik has developed economical tubular film blowing lines

KABRA Extrusiontechnik has developed economical tubular film blowing lines

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

Pinnacle to build natural gas processing plant in Texas

Pinnacle to build natural gas processing plant  in Texas

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