Intense blaze at Pemex largest refinery was quickly put out

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An intense blaze at Mexican national oil company Pemex's largest refinery was quickly put out, reported Reuters with reference to a company official, but it remained unclear what sparked the fire.

Local and social media had published images of bright orange flames burning near the facility's distillation towers from early on Saturday.

The Pemex official, who requested anonymity in line with the company's communications policy, told Reuters the early Saturday morning blaze was extinguished in just 15 minutes.

"It didn't stop operations and nobody was injured," the official said, but did not provide further information on what caused the fire.

The Salina Cruz refinery, on the coast of southern Oaxaca state, can process up to 330,000 barrels of crude oil per day and is a key Pemex trading and logistical hub along Mexico's Pacific coast.

As MRC wrote before, a major fire broke out at an oil refinery run by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the eastern city of Minatitlan in the southern state of Veracruz earlier this year. The blaze started at this refinery, one of six operated by Pemex, which has a capacity of up to 285,000 barrels per day, on Wednesday afternoon, 7 April, 2021.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) partnered with Fertiglobe for the sale of blue ammonia to Idemitsu in Japan, for use in its refining and petrochemicals operations, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The sale builds upon recently announced joint efforts to enhance industrial cooperation between the UAE and Japan and support the development of new UAE-Japan blue ammonia supply chains and follows the first sale of UAE blue ammonia cargos to Itochu.

Fertiglobe, a 58:42 partnership between OCI and ADNOC, will produce blue ammonia at its Fertil plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi for delivery to ADNOC’s customers in Japan. The shipment, which was sold at an attractive premium to grey ammonia, underscores the favorable economics for blue ammonia as an emerging source of low-carbon energy. It represents a further production milestone of a planned scale-up of blue ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to include a low-cost debottlenecking program at Fertil.

In addition, it was announced in June that Fertiglobe will join ADNOC and ADQ as a partner in a new world-scale 1 million metric tons per annum blue ammonia project at TA’ZIZ in Ruwais, subject to regulatory approvals.

Ammonia can be used as a low-carbon fuel across a wide range of industrial applications, including transportation, power generation, refining and industries including steel, wastewater treatment, cement and fertilizer production.

For Japan, in particular, hydrogen and its carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, are expected to play an important role in the country’s ongoing industrial decarbonization efforts. Idemitsu will use the cargo to pilot the use of blue ammonia to decarbonize its refinery operations.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, Indian refining giant Reliance Industries has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to build a multi-billion-dollar chemical project in Ruwais, marking the group’s first investment in a greenfield overseas project.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq plans to increase oil production to eight million barrels per day (BPD) by the end of 2027, reported Reuters with reference to Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar's statement to the Iraqi news agency (INA).

The oil ministry's spokesman, Assem Jihad, also told INA that oil-producing countries reconsidered their plans because of the challenges facing the oil market.

"The increases have become calculated according to the variables and developments of the oil market, and that it is not possible to predict what the oil market will be like," Jihad said.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , the country's top refiner, has loaded its first cargo of Iraq's newly introduced Basra Medium crude grade. IOC loaded the cargo onto Minerva Kalypso, a suezmax-sized vessel, which left Iraq's southern port of Basra on Jan. 4, 2021. The ship was expected to arrive at Chennai port in southeastern India for IOC's subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL) around Jan. 14.

We remind that IOC is expanding its petrochemical capacity by more than 70% from its current 3.2 million tonnes a year. It is also new technologies that reduce the cost of the producrion of petrochemicals. The project will add a 500,000 metric tons/year of polypropylene (PP) unit as well as a 235,000 metric tons/year lube oil base stock plant.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US agribusiness giant Cargill Inc and Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical Pcl announced they will build a biopolymer production facility at a cost of more than USD600 million in Thailand, reported Reuters.

The plant will be built through their joint venture, NatureWorks, and will help meet increasing demand for sustainable materials, PTTGC said in a statement.

The manufacturing complex will use about 110,000 tonnes of sugar annually from Thai farmers as a raw material and have an annual biopolymer capacity of 75,000 tonnes. Its products can be used to make hygiene masks, wiping cloths and food packaging.

The new plant is due to begin operations in 2024.

The investment comes less than a month after PTTGC announced a USD4.75 billion acquisition of German coating resins maker Allnex.

As MRC wrote previously, PTTGC abruptly shut down three crackers at its petrochemical complex in Map Ta Phut on 14 April 2021 after a thunderstorm caused a power outage. No. 1 and 4 crackers and the recently launched No. 5 cracker on the site were off-line for around one week. The production capacities of No. 1 and 4 crackers are 461,000 and 515,000 mt/year of ethylene, whereas the new cracker can produce 500,000 mt/year of ethylene and 260,000 mt/year of propylene.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd, reported Reuters.

Oil prices have rebounded from the historic lows seen last year, prompting some US producers to boost drilling activity. The total US rig count has more than doubled since falling to a record low in August last year.

The EIA said it expects production to be relatively flat through October before beginning to rise in November and December and throughout 2022.

For 2022, US crude production is expected to average about 11.8 million bpd, a rise of 650,000 bpd, smaller than the previous forecast for a rise of 750,000 bpd.

Output hit an all-time annual high of 12.3 million bpd in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic crushed demand and prices.

The agency said it expects US petroleum and other liquid fuel consumption to rise 1.58 million bpd to 19.70 million bpd in 2021, compared with a previous forecast for a rise of 1.52 million bpd.

US gasoline consumption averaged 8.6 million bpd in the first half of 2021, up from 8.3 million bpd in the second half of 2020 but below the 9.3 million bpd in the second half of 2019, EIA said.

"Our latest estimates show that gasoline consumption in May through July was higher than we had previously expected. Growth in employment and increasing mobility have led to rising gasoline consumption so far in 2021," the agency said.

Globally, consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels is forecast to average 97.6 million bpd for all of 2021, a 5.3 million bpd increase from 2020. The EIA forecast that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels will increase by 3.6 million bpd in 2022 to average 101.2 million bpd.

As MRC informed earlier, BP raised Aug. 3 its 2025 oil price assumption by USD5/b to USD60/b to reflect an expected supply constraint, while promising a recovery in its own production volumes following a maintenance-related slump in the second quarter.

We remind that BP and Lukoil want to quit their Iraqi energy projects due to the current investment environment, the country's oil minister said earlier this month, as OPEC's second biggest producer faces an exodus of international oil companies that want to exit unattractive contracts. Lukoil wants to sell its stake in West Qurna 2 to Chinese companies.
MRC