COVID-19 - News digest as of 27.08.2021

1. Phillips 66 to sell the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The fourth-largest US refiner Phillips 66 said it has put the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries up for sale amid continued losses and an uncertain future for motor fuels, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing. The company is holding talks with a potential buyer on the sale of its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to two people familiar with the matter. The identity of the potential buyer could not immediately be learned. US refiners have closed or sold oil processing plants as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for gasoline and jet fuel, generating losses for the industry.



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Crude climbs as dollar retreats ahead of US Federal Reserve meeting

Crude climbs as dollar retreats ahead of US Federal Reserve meeting

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures rose during morning trade in Asia Aug. 27 as investors sought to take advantage of lower prices following an overnight decline and the retreat of the dollar, reported S&P Global.

At 11:19 am Singapore time (0319 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was up 80 cents/b (1.11%) from the previous close at USD71.87/b while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract rose 68 cents/b (1%) to USD68.10/b.

"Prices are slightly higher as the DXY US Dollar index retreated," said Margaret Yang, DailyFX Strategist at IG on Aug. 27.

The dollar index traded at 93.03 at 11:19 am Singapore time, marking a 0.2% decline from the Aug. 26 close.

However, despite the rise in oil prices, uncertainties on whether the US Federal Reserve will taper its asset purchase program, mounting tension in the Middle East and rising COVID-19 cases continue to cloud market outlook.

"Even though the FDA's full approval of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech boosted inflation optimism, sending oil prices 10% higher this week, the rally appears to have run out of steam, as investors are eyeing the Jackson Hole symposium and mulling over rising COVID-19 cases in Japan and Australia," Yang added.

All eyes will be on the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium for clarity on the US Federal Reserve's position on the tapering of its asset purchase program. Most market watchers expect the Fed's Chairman Jerome Powell to adopt a more hawkish stance, announcing a tapering in September, a move likely to herald rising interest rates and a stronger dollar, which will in turn be bearish for energy prices.

Meanwhile, the OPEC+ alliance is set to hold its own meeting Sept. 1 to review policy, with some market sources expecting the group to hold off on easing supply in the wake of the recent resurgence in COVID-19.

As MRC informed previously, crude oil stockpiles fell modestly in early August, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand.

We remind that 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.
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PTTGC America delays final investment decision on new petchem complex in Ohio until new partner secured

PTTGC America delays final investment decision on new petchem complex in Ohio until new partner secured

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTTGC America's final investment decision on a new petrochemical complex in southeast Ohio remains on indefinite hold until the company secures a new partner in the project, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's email Aug. 25.

"PTTGCA is currently focused on securing a partner for the project," the email said. "Once there is a partner in place, the company will be in a position to reach FID."

In July 2020, the company announced it had struck a deal with Energy Storage Ventures to develop a USD250 million natural gas liquids storage and transportation facility for the proposed complex. The facility would be the first underground NGL storage site in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

Shortly before PTTGCA announced the storage deal, the company said that its former partner in the petrochemical complex, South Korea's Daelim, had withdrawn from the project. Daelim had signed on to the project in February 2018, and the companies had planned a final investment decision, or FID, by the end of that year. More recently, the company had aimed FID by early 2020, but COVID-19 related delays pushed that to early 2021 and then without a new target date until a partner is secured.

According to permitting documents, PTTGC's project includes a 1.5 million mt/year cracker, two 350,000 mt/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plants, a 450,000 mt/year HDPE plant and a 450,000 mt/year linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2021, PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC; Bangkok, Thailand) awarded Samsung Engineering a USD127-MM EPC contract to modify the Map Ta Phut olefins complex in Thailand. Samsung"s scope is to increase the throughput of propane for the production of propylene by building propane-propylene split and distillation towers and modify the current facilities. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

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

PVC imports to Russia up by 3% in Jan-Jul 2021, exports down by 12%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled 28,700 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 3% year on year. At the same time, exports decrease by 12%, according to MRC's DataScope report.


Last month's SPVC imports to Russia grew to 8,700 tonnes from 5,000 tonnes in June. Good seasonal demand and shutdowns for maintenance at two major Russian plants led to a surge in imports in July. Overall imports totalled 28,700 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, compared to 27,900 tonnes a year earlier, with resin from China accounting for the main increase in imports.

After a spike in May export sales, driven by high prices in foreign markets, exports of Russian SPVC decreased in the following months. 8,700 tonnes of PVC were exported in July versus 16,500 tonnes a month earlier. Overall exports totalled 117,900 tonnes in January-July 2021, compared to 133,600 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

NNPC turns a profit for first time in its 44-year history

NNPC turns a profit for first time in its 44-year history

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has made a profit for the first time in its 44-year history, generating an income of 287 billion naira (USD698 million) after tax in 2020, reported Reuters with reference to President Muhammadu Buhari's statement.

Buhari, who also holds the title of minister of petroleum resources, gave no explanation for the state company's swing to profit in 2020, a year when the economic shock caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic triggered a slump in the oil price.

"This development is consistent with this administration's commitment to ensuring prudent management of resources and maximisation of value for the Nigerian people from their natural resources," Buhari said in a statement.

NNPC, which operates joint production ventures with Western oil majors and is also involved in refining and marketing petroleum products, made losses of 803 billion naira in 2018 and 1.7 billion naira in 2019 but has otherwise released few details of its finances for most of its history.

Anti-corruption campaigners have long been asking for NNPC to be more transparent, and last year it published audited 2019 accounts of 20 of its subsidiaries in what it said was a historical first.

As MRC wrote before, earlier this month, Nigeria gave its state oil firm the green light to acquire a 20% stake in Dangote's oil refinery for USD2.76 billion, reported. The 650,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery, owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, is under construction in Lagos, the biggest city in the most fuel-consuming nation in the region. The refinery is scheduled for commissioning by January.

We remind that loadings of Nigeria's key crude grade Forcados are on force majeure due to some operational issues at the export terminal, according to Shell's statement Aug. 16. Force majeure was declared effective Aug. 13 due to "the curtailment of production and suspension of export operations as a result of some sheen noticed on the water around the loading buoy," Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. said in a statement.

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