China resumes storing crude oil inventories in August

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China resumed adding crude oil to inventories in August after four consecutive months of draws, but this was a reflection of weak refinery processing rather than a bullish demand signal, reported Reuters.

The world's biggest oil importer added about 760,000 barrels per day (bpd) to stockpiles in August, according to calculations based on official data for crude imports, domestic output and refinery throughput.

This partially reverses inventories draws in the prior four months, with about 223,700 bpd leaving in July, about 980,000 bpd in June, 589,000 bpd in May and 280,000 bpd in April.

China doesn't disclose the volumes of crude flowing into or out of strategic and commercial stockpiles. But an estimate can be made by deducting the total amount of crude available from imports and domestic output from the amount of crude processed.

Refinery throughput in August was the equivalent of 13.74 million bpd, the lowest since May 2020, at the height of the economic lockdowns imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. read more

August's refinery processing was down 2.2% from the same month last year, and 1.2% lower than July's already soft 13.91 million bpd. The total volume of crude available in August was 14.5 million bpd, comprising imports of 10.49 million bpd and domestic output of 4.01 million bpd.

For the first eight months of the year, China appears to have added 270,000 bpd to inventories, including to both commercial stockpiles and the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). This is a far cry from 1.26 million bpd added to inventories over the whole of 2020, when China snapped up massive volumes of crude after the coronavirus pandemic and a brief price war between top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia sent benchmark Brent futures to the lowest in two decades.

Brent prices have since recovered amid output restrictions by OPEC+, a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers such as Russia. Brent futures have surged 372% from a 2020 low of USD15.98 a barrel to end at USD75.46 on Wednesday. But the price rally is a story of producer discipline and recovery in demand in Europe and North America, with China, and indeed much of Asia, sitting on the sidelines amid coronavirus outbreaks and economic disruption.

China's crude imports are down 5.7% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2020, and this soft trend may continue in coming months.

China has made a major shift in policy as well, announcing its first-ever public sale of crude from its SPR, with around 7.38 million barrels to be auctioned on Sept. 24. The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration last week said it would release oil reserves to the market in phases to help stabilise prices.

As MRC informed before, China's July daily crude throughput fell to the lowest since May 2020 as independent plants slashed production amid a tighter quotas, high inventories and weakening profits. July processing volumes were 59.06 million tonnes, or 13.9 million barrels per day (bpd), 0.9% below the same month of 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). That was the first year-on-year decline since March last year when coronavirus hammered Chinese fuel demand, and the July level was down 6% from off June's record at 14.8 million bpd.

And China's crude oil imports rebounded in July from a six-month low as state-backed refiners ramped up output after returning from maintenance, though independent refineries slowed restocking amid probes by Beijing into trading and taxes.

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) -- Dutch specialty chemicals maker DSM plans to sell its materials division, which some analysts suggested could sell for around USD5.7 billion, as its focuses purely on producing sustainable food and health products, reported Reuters.

Based in the southern Dutch town of Heerlen, DSM’s products range from vitamins, baby formula and animal food to specialized materials such as plastics which are used in construction, clothes and automobiles.

Although a spin-off of its materials division had been anticipated by analysts for years, the present confirmation of the move lifted DSM shares 3% in Amsterdam, making them the strongest gainer in the blue chip AEX-index.

“DSM is on its way to (finally) become a focused health, nutrition and bioscience group”, KBC Securities analysts wrote.

KBC predicted a EUR4.8 billion (USD5.7 billion) selling price for the materials unit, after the EUR1.6 billion sale last year of DSM’s resins and functional materials businesses to Germany’s Covestro.

That sale cut revenues of the remaining materials unit, which makes engineering and protective materials, to just under EUR1 billion in the first half of 2021, with an adjusted EBITDA of EUR232 million. DSM reported total sales of EUR4.5 billion over the first six months of the year, as core earnings hit EUR925 million.

As MRC reported earlier, in April 2021, DSM said it had completed the sale of the resins & functional materials businesses to Covestro for EUR1.6 billion (USD1.9 billion), including EUR1.4 billion in cash. It included DSM Niaga, DSM additive manufacturing, and the coatings activities of the DSM advanced solar business, which together represented EUR1.01 billion of DSM’s 2019 total annual net sales and EUR133 million of DSM’s 2019 total EBITDA.

We remind that Covestro closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall estimated consumption of PC granules in the Russian market were almost 56,000 tonnes in January-July 2021, down by 3% year on year (58,000 tonnes).

Royal DSM, commonly known as DSM, is a Dutch multinational corporation active in the fields of health, nutrition and materials. The Materials cluster is made up of DSM Engineering Materials, DSM Protective Materials and DSM Resins & Functional Materials. DSM Engineering Materials’ specialty plastics are used in components for the electrical and electronics, automotive, flexible food packaging and consumer goods industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft Oil Company and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on carbon management, said the company.

The document is signed to continue the cooperation between the Company and METI within the framework of the Joint Coordinating Committee and provides for the development of the parties’ interaction to implement lower-carbon projects with the participation of Rosneft and Japanese companies, as well as the exchange of experience and technological solutions in promising areas.

In particular, the parties plan to assess the new lower-carbon technologies potential aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve the energy efficiency of businesses, including drilling and oilfield services.

Rosneft and METI will consider the prospects of new projects involving the use of carbon capture, utilisation and storage, the turnover of compensatory carbon quotas and the development of advanced types of fuel, including hydrogen and ammonia.

The parties have a successful experience of cooperation. During the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in 2019, a memorandum was signed on the establishment of the Joint Coordination Committee to develop strategic cooperation in the energy sector and implement new joint projects. The first meeting of the Committee was held on 23 January 2020.

Rosneft has been developing cooperation with Japan’s partners for many years. The Company is a Sakhalin-1 partner together with a pool of foreign companies, including Japan’s SODECO. The Government of Japan, JAPEX, ITOCHU Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, INPEX CORPORATION are the shareholders of SODECO. Furthermore, Rosneft supplies crude oil and petroleum products to Japan annually.

Rosneft planned to build an oil refining and petrochemical complex in the Primorsky Territory in two stages - oil refining with a capacity of 12 m tonnes per year and petrochemicals with a capacity of 3.4 m tonnes per year.

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.

Rosneft is recognised as the leading Russian oil and gas producer in a number of international ESG ratings, including Refinitiv and Bloomberg. In April 2021, the international agency Sustainalytics twice improved the Company’s position in its rating. With a score of 33.9, Rosneft became the best among Russian oil and gas companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marathon Petroleum Corp, the largest US refiner, on Monday said its 363,000-bpd Los Angeles, California refinery experienced a power loss after an earthquake struck the region, reported Reuters.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit Los Angeles around 8 p.m. Pacific time on Friday (0300 GMT on Saturday), the United States Geological Survey said.

Marathon earlier reported flaring due to the quake, in a filing with a state pollution regulator.

The incident did not result in any injuries or off-site impact, a report with the Los Angeles Times news website quoted a company spokesman as saying.

The company didn't provide any further details about production or impact to operations.

As MRC informed earlier, in May, 2021, US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said its board had approved the conversion of the Martinez refinery in California to a renewable diesel plant. 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.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report,

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian energy group Eni and Mubadala Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at identifying cooperation opportunities in the energy transition sector, including the fields of hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage, that align with their respective decarbonization targets, reported Reuters.

The scope of the cooperation covers potential joint opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa, South East Asia, Europe and other regions of mutual interest.

This agreement marks a further tangible step in line with Eni's commitment towards carbon neutrality by 2050, promoting cooperation between different players in the sector and consolidating alliances for sustainable development aimed at tackling the energy transition challenges together.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, said: “The agreement signed with Mubadala Petroleum, represents another step towards a low carbon emission future. Eni will leverage all its proprietary technologies, focused on energy transition. We will work with a strategic partner like Mubadala Petroleum to find ways of reaching common decarbonization targets worldwide.”

Eni decarbonization path envisages a Net Zero Carbon Footprint for Scope 1 and 2 emissions from upstream activities by 2030 and from all Group activities by 2040. This is aiming to accomplish the net-zero target on GHG Lifecycle emissions Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2050 with full decarbonization of products and operations. This will be achieved through bio-refining, circular economy, efficiency and digital solutions, increased renewables capacity, blue and green hydrogen, carbon capture, utilization and storage projects and REDD+ initiatives.

Recent initiatives include CO2 capture and storage projects in the UK, delivering carbon-neutral LNG cargos, enhancing electric charging services in Europe, new solar power capacity in Spain and France, and renewable energy projects in countries of operations such as Norway, Kazakhstan, Angola, and other.

As MRC wrote previously, Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2050.

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.

Eni, abbreviation of Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, in full Eni SpA, Italian energy company operating primarily in petroleum, natural gas, and petrochemicals. Established in 1953, it is one of Europe's largest oil companies in terms of sales.
MRC