August crude oil processing of Indian refiners down to its lowest in 10 months

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners' crude oil throughput in August dipped to its lowest in 10 months due to ongoing maintenance activities at multiple refineries, reported Reuters with reference to government data.

Refiners processed 4.36 million barrels per day (18.44 million tons) of crude oil last month, the lowest since October 2020 and about 4.8% lower than 4.58 million bpd processed in July.

Maintenance activities at some facilities limited production in August, Refinitiv analyst Ehsan Ul Haq said, adding that demand was likely to resume as the festival season approaches, provided cases of COVID-19 remain low.

On a year-on-year basis, however, refiners' crude oil throughput in August jumped about 14.2%, while crude oil production fell about 2.3% to 596,000 bpd (2.52 million tons), the data showed.

Indian refiners operated at an average rate of 86.89% of capacity in August, down from 91.34% of capacity in July, the government data showed.

India's top refiner, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), last month operated its directly owned plants at 82.83% capacity, as per the data.

Reliance, owner of the world's biggest refining complex, operated its plants at 88.22% capacity in August. Reliance's oil imports in August declined 11.8% from last year, preliminary tanker data from shipping and industry sources showed on Tuesday.

As MRC informed eearlier, India plans to force refineries and fertilizer plants to use some green hydrogen, junior oil minister Rameswar Teli said in late August, as Asia's third-largest economy strives to reduce carbon emissions.

We remind that IOC will build the nation's first 'green hydrogen' plant at its Mathura refinery, as it aims to prepare for a future catering to the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy.

We also remind that Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.
MRC

MOSCW (MRC) -- Henkel and Pregis recently joined forces to advance the development of sustainable protective packaging solutions that meet environmental goals and address future packaging requirements, said the company.

The recently rebranded Pregis EverTec lightweight, recyclable paper cushioned mailer, which is manufactured with EPIX® technology from Henkel Adhesive Technologies, was the first example of a shipping solution jointly developed to address the growth of ecommerce packaging.

Henkel’s EPIX technology enhances paper product functionality and improves performance while maintaining the sustainability and recyclability. The EverTec mailer, manufactured with EPIX, is a lightweight, durable package that can decrease material waste, as well as reduce reliance on corrugated boxes and improve distribution efficiency—all while providing consumers with a curbside recyclable option. To meet significant market demand, Pregis has opened several new U.S. manufacturing sites in 2021.

Pregis and Henkel share a commitment to sustainability that is a part of their operational and organizational philosophies as well as their product innovation strategies. To support their positions, both companies became signatories to the Climate Pledge whose goal is to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

“Because we work with brand owners and retailers every day, we know that they are looking for improved sustainable alternatives to ship their products through the parcel network direct to consumers. Listening closely to their needs, Pregis and Henkel have teamed up to bring advanced packaging technologies to the market in a way that no one else can. Pregis’ ability to scale this innovative solution in partnership with Henkel demonstrates our shared focus on creating a circular economy and eliminating unnecessary packaging waste,” said Tom Wetsch, chief innovation officer, Pregis.

Further, with consumers increasingly making purchasing decisions based on a brand’s sustainability profile, receiving e-commerce purchases in an EverTec mailer, will signal to them that they are getting packaging that is aligned with their environmental position.

"Seeing the rise in demand for ecommerce shipments, Henkel embarked on the development of a technology that would offer advanced functional and sustainable properties for paper. With a focus on recovery and reuse of cellulose-based protective packaging, our EPIX technology has become a critical component of the Pregis EverTec mailer,” said Tilo Quink, global head packaging solutions, Henkel.

Henkel and Pregis will continue to deliver new market-driven packaging that meets requirements for circularity. By working together, the companies aspire to accelerate sustainability commitments of their individual organizations as well as value chain partners and customers.

Henkel are also partnering with Borealis and plastics solutions company Borouge to develop flexible packaging solutions for detergents containing both virgin polyethylene (PE) and high amounts of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) in efforts to increase sustainability.

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.

Henkel operates in three business units, including laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's oil consumption is likely to peak around 2026 at about 16 million barrels per day and that of natural gas by around 2040, reported Reuters with reference to a top executive of Sinopec Corp.

Sinopec's oil peak forecast echoes a prediction by consultancy Rystad Energy in April that cited rapid adoption of electric vehicles as the main cause for global oil demand to peak over the next five years.

Oil will shift eventually to become a raw material for chemicals rather than fuel, Ma Yongsheng, Sinopec's acting chairman told a seminar in Beijing on Sept. 16 that was confirmed by a company representative on Sept. 17.

The top Asian oil refiner will "forcefully promote" green growth of its refining and petrochemical business and remove inefficient and energy-intensive capacities.

"We will accelerate the transition from oil to chemicals and boost production of high-end materials...and raise lower-carbon feedstocks to cut down the carbon footprint throughput the manufacturing cycle," said Ma.

The firm aims to have its average single refinery's crude processing capacity to reach 10 million tonnes per year, or 200,000 bpd, he added, without giving a comparative figure.

China's natural gas consumption is forecast to peak around 2040, when demand is estimated at 620 billion cubic meters, and it will become China's top fossil fuel resource around 2050, Ma said. China sees natural gas a key bridge fuel that is going to expand steadily in demand for the next two decades.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2021, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, the world's petrochemical major, launched the first phase of the Gulei refining complex in Zhangzhou city in China’s southeastern Fujian province. The refining complex, a 50:50 joint venture between Sinopec’s Fujian Petrochemical Company Ltd and Taiwan Xuteng Investment Company Ltd, invested 27.8 billion yuan (USD4.28 billion) in the first phase. That will result in an 800,000 tonnes per annum ethylene plant, a 600,000 tonnes per annum styrene unit and seven other downstream petrochemical units, Sinopec said.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune jointly with Reliance Industries Ltd and several other companies from Pune have achieved a breakthrough to manufacture useful moulded plastic components from COVID-19 PPE waste, said Economictimes.

The successful "pilot project has the potential to scale up and replicate throughout the country to convert PPE waste into useful and safe products," RIL said in a statement.

A pilot project converted the decontaminated PPE waste (mainly comprising PPE suits/overalls) into an easily processable and upcycled agglomerated form (pellets or granules). The polymer pellets can find usage in non-food applications, including high-performance automotive components.

A substantial increase in demand for single-use plastic items such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks and gloves has been witnessed since the pandemic.

Across India, more than 200 tonne of COVID-19 related waste was generated every day in May 2021. So far, this hazardous PPE waste is incinerated at central waste management (BMWM) facilities. Incineration is energy-intensive and leads to the release of harmful greenhouse gases.

As MRC informed earlier, Reliance Industries (RIL) has taken off-stream one of its polypropylene (PP) plants in Jamnagar, India for a scheduled maintenance. Thus, this unit with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons/year of PP was shut on 5 August 2021 and will remain idle for approximately one month. The local supply is expected to take a hit from the shutdown, especially when demand is recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak.

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.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its business in the Permian Basin, the biggest oilfield in the US, to rival ConocoPhillips for USD9.5bn in cash, reported Financial Times.

The Anglo-Dutch oil supermajor had pointed to the Permian as one of its core oil and gas-producing regions as recently as this year. But it is under intense pressure to accelerate a shift out of fossil fuels.

In May, a district court in the Netherlands ordered the company to slash its net carbon pollution by 45% compared with 2019 levels by 2030, prompting chief executive Ben van Beurden to say that Shell would hasten plans to reduce emissions.

Shell said last Monday that the deal would include roughly 225,000 net acres of land that produce 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Houston-based ConocoPhillips said it expected to produce about 200,000 b/d from the properties by next year.

Shell said it would use SD7bn of cash from the transaction to fund “additional shareholder distributions after closing” and the remainder to pay down debt. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets expected the sale would fund additional share buybacks. Shell’s shares rose more than 1.5% in after-hours trading last Monday.

The deal highlights the widening gap between Europe-based oil companies such as Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, which are attempting to pivot towards renewable energy and low-carbon electricity, and US peers that continue to bet on the future of oil and gas.

The US shale oil and gas industry, bedevilled for years by steep financial losses, is undergoing a period of rapid consolidation that has fuelled tens of billions of dollars in deals over the past year and a half.

Shell said that producing oil and gas would continue to play a “critical role” in its strategy providing “the energy the world needs today whilst funding shareholder distributions as well as the energy transition”.

Shell’s sale had been expected for several months, with a number of major shale producers having considered buying the assets. Some bankers had said that the company might struggle to find a buyer because Shell does not operate about half of the wells it owns, meaning other companies - foremost Occidental Petroleum - make operational decisions.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply 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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC