Pertamina to restart its PP plant in Indonesia after scheduled turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's PT Pertamina is in plans to resume operations at its sole polypropylene (PP) plant in Plaju, South Sumatera this week after a scheduled maintenance, according to CommoPlast.

The outage at the company's 47,000 mt/year of PP plant began on 16 September and was to last for about 17 days. Thus, this plant was initially scheduled to resume operations on 3 October, 2021.

As MRC informed before, Pertamina was forced to take its PP unit in West Java off-line on 26 June, 2020, following an unspecified technical glitch at the upstream RFCC unit that cause a disruption of the propylene feeds. The PP plant was brought back on-line on 7-8 July, 2020. The RFCC unit produces 45,000 tons of propylene annually, while the PP plant has a capacity of 45,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

1. US Government asks oil-and-gas companies to help lower fuel costs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The White House has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers in recent days about helping to bring down rising fuel costs, according to two sources familiar with the matter, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. Energy costs are rising worldwide, in some cases leading to shortages in major economies like China and India. In the United States, the average retail cost of a gallon of gas is at a seven-year high, and winter fuel costs are expected to surge, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Oil-and-gas production remains below the nation's peak reached in 2019.




MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were higher in mid-morning trade in Asia Oct. 15 as bullish US inventory data and requirements for the upcoming winter continued to support the demand outlook, reported S&P Global.

At 10:25 am Singapore time (0225 GMT), the ICE December Brent futures contract was up 49 cents/b (0.58%) from the previous close at USD84.49/b, while the NYMEX November light sweet crude contract was 42 cents/b (0.52%) higher at USD81.73/b.

"Crude oil gained amid signs of ongoing tightness in the market. US inventories at Cushing, the pricing hub for WTI, has also recorded the biggest fall since June," ANZ research analysts said in a note Oct 15, adding that the US Energy Information Administration expects shortages of natural gas to boost demand for crude oil by 500,000 b/d over the next six months.

Crude Inventories at NYMEX delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma fell almost 2 million barrels to 33.55 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 8, the lowest since October 2018 and nearly 35% behind the five-year average, latest EIA data showed.

The EIA data showed that total US commercial crude inventories climbed 6.09 million barrels to 426.98 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 8, narrowing the inventory deficit to the five-year average to 6.2% from 7% the week before. Total US gasoline stocks fell 1.96 million barrels to 223.11 million barrels in the week, while distillate stocks fell 20,000 barrels to 129.31 million barrels.

Tightening availability at Cushing has supported prompt WTI pricing and contributed to a significant widening in the forward curve's backwardation. The year-ahead WTI contract settled at a USD7.47/b discount to the front-month Oct. 14, the widest backwardation since July 13.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) is in plans to resume operations at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam on 17 October, 2021, after an unscheduled maintenance, reported CommoPlast.

The 400,000 mt year of PP plant was unexpectedly shut on 7 October, 2021, due to a technical glitch.

As MRC reported earlier, NSRP has just recently completed maintenance works at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam. This plant was shut on 24 August, 2021, instead of the initially scheduled date of 17 August, for approximately three weeks. The company decided to postpone the maintenance shutdown at this plant by one week from the previous schedule due to the COVID-19 related lockdown. Thus, the new PP plant came back on-line in mid-September, 2021.

We also remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1% - by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% - by PetroVietnam and 4.7% - by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US private equity firm Apollo Global Management has completed their exclusive negotiations with Alain de Krassny of De Krassny GmbH for the sale of the Kem One Group, a leading European producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used mainly in construction, packaging and medical applications, and caustic soda, according to Global Leading Cronicle.

Kem One has 1,400 employees and 8 industrial sites located across France and Spain.

Kem One president De Krassny GmbH and the Apollo funds signed a put option agreement for the proposed sale, which is expected to be finalized by the end of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

As MRC reported earlier, Kem One has declared a force majeure (FM) on PVC with K=70 supplies from its Berre unit in France. The company had to declare FM on September 2, 2021, following an equipment failure on the night of August 27 to 28, 2021. The plant has a suspension PVC production capacity of 290,000 tons/year through 3 fully automated production trains.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of unmixed PVC totalled 746,700 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 4% year on year. All producers increased their output.

Kem One, a fully integrated vinyl production company, was established mid-2012 following the acquisition of Arkema's vinyl products division by the Klesch Group. The company employs 2,600 people at 22 manufacturing sites, primarily in Europe but also in Asia and North America. Europe’s second-largest producer of PVC with revenues in excess of one billion euros, Kem One continues to grow and build on its numerous strengths with a view to becoming market leader for integrated vinyl solutions.
MRC