Fire occured at SCG olefins complex in Thailand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire hit Thai petrochemical producer Siam Cement's (SCG) Map Ta Phut olefins complex at night on 26 October, according to GardaWorld.

The fire broke out at a naphtha tank, which was empty at the time of the incident, because it had been shut for cleaning and maintenance. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Authorities have not confirmed any casualties, but an investigation is ongoing.

The complex completed a debottlenecking exercise earlier this year. The naphtha-fed cracker has a nameplate production capacity of 1.3mn t/yr of ethylene and 850,000 t/yr of propylene.

As MRC reported earlier, Map Ta Phut Olefins Co Ltd (MOC), a subsidiary of Thailand’s SCG Chemical, has completed the maintenance work at its cracker in Map Ta Phut. Thus, the cracker with the capacity of 900,000 mt/year of ethylene and 450,000 mt/year of propylene was shut for a scheduled turnaround on 2 November, 2020, and fully resumed operations in the fourth week of December, 2020.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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1. SCGP announced its Q3 earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thai producer SCG Packaging’s (SCGP) third-quarter earnings slumped from the previous quarter due to various forms of lockdowns re-imposed in major southeast Asian countries following spikes in COVID-19 cases, said the company. On a year-on-year basis, however, earnings in July to September posted strong gains on the back of mergers & partnerships (M&P) and organic expansion, which are expected to continue into next year. "Looking forward into the rest of 2021 and through to early 2022, major ASEAN economies are heading toward the recovery from the easing of strict lockdown measures,” SCGP said in the notes accompanying its financial results.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures extended the heavy losses seen overnight in mid-morning trade in Asia Oct. 28, pressured by news that Iran and Western powers were set for broader talks on the Asian country's nuclear program before end-November, setting the stage for the return of Iranian oil, reported S&P Global.

Reports of large inventory builds in the US also added pressure on prices.

At 10:09 am Singapore time (0209 GMT), the ICE December Brent futures contract was down USD2.08/b (2.46%) from the previous close at USD82.50/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract fell USD1.80/b (2.18%) to USD80.86/b.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter late Oct. 27 that he had agreed to negotiations with six world powers on the country's nuclear program by end-November. This followed talks with his EU counterpart Enrique Mora on the same day.

Bagheri Kani added that an exact date would be announced next week.

The negotiations could set the stage for a lifting of sanctions, allowing up to 1.3 million b/d of Iranian oil to return to global export markets, according to some analyst estimates.

Oil prices settled lower by more than 2% overnight after the news.

Nonetheless, analysts cautioned that negotiations will likely be a lengthy process and won't result in a quick return of Iranian oil to the market.

"This is just a restart of talks and the process to get a deal done will be lengthy and unlikely to lead to immediate sanction relief, which means the global energy crunch will unlikely see any immediate benefits," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said.

Investors also mentioned data from the US Energy Information Administration late Oct. 27 showing total commercial crude oil stocks climbed by 4.27 million barrels to 430.81 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 22. The build pushed stockpiles to their highest since the week ended Aug. 20, but they still remained relatively tight at around 5.6% behind the five-year average.

Gasoline stockpiles, meanwhile, declined 1.99 million barrels to 215.75 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined 430,000 barrels to 124.96 million barrels.

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) -- QatarEnergy and Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to join forces to pursue investments in blue and green hydrogen projects in the UK that might be able to reduce carbon emissions in industrial clusters and transport sectors, with a focus on the London metropolitan area, reported S&P Global with reference to the companies' statement on Oct. 19.

This is the first hydrogen agreement between both companies, and will target "integrated and scalable opportunities," the companies said.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the UK Global Investment Summit, they said. The UK, which released its hydrogen strategy Aug. 17, supports both renewable '"green" production by electrolysis of water as well as fossil fuel-derived "blue" production with carbon capture and storage.

The QatarEnergy, Shell investments may include low carbon fuels and technologies, they said.

Middle East oil and gas companies are in a race with Australian peers to develop blue hydrogen, developed from natural gas, while oil majors such as Shell are bringing in global technological expertise to lower hydrogen costs.

QatarEnergy is the world's largest LNG exporter.

As MRC wrote previously, in September 2021, Japan's Mitsubishi signed a memorandum of understanding with Shell to consider producing around 165,000 mt/year of blue hydrogen near Edmonton, Canada, in the late 2020s with an eye to convert it into ammonia for exports to Japan.

We remind that 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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's August gasoline, gasoil and jet exports recovered 27.3% to 2.59 million mt in September from a 13-month low at 2.03 million mt in August, but left fewer export quotas for Q4, reported S&P Global with reference to data from the country's General Administration of Customs late Oct. 18.

The country's total exports of the three products between January and September dipped 1.5% year on year to 33.7 million mt, according to the data.

This brought the export quota availability for October-December at 3.3 million mt, suggesting a further reduction in 2021 outflows, unless new quotas are issued, sources said.

Market sources expected Chinese oil companies would suspend exporting gasoline and gasoil in November and December following a month-on-month reduction in October due to tight supply in the domestic market, while export quotas were running out.

Moreover, it was unlikely that Beijing would allocate additional quotas for the remainder of the year, leaving oil companies with little choice but to save quotas for exporting jet fuel, which face poor demand in China, sources said.

China's September gasoline exports have recovered from a 30-month low of 568,406 mt in August, to 920,000 mt in September, up by 61.9% on the month. This followed the new quota allocation in August, which enabled the refineries to resume exports. This mostly included PetroChina's refineries. But the gasoline exports were still 20.8% lower from last year's 1.16 million mt.

Gasoil outflows also recovered by 43.3% to 780,000 mt last month, from more than a six-year low of 544,480 mt in August. The exports were, however, 34.9% lower from last September at 1.2 million mt.

Despite the year-on-year fall in September exports, the total gasoline exports were still up by 1.5% to 11.79 million mt over January-September. The exports of gasoil were also 10.9% higher at 15.72 million mt over the same period. Meanwhile, the 17-month low throughput in September with higher gasoline and gasoil exports have resulted in tight supplies in domestic market, which pushed up prices.

China processed 13.7 million b/d of crude in September, extending a downward trend by edging down 0.7% from August levels, data from National Bureau of Statistics on Oct. 18.

As MRC informed earlier, China's crude oil imports fell 4.7% on the month to 10.03 million b/d in September, accrding to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, or GAC, on Oct. 13. The reduction indicated weak momentum for imports for the rest of the year, analysts said.

We remind that 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, said a top executive of Sinopec Corp. in September 2021.

We also remind that 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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC