PJSC Tatneft develops rubber production in Togliatti

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PJSC Tatneft develops rubber production in Togliatti, said the company.

The company has signed license and engineering agreement with the Italian company Versalis. The obtained license for the technologies for the production of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and carboxylate styrene butadiene rubber latexes (XSBR) is the next step of Tatneft in the development of the petrochemical cluster. The plants to be built at the Togliatti industrial site with the use of Versalis technologies will pave the way for production of 70 thousand tons of NBR and 30 thousand tons of XSBR.

NBR rubbers are marked by high resistance to aliphatic hydrocarbons, gasoline and lubricants, as well as good flexibility at low temperatures, which qualifies them for use in various industrial fields. XSBR latexes are used in the production of adhesives, paper and cardboard coverings, mat bases, etc.

The Italian company Versalis, the chemical company of Eni , has a wide experience in the petrochemical industry at its own production facilities. NBR and XSBR production technologies are part of the wide portfolio of Versalis’ proprietary polymer technologies for high added value products.

Versalis and Tatneft will maintain cooperation within the framework of the development and implementation of this license project.

As per MRC, Tatneft intends to develop the production of composite materials. Currently, the development strategy of Tatneft's petrochemical complex projects is at the stage of updating, it integrates a new project of the company for the production of butadiene rubbers in Kazakhstan and the recently acquired EcoPet plant (Kaliningrad) for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Within the framework of updating the strategy, Tatneft plans to pay great attention to "green" projects.

OAO Tatneft is part of OAO Tatneftekhiminvest-holding, an industrial and financial company that unites the largest enterprises of the oil and gas chemical complex of Tatarstan. TATNEFT accounts for over 80% of oil produced in Tatarstan. In 2013, the company increased oil production by 0.4% to 26.107 million tons. The main shareholder of Tatneft is the state holding OJSC Svyazinvestneftekhim, which owns 30.44% of the shares in the authorized capital of the company. Tatarstan owns the "golden share" of Tatneft.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co. (Grace) announced that its UNIPOL PP technology licensee, Braskem, has successfully completed one year of commercial production at its newest, world-class 450 KTA PP production line in La Porte, Texas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Grace provided state-of-the-art PP design technology and innovations to meet Braskem’s need to manufacture a wide breadth of PP products for its customers. The La Porte commercial production line has the capability to produce a full range of homopolymer, random copolymer, and impact copolymer products. In accordance with Grace and Braskem's shared commitment to sustainability, the plant was also designed with a focus on key ecological markers such as air emissions, water usage, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.

Grace provided pre-commissioning and start-up support to ensure the safe and efficient commissioning of the first reactor. Subsequently, Braskem was able to go straight into commercial production with the first reactor and received continued support to ensure smooth start-up of the second reactor for impact copolymer production.

In addition to using Grace’s UNIPOL PP Process Technology and advanced catalyst systems, Braskem’s investment in the UNIPOL UNIPPAC Process Control Software, provides Braskem with a truly customized solution for control and optimization of the plant.

We remind that Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year PP plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

1. Oil prices decreased on anticipation of higher crude supply

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil prices fell on Monday on expectations of increasing supply, while the recent surge in energy costs and rising COVID-19 cases are expected to weigh on demand, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. Brent crude futures fell 87 cents , or 1.1%, to USD81.30 a bbl, as of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 80 cents, or 1.0%, to USD79.99 a bbl. Oil markets have ended each of the last three weeks lower than the previous one. However, Brent has only shed a total of 4% in that time, as the market see-sawed between concerns about insufficient supply and worries that high prices will cool demand just as drillers ramp up activity. The strengthening dollar has also pressured oil prices, along with speculation that President Joe Biden's administration might release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. U.S. energy firms last week added oil and natural gas rigs for a third week in a row with crude prices hovering near a seven-year high, prompting some drillers to return to the wellpad.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were higher in midmorning trade in Asia Nov. 16, rallying from 10-day lows as investor sentiment recovers and the near-term outlook for prices remained bullish, reported S&P Global.

At 10:43 am Singapore time (0243 GMT), the ICE January Brent futures contract was up 75 cents/b (0.91%) from the previous close at $82.80/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract rose 58 cents/b (0.72%) to $81.46/b.

A few bruising sessions had pushed oil prices to lows not seen since Nov. 5, though analysts maintained that the outlook for prices remained bullish as demand continues to outstrip supply.

"An undersupplied backdrop is keeping oil on a strong footing. OPEC+ has decided against raising the rate of production increases, and US shale production is yet to pick up," said ANZ Research analysts Soni Kumari and Daniel Hynes in a note.

The daily charts for both front-month contracts showed oil prices printing a hammer formation in the last trading session, indicating a potential reversal in price direction. Oil prices in recent days have pared steep intra-day losses to close near their opening levels as buyer support rushed in despite a recent spate of bearish headlines.

CEO of Western trading house Vitol Russell Hardy said Nov. 15 that global oil market fundamentals will likely remain tight over the coming year as oil demand continues to build after having mostly fully recovered to 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

Oil demand for industrial usage has already exceeded 2019 levels while jet fuel demand for aviation continues to lag pre-pandemic levels, meaning global oil demand is "pretty much caught up with 2019," Hardy said at a conference in Abu Dhabi.

Nonetheless, analysts cautioned that risks to the near-term outlook for prices remained. Europe was now battling its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, while oil consuming giant China is also tackling a fresh outbreak though daily caseloads appeared to be falling. The country's National Health Commission reported 32 locally transmitted cases as of Nov. 14, down by 38 on the day.

As MRC wrote previously, the average utilisation rate at China's four state-owned refiners fell to a five-month low of 80.6% in October from 81.5% in September while independent refiners also maintained run rates at low levels due to feedstock shortage. These would likely lead the country's crude throughputs to extend the downward trend in October from the 17-month low of 13.7 million b/d, or 56.07 million mt, in September, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The four state oil companies -- Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinochem - plan to process a total 7.67 million b/d of crudes in October, against their nameplate capacity of 9.52 million b/d, Platts data showed. This compared with a planned throughput of 7.7 million b/d in September. In November, the state-run refiners plan to lift throughput from the low base in October to boost gasoil and gasoline supplies for meeting domestic demand, refining sources 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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire at Pertamina’s refinery complex in Cilacap, Central Java province, has been fully extinguished without disrupting production activity, reported Reuters with reference to the chief executive of the Indonesian energy company's statement.

The fire started around 7:20 p.m. (1220 GMT) on Saturday at a fuel storage unit. Amateur videos broadcast by local media showed a large blaze colouring the sky orange.

“The fire at one out of the 228 tanks at Cilacap didn’t cause any shutdown, so there was no impact to the production,” Nicke Widyawati, CEO of Pertamina, told a media briefing on Sunday.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated, Nicke said.

She added that supply conditions for motor fuels and liquefied petroleum gas were secure.

Cilacap is one of Pertamina’s biggest refining facilities and supplies around 34% of Indonesia’s fuel demand, Pertamina said on its website.

As MRC informed before, PT Pertamina resumed operations at its sole polypropylene (PP) plant in Plaju, South Sumatera in mid-October, 2021, after a scheduled maintenance. 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.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

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