US plans to reduce its Strategic Petroleum Reserve

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On Tuesday, November 23, the White House announced plans to make 50 MM bbl of crude oil available to the market through a combination of exchanges and accelerating previously announced sale, according to Hydrocarbonprocessings.

With these sales and several other legislated drawdowns, SPR inventories could decline from 618 MM bbl (as of October 1, 2021) to about 314 MM bbl by the start of the 2032 fiscal year, the lowest level since March 1983. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed earlier this month, includes a provision to draw down 87.6 MM bbl of crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in fiscal years (FY) 2028 through 2031.

The SPR was established in the 1970s to alleviate the effects of unexpected oil supply reductions. The reserve was designed to hold up to 714 MM bbl of crude oil across four storage sites along the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the U.S. petroleum refining capacity is located.

Crude oil can be released from the SPR under four conditions: emergency drawdowns, test sales, exchange agreements, and nonemergency sales. Emergency drawdowns and test sales are relatively rare. The most recent emergency drawdown occurred in 2011 in response to production disruptions in Libya, and the most recent test sale occurred in 2014. The SPR has released crude oil under exchange agreements 12 times since 1996, most recently after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. In these exchange agreements, crude oil is released to private companies and repaid in kind by specified dates with additional bbl, similar to monetary interest on a loan.

Congress has also authorized nonemergency sales of SPR crude oil to respond to lesser supply disruptions or to raise revenue for the US Treasury.

One of the SPR’s core missions is to hold enough oil stocks to fulfill US obligations under the International Energy Program, the 1974 treaty that established the International Energy Agency (IEA). As a member of the IEA, the United States is obligated to maintain stocks of crude oil and petroleum products, both public and private, to provide at least 90 days of US net import protection. The US Department of Energy calculates this value by dividing the SPR inventory level by EIA’s sum for net crude oil and petroleum product imports.

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, EIA said in a monthly report earlier this year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bashneft has reduced its carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from furnaces at the Ufa refining complex, by five times at the selective oil treatment unit and by 17 times at the hydrotreatment unit, said the company.

Such a multiple reduction in the impact on atmospheric air was achieved through a set of measures implemented on the furnaces during the overhaul. Furthermore, fuel costs will drop by 16.5 million roubles a year.

Environment protection is an integral part of the Rosneft 2022 Strategy. The Company aims to achieve leadership positions in minimizing the environmental impact and ensuring the eco-friendliness of its production.

The overhaul included improved thermal insulation and optimised adjustment of the fuel supply process controls. Following tests and optimisation of the combustion regime at the Bashneft-Novoil selective oil treatment facility, furnace efficiency increased by more than 11% on average, with fuel gas savings of up to 6%. The planned annual savings will be nearly 1,200 tonnes of fuel equivalent.

As MRC reported earlier, Bashneft ended 2020 with a loss of Rb11.1 billion under IFRS against a profit of Rb76.59 billion a year earlier. The company linked the loss to a decrease in world oil prices and demand for crude oil on the back of a worsening economic situation around the world due to the pandemic.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Bashneft (a subsidiary of Rosneft) has oil reserves and a resource base in the Volga-Ural province, Timan-Pechora and Western Siberia. More than 180 fields are in commercial operation of the company. Production of hydrocarbons is over 21 million tons of oil per year.
MRC

1. Vietnam plans to cut environment tax on jet fuel by 50% due to coronavirus pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam plans to further cut environment tax on jet fuel to help the airline industry, which is struggling from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, said Reuters citing finance ministry. The ministry is seeking government approval to lower the jet fuel tax by 50% for the whole of 2022, compared with the current 30% cut, which is due to expire at the end of this year. "It's necessary to continue cutting environment tax in 2022 to help local airlines weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic," it said in a statement. "Jet fuel tax will be at 1,500 dong (USD0.0662) per liter after the cut."



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures posted sharp losses in London trading Nov. 30 as the World Health Organization said the new omicron variant poses a high global risk, and a major pharmaceuticals company said currently available COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against it, reported S&P Global.

At 1200 GMT Nov. 30, ICE January Brent crude futures was down USD2.36/b from the previous settlement at USD71.08/b while the NYMEX January WTI futures contract was down USD1.91/b at USD68.04/b.

Oil prices posted losses once again and almost completely eliminated the partial gains of the previous day, bringing current levels close to the Nov. 26 close. The main trigger for the more bearish sentiment was comments made by Moderna's chief regarding current vaccines' efficacy being limited against the omicron variant, adding that development and production of a more effective version could take months.

All financial and physical markets, particularly in Europe, reacted strongly to the comments, with sharp losses observed across asset classes once again.

The FTSE 100 was observed trading at GBP7,024 during the late morning session, down 1.20% from the previous close, while the Stoxx 600 index was at Eur460.76, down 1.39% day on day.

At the same time, all eyes were on the OPEC+ meeting Dec. 2, which could decide not to increase further crude supply temporarily according to the previously decided levels.

The market had already showed concerns over the previous weeks regarding a potential oversupply in 2022, while demand forecasts could have been too bullish, contributing as well to the recent pressure for oil prices.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, earlier this month, TotalEnergies and Daimler Truck AG signed an agreement on their joint commitment to the decarbonization of the road freight in the European Union. The partners will collaborate in the development of ecosystems for heavy-duty trucks running on hydrogen, with the intent to demonstrate the attractiveness and effectiveness of trucking powered by clean hydrogen and the ambition to play a lead role in kickstarting the rollout of hydrogen infrastructure for transportation.

We also remind that TotalEnergies has recently inaugurated the extension of Synova in Normandy, the French leader in recycled polypropylene (PP) production. TotalEnergies is therefore doubling its mechanical recycling production capacity for recycled polymers, to meet growing demand for sustainable polymers from customers, such as Automotive Manufacturer (Auto OEM) and the construction industry.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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) -- Petrobras plans to invest USD2.5bn expanding a refinery in northern Brazil and completing a base-oils project in Rio de Janeiro state, the state-controlled energy producer said.

Under the base-oils project, Petrobras will invest USD1.5bn integrating the Duque de Caxias refinery (REDUC) with the GasLub Itaborai project. GasLub should produce 12,000 bbbl/day of Group II base oils and 93,000 bbl/day of S-10 diesel and jet fuel, Petrobras said.

For the expansion project, Petrobras plans to invest USD1bn to complete the second train of its Abreu e Lima refinery (RNEST) in Pernambuco state. The second train will add 145,000 bbl/day of crude-processing capacity, increasing the refinery's throughput rate to 260,000 bbl/day from 115,000 bbbl/day.

Petrobras plans to complete the refinery expansion in 2027, it said. RNEST is one of the refineries that Petrobras plans to sell. Petrobras could spend USD600m on projects that would allow it to co-process soybean oil in its existing refinery units and to produce renewable diesel and jet fuel at new units.

REPAR is another refinery that Pertrobras plans to sell. Another project would allow the co-processing of soybean oil at the Paulinia (REPLAN) and Presidente Bernardes (RPBC) refineries in Sao Paulo state. These projects would allow the refineries to produce diesel with 5-7% renewable content. Petrobras plans to keep these two refineries.

We remind that in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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 the first nine months of 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 PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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