Crude oil prices up to USD75 on Omicron concerns

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices edged higher towards USD75 a barrel on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the new Omicron coronavirus variant was set to dent the global demand recovery, reported Reuters.

Brent crude oil futures rose 27 cents, or 0.36%, to USD74.66 a barrel by 1231 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.32%, to USD71.52.

"The surge in new COVID-19 cases is expected to temporarily slow, but not upend, the recovery in oil demand that is underway," the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil report. read more IEA/S

Governments around the world, including most recently Britain and Norway, have tightened restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

The IEA lowered its forecast for oil demand this year and the next by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) each, mostly due to the expected blow to jet fuel use from new travel curbs.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday raised its world oil demand forecast for the first quarter of 2022 and stuck to its timeline for a return to pre-pandemic levels of oil use, saying the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a mild and brief impact.

At the same time, the Asian Development Bank on Tuesday trimmed its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next to reflect risks and uncertainty brought on by the variant, which could also hamper oil demand.

On the supply side, OPEC and other major producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, plan to gradually increase supply every month by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) after sharply cutting back output last year.

Output in the largest US shale basin is expected to surge to a record in January, according to a monthly forecast from the US Energy Information Administration on Monday.

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) -- BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has announced that the implementation of the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) capacity increase program for BASF’s Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana, is progressing on schedule, according to Chemical Engineering.

Over time, BASF plans to double the capacity from 300,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) to approximately 600,000 m.t./yr.

“This investment in the attractive North American MDI market strengthens our position as a leading MDI supplier in North America as well as globally,” said Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva, President of Monomers Division.

The first phase involving the construction of a new MDI synthesis unit has been in operation since October of last year. The second phase, which started up recently, expanded several existing upstream units and increased the overall MDI output of the Geismar complex by approximately one third.

Engineering for the final phase of the MDI expansion is progressing on schedule. This final phase of the expansion project, which includes several new upstream units, is targeted to be complete by the middle of the decade, with resulting total MDI capacity of approximately 600,000 m.t./yr.

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project Kairos@C has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

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.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mammoet has been awarded the contract for the transportation of an 1800-ton reactor for the new PC ORLEN Lietuva facility in North-west Lithuania. Come August 2023, the 100-meter-long, 6.5-meter-wide and 10-meter-tall (vehicle sizing) transport configuration will be transferred approximately 150-kilometers on public roads from the Port of Klaipeda to the Mazeikiai refinery, said the company.

Once the unit arrives at the port, it will be lifted off the seagoing vessel and onto 88 axle lines of conventional trailers, which will then execute the operation from port to site. Therefore, with a piece of this size, the most challenging part is not selecting the equipment, but the preparing of route. For example, Mammoet requires tailored solutions to cross bridges and culverts or to maneuver a unit this long around tight corners – and it needs dozens of these custom solutions throughout the 150-kilometer route.

Having enjoyed a longstanding relationship with PC ORLEN Lietuva, including completing a heavy transport project along a similar route as far back as 2008, Mammoet was asked in 2019 to undertake a study to clarify potential routes for cargo of this size. This required Mammoet to review all options for transferring the reactor from the port to the oil refinery for PC ORLEN Lietuva to assess and then decide on the optimal transportation solution. After completing the study, Mammoet has now been awarded the contract for the transport job.

Mammoet Russia, Baltic and Finland Sales Director, Edvinas Ivanauskas, comments: “ORLEN Lietuva’s decision to collaborate with us directly on both the study and the job demonstrates confidence in our local knowledge and relationships, along with our heavy lift and transport expertise. Preparing a 150-kilometer route is highly complex, and we take it as a big compliment that ORLEN trusts us with this responsibility.” He continues: “At Mammoet, we expect this trust to grow further so that we can deliver even larger jobs for the company in the Baltics region."

As per MRC, Orlen Unipetrol (part of PKN Orlen), a major Czech producer of petrochemical products, will expand the capacity of its steam cracker in Litvinov (Czech Republic) by installing a new furnace. The new cracking unit will be built by Technip Energies in Zaluzi, the largest chemical plant in the Czech Republic, and is due to be commissioned in 2022. Orlen is investing over 700 mln Polish zlotys (Zl) in the project.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Czech Orlen Unipetrol is a joint stock company that deals with oil refining and production of petrochemical products in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. It is one of the ten largest Czech companies in terms of revenue. The company was founded in 1994 and since 2004 has been part of PKN Orlen, which owns 94.05% of the shares in the company.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip Energies provided the technology licensing and process design to SP Olefins (Taixing) Co. Ltd., for China’s first gas-cracking ethylene plant in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, China, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 780,000 tpy plant successfully started up in August 2019, reaching on-spec olefins shortly thereafter. Earlier this year, the plant passed all performance guarantees, and the final acceptance certificate was recently issued, which was delayed due to COVID-19.

The Taixing plant is not only the first gas-cracking ethylene plant in China, but also the first plant to use imported US ethane as feedstock.

In addition to the ethylene cracker technology, Technip Energies provided key proprietary technology designs including Ripple Trays. Technip Energies’ Ultra Selective Conversion (USC) W-coil ethylene furnace technology combines high energy efficiency and high yields, resulting in CO2 emissions reduction. It ranks in the first quartile of comparable crackers for lowest CO2 production per ton of high value chemical production.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Technip Energies was awarded a substantial Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract in consortium with TARGET Engineering by Abu Dhabi Polymers co. Ltd. (Borouge), a joint-venture between ADNOC and Borealis, for the construction of a new ethane cracker init, to be integrated in the Borouge 4 petrochemical complex in Ruwais, UAE.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge has signed a 25-year deal for ADNOC Logistics & Services to manage integrated logistics support at the Khalifa Industrial Zone and a new hub at the port in the area, said the company.

The deal covers the transportation and handling operations for Borouge’s polymer products at Khalifa Port to export to international markets.

ADNOC is the majority shareholder in Borouge, with Austria-based Borealis holding 40% of the business. The company claimed that the deal would reduce unit costs of production by optimising manufacturing and distribution value chains.

Rainer Hoefling, CEO of Borouge, added: "Borouge 4 is fundamental to reinforcing our commitment to our global customers and milestone in our story of growth. Our new facility enables us to actively respond to the growing global demand for energy, infrastructure, advanced packaging and agriculture solutions which have a positive impact on society and the environment."

The scope of the award covers engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities for the polyolefin complex facilities required to facilitate the full production capacity of two new polyethylene plants – each with a capacity of 700,000 tonnes per annum.

These plants will be supplied by a world-scale ethane cracker with capacity of more than 1.5 million tonnes per annum of ethylene.

As per MRC, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed of a strategic partnership with Borealis AG that confirms a USD6.2 B (AED22 B) investment agreement between the companies to build the fourth Borouge facility - Borouge 4 - at the polyolefin manufacturing complex in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will produce 1.4 MM tons of polyethylene (PE) per year.

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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries. In 2020, Borealis generated EUR 6.8 billion in sales revenue and a net profit of EUR 589 million. OMV, the Austria-based international oil and gas company, owns 75% of Borealis, while the remaining 25% is owned by a holding company of the Abu-Dhabi based Mubadala.
MRC