Crude ol prices rise over 2% on hopes Omicron to have limited impact on global demand

Crude ol prices rise over 2% on hopes Omicron to have limited impact on global demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday to the highest level since late November on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant will have a limited impact on global demand in 2022, even as surging cases caused flight cancellations, reported Reuters.

Global benchmark Brent crude rose USD2.46, or 3.2%, to settle at USD78.60 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose USD1.78, or 2.4%, to settle at USD75.57 a barrel. The US market was closed on Friday for a holiday.

Both benchmarks rose on Monday to the highest since Nov. 26. On that day, oil plunged by more than 10% when reports of a new variant first appeared. The benchmarks gained last week after early data suggested that Omicron could cause a milder level of illness.

“Though Omicron is spreading faster than any COVID-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, at least so far,” said Leona Liu, analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.

Britain’s government will not introduce new COVID-19 restrictions for England before the end of 2021, its health minister, Sajid Javid, said on Monday.

More than 1,300 flights were cancelled by US airlines on Sunday as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crews while several cruise ships had to cancel stops.

“The disruption to goods and services from isolating workers, notably air travel, seems to be the main fallout so far,” Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA, said of rising Omicron cases. “That is only likely to cause short-term nerves, with the global recovery story for 2022 still on track.”

Oil prices have risen over 50% this year, supported by recovering demand and supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+.

Talks resume on Monday between world powers and Iran on reviving Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal. Iran said oil exports were the focus of the talks, which so far appear to have made little progress on boosting Iran’s shipments.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.
MRC

CenterOak Partners sells Vivify to Gryphon Investors

CenterOak Partners sells Vivify to Gryphon Investors

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm, announced that it has acquired Vivify Specialty Ingredients in partnership with the Company's current family owner Aakash Shah, who will remain on the Board of Directors, and Vivify management, said the company.

Vivify is a leading provider of specialty organic colorants, functional ingredients, and additives across multiple consumer and industrial end markets. This represents the third platform investment closed by Gryphon's Heritage Fund, a small-cap fund offering launched by Gryphon in 2020. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Glendale Heights, IL, Vivify is a leading provider of specialty chemicals for colorant and related specialty applications in the personal care & cosmetics, food & beverage, packaging, plastics, coatings, and agriculture industries. Specializing in organic pigments, dyes, liquid colorants, slip additives, specialty resins, and specialty food ingredients, the Company distributes products that are manufactured both domestically and internationally and sold in more than 50 countries. Through a technical, high-touch salesforce, innovative lab and regulatory support capabilities, and the ability to support short turnaround times, the Company supports customer-specific solutions focused on product performance and customized applications. CEO Devlin Riley and other members of the management team will continue to lead the Company.

Keith Stimson, Deal Partner and Head of the Heritage Fund Team at Gryphon, said, "Gryphon's Heritage Fund leverages our firm's sector initiative strategy and deep pool of relevant operating resources, and focuses on partnering with market leaders with sustainable differentiation. We believe Vivify is an exceptional player in the attractive colorant and ingredient markets, and we see a variety of opportunities for additional investments to accelerate growth, including add-on acquisitions."

Craig Nikrant, Gryphon Operating Partner on the Heritage Fund Team, said, "Vivify has 40 years of experience addressing customer needs through innovative formulations, robust laboratory and regulatory support capabilities, and high-quality products. Its outstanding research has developed standardized methods to assure consistency and meet customers' quality, safety, and environmental requirements. We look forward to working with Devlin and his team as we invest in this business and enable its continued growth."

Gryphon was advised by legal counsel Kirkland & Ellis and financial advisor Guggenheim Securities, LLC. Keybanc Capital Markets served as the exclusive financial advisor to Vivify, and Gibson Dunn served as legal counsel.

Vivify is a leading provider of specialty colorants and functional ingredients to customers across multiple consumer and industrial end markets. Through diverse sourcing capabilities, advanced lab expertise, and a technical, high-touch salesforce, Vivify delivers customer-specific solutions focused on product performance and customized applications.

Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. The firm has managed over USD7.5 billion of equity investments and capital since 1997. Gryphon targets making equity investments of USD50 million to USD300 million in portfolio companies with enterprise values ranging from approximately USD100 million to USD600 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon's capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise.

In May 2021, Aakash Chemicals & Dye-Stuffs, a Glendale Heights, Ill.-based value-added supplier of colorants and specialty ingredients, said it rebranded as Vivify Specialty Ingredients.

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.

Vivify also said its subsidiary Calico Food Ingredients, a supplier of colors, flavors, vitamins and coatings, simplified its brand to Calico while unveiling a new logo and website. The new website, highlights Calico’s range of more than 1,000 custom product formulations, including powder blends, liquids and oil dispersions, as well as formulation support.
MRC

Canadian government moving forward with single-use plastics ban

Canadian government moving forward with single-use plastics ban

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Canadian government has released draft regulations to ban six kinds of “harmful” single-use plastic items in Canada: straws and stir sticks, six-pack rings, grocery bags, cutlery, and difficult-to-recycle takeout containers, said Canplastics.

But the draft rules – available at this link – also include an exemption that would allow Canadian manufacturers to continue making these items, so long as they’re intended for export. Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault and Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the draft regulations in a Dec. 21 joint statement.

According to the statement, the regulations would prevent an estimate of more than 23,000 tonnes of plastic pollution from entering the environment over a ten-year period, which is the equivalent of one million garbage bags of litter.

The statement said the new rules could come into effect sometime at the end of 2022. There may also be a transition period to allow restaurants and other businesses to get used to the new rules, which could push the date back even further. A final decision on when the rules will come into force will be made after the government has considered the comments received during the consultation period, which is open until March 5, 2022. “The Government of Canada will soon publish draft guidance to help businesses adapt to the requirements of the proposed regulations," the statement said.

Another “key element of the plan” will be the establishment of regulated standards to increase the use of recycled content in certain plastic products. “The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring all plastic packaging in Canada contains at least 50 percent recycled content by 2030; achieving an ambitious recycling target of 90 per cent – aligned with Quebec and the European Union – for plastic beverage containers; prohibiting misleading recycling labelling that is not supported by recycling facilities; and working with the provinces and territories to ensure that producers, not taxpayers, are responsible for the cost of managing their plastic waste,” the statement continued.

In order to formulate the regulations brought forth in the new ban, the federal government says it relied on scientific research it compiled under the Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution from autumn of 2020.

The ban is being criticized by many in the plastics sector, including the Ottawa-based Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), which represents plastics manufacturers. “We believe bans of some single-use plastic items might make governments and consumers feel good in the short term, but do not solve the overall problem long-term,” CIAC said in a Dec. 22 statement. “We are disappointed that safe inert plastic materials that play such important roles in Canadians’ lives continue to be labelled as toxic substances (under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act) or are being banned when innovative technologies like advanced recycling are available to manage their end of life."

It was earlier said that the Indian government is planning to phase out single-use plastics leading to complete elimination. But concerns revolve around the availability of alternatives and plastic waste management systems. A government committee has identified the single use plastic (SUP) items to be banned based on an index of their utility and environmental impact. In the three-stage ban, the first category of SUP items proposed to be phased out are plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candy, ice-cream and ear buds, and thermocol that is used in decorations.

European Parliament voted to ban single-use plastics across the board in an attempt to stop the unending stream of plastic pollution making its way into the oceans. Such plastic products include things like straws, plates, cups and cotton buds, and can take several centuries to degrade in the oceans where they are increasingly observed to be consumed by marine life. According to the European Commission, such plastics make up 70 percent of all marine litter.
MRC

China oil consumption to keep growing by 2030 on robust petrochemical demand

China oil consumption to keep growing by 2030 on robust petrochemical demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's oil consumption is expected to keep growing for a decade on robust chemical demand, reaching a peak of about 780 MMtpy by 2030, reported Reuters with reference to a statement of a research institute affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) on Sunday.

Last year, the research group, called the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute (ETRI), said that China's oil demand would peak at 730 MMtpy by around 2025.

In its latest report, the ETRI said diesel fuel, gasoline and kerosene consumption are forecast to peak sometime around 2025 at about 390 MMtpy. The strong petrochemical demand will support rising consumption through to 2030.

Overall oil demand will fall after 2030 as transportation consumption declines amid the electrification of vehicles while chemical demand remains stable during the period, the ETRI said.

The ETRI also revised the peak of China's total primary energy consumption to 6.01 Btpy of standard coal by around 2030, from 5.6 Btpy by around 2035 previously.

"Coal consumption in China would enter a plateau at around 3.6-4 B tons in 2021-2030," the ETRI said, adding that the use of the dirty fossil fuel would decrease steadily in 2031-2050 as coal-fired power plants become a back-up energy source.

This follows plans from the government to reduce coal consumption in China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, in an "orderly" manner as part of its drive to reach a peak in carbon emissions.

China's top leaders said at an agenda-setting meeting this month that the "gradual withdrawal of traditional energy sources should be based on the establishment of safe and reliable of new energy sources."

As MRC wrote previously, China's crude throughput rose 0.8% to 13.81 million b/d in October from a 17-month low in September.

We remind that 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 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

ClearSign Technologies receives order for multi heater project from national refiner

ClearSign Technologies receives order for multi heater project from national refiner

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ClearSign Technologies Corporation announced that it has received a purchase order from a Fortune 500 national refiner in connection with the first phase of the project to retrofit two process heaters with eight ClearSign Core burners each to be installed in their Midwest refinery, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project consists of three phases. The first is the receipt of the purchase order, which includes the fabrication and demonstration of a single burner. The second phase is planned to be an order for the remaining seven burners to complete the first heater. The anticipated third and final stage will be an eight burner order for the second heater.

“We are proud to announce the start of this multi heater project comprised of a total of sixteen ClearSign Core burners,” said Jim Deller, Ph. D, CEO of ClearSign. “While this our largest process burner project to date, and also our first order from this major USA refiner, what is also encouraging is that this customer was driven to our solution to increase the process throughput of these heaters while also being able to benefit from our best in class NOx emissions reduction. We are pleased to see our technology become more recognized and known in the prominent companies of the industry, and continue to look forward to its ongoing adoption, and the benefits we can provide for refining productivity and reduced air borne emissions.”

We remind that, as MRC reported before, in early December 2021, Lummus Technology announced it had been awarded a contract from the Gazprom Neft Moscow refinery for two fired heaters. The heaters will be installed at the refinery in Moscow, and are part of the plant’s modernization to improve operational efficiency and environmental performance.

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