ADNOC finalizes 2018 gasoil, jet fuel term with at least 1 buyer

MOSCOW (MRC) — Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has finalized its 2018 gasoil and jet fuel supply term contracts with at least one buyer, five traders that participate in the market said on Wednesday, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It has agreed for its gasoil with a sulfur content of 10 parts per million (ppm) for 2018 to be sold at a premium of 60 cents a barrel to Middle East 10 ppm sulfur gasoil quotes, they said. This is the first time the refiner’s contract will be priced off the new benchmark to be adopted by oil price agency Platts next year, the traders said.

Previously, ADNOC’s gasoil contracts were priced off the 500 ppm sulfur gasoil quotes. ADNOC has also agreed for its 2018 jet fuel term contracts to be priced at a premium of 85 cents a barrel to Middle East jet fuel quotes, the traders added.

Typically, when one buyer agrees to a premium, other companies will be asked to follow suit. An ADNOC spokesman said the company is in the process of finalizing its 2018 term contracts for gasoil and jet fuel.

ADNOC finalized its 2017 term contracts at a premium of USD1.30/bbl above 500 ppm sulfur gasoil quotes for its diesel and a premium of USD1/bbl for its jet fuel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil expects a new USD1 B fuel upgrading unit at its Antwerp refinery to be fully operational in the first half of next year, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

The delayed coker unit, part of a USD1 B investment announced in 2014, will enable the 320,000 bpd refinery to upgrade high-sulfur fuel into various types of diesel, including the variant mandated by new laws governing shipping fuels.

The company announced the investment during a particularly tough period for European refining, when margins were near multi-year lows and demand in the region appeared to be in permanent decline. However, refining profits have since rebounded strongly.

An Exxon spokeswoman said the company plans to complete construction "

towards early 2018.” Though she said the complex startup process can take several months, the company expects the unit to be fully operational in the first half of next year.

In addition to the current boom in fuel demand, spurred by low oil prices, traders and analysts say that any project to cut fuel oil production is key to refinery survival amid tightening rules over the level of sulfur that can be burned.

The switch to cleaner fuels in the world’s ships mandated by the International Maritime Organization will reduce the maximum level of sulfur that can be burned to 0.5% in 2020 from 3.5% now.

Analysts FGE estimate that the shipping rule alone could shift 700,000 bpd from fuel oil to distillates, while the International Energy Agency has put the figure as high as 2 MMbpd.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2016, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced it received a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical Company to provide engineering, design and construction management services as part of a new 650 kTa polyethylene facility to be located at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont polyethylene plant.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerikimya Production Union of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR will build a number of new units by 2020, Fazail Yusifov, deputy head of Modernization and Reconstruction Department of Azerikimya, said AzerNews with reference to Trend.

He made the remarks at the fourth international conference in Baku titled "Oil refining and petrochemistry of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia" on November 29.

He said that construction of new units started last year and will cover the period until the end of 2019.

"Four new steam pyrolysis furnaces and a pressure swing absorption (PSA) hydrogen treatment unit will be built within the framework of the petrochemical production’s modernization project, and this will make it possible to bring purification of the hydrogen fraction to 99.9 percent," he said. "It is also planned to build a new hydrogen electrolysis unit, a new propane-propylene fraction (PPF) purification unit, which cleans raw materials from polluting substances and poisons (sulfur, water, arsenic, mercury, phosphine, mono and carbon dioxide), a dry gas cleaning unit, a new distributed control system (DCS) for ethylene and propylene plant (EP-300), and a new ethylene and propylene storage facility."

He added that at the same time, a lot of work is being done to modernize and reconstruct the existing units.

"In particular, we plan to reconstruct the existing propane-propylene fraction separation unit in order to increase propylene productivity from 136,000 to 187,000 tons, modernize hot and cold sections, existing C2 and C3 selective hydrogenation units, and this means replacing existing isothermal reactors with new ones," he said. "We expect to optimize the work of existing compressors of pyrogas, ethylene, propylene and a propylene heat pump, as well as upgrade auxiliary facilities and infrastructure. The work on the construction of treatment facilities, modernization of existing power substations and increase of the efficiency of the electrical system is underway."

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2017, Marketing and Economic Operations Department under the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) exported 51,129 tonnes of diesel fuel, 9,527 tonnes of aircraft fuel, 3,321 tonnes of liquid pyrolysis resin, 2,439 tonnes of high-pressure polyethylene, and 2,134 tonnes of propylene. SOCAR totally exported 452,288 tonnes of diesel fuel, 43,110 tonnes of aircraft fuel, 236 tonnes of furnace oil, 50,306 tonnes of liquid pyrolysis resin, 58,704 tonnes of high-pressure polyethylene, and 31,384 tonnes of propylene in January-October 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co., a supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, has contracted to license its UNIPOL PP Process Technology to Oriental Energy (Ningbo) New Material Co., Ltd. for an expansion at its facility in Ningbo, China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The two new 400-kiloton capacity lines are expected to begin operations in 2020 to produce homopolymer and random copolymers.

The Ningbo operation is a subsidiary of Oriental Energy Co. Ltd. of Nanjing City, China, a comprehensive alkane resources operator that develops clean energy and new material for the international market. Oriental Energy previously licensed UNIPOL PP Process Technology for a 400-kiloton PP line in 2012.

The project represents the 22nd and 23rd UNIPOL PP Process Technology reactor lines licensed in China. With this license, the total design and operating capacity of UNIPOL PP lines in China will exceed 7,500 kilotons per year.

Grace's all gas-phase UNIPOL PP Process Technology provides the most advanced and broadest range of homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry. As the simplest of all PP process technologies, with fewer moving parts and less equipment than any alternative, its reliable, stable, and predictable operation leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs.

Wang Mingxiang, Chairman of Oriental Energy, said, "The focus for our new plant is to serve the growing PP market demand in China with the most economical investment and with broad product capability. We are glad to work with Grace to meet our business objectives leveraging our excellent experience using the UNIPOL PP technology."

Al Beninati, President of Grace's Specialty Catalysts business segment, said, "Grace is very pleased that the success of our previous license with Oriental Energy resulted in an additional license at the facility. Combined with our non-phthalate CONSISTA catalysts, the state-of-the-art technology will enable the Ningbo facility to provide a wide portfolio of advanced products to their customers."

As MRC informed before, W. R. Grace & Co., has recently contracted to license its UNIPOL PP process technology to Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) for the integrated petrochemical complex at its Al-Zour refinery and Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd. for a 1-MMtpy ethylene cracker and refinery expansion project at its facility in Quanzhou, Fujian province, China. Expected to open in 2023, the KIPIC complex is designed to produce 940 ktpy of PP, including high-end homopolymer, random copolymer and impact copolymer thermoplastic resins. KIPIC is a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Kuwait’s national oil company. A long-time Grace customer, KPC previously licensed UNIPOL PP Process Technology for an affiliate’s JV.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess has completed the expansion of its custom synthesis Saltigo business unit in Leverkusen, Germany, as per the company's press release.

The company invested EUR60m in building two new multi-purpose production lines at the Central Organics Pilot Plant (ZeTO) as well as the construction of a neighbouring tank container storage facility.

"Production will already be up and running in the new facilities by early January 2018," said Saltigo managing director Torsten Derr. "The additional capacities will be available at just the right time, on schedule and within budget as we had planned."

Following the expansion, ZeTO’s total reactor volume will be 570 cubic metres (cbm) with the largest of the 75 stirred-tank reactors having a capacity of 16cbm. Capacities for solids isolation have also been expanded significantly, the company said.

As MRC informed before, in early 2016, Lanxess AG started up a second production line for high-performance plastics compounding at its facility in Gastonia, N.C. The new line represented an investment of about USD15 million and doubles the site’s annual production capacity from 20,000 to 40,000 metric tons. In the plant, the basic polymers nylon and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) are mixed and refined with special additives and glass fiber, according to client requirements, to make the high-performance plastic product lines Durethan and Pocan.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 16,600 employees in 29 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC