Saudi Arabia to start drilling for shale gas this year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude oil, has unveiled its intentions to remain a world energy powerhouse for the foreseeable future, partly by exploiting new technology which has unlocked vast quantities of oil and natural gas in North America, informed Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Saudi Arabia will push ahead this year with exploratory drilling of shale and other unconventional gas reserves which could be twice the size of its conventional gas reserves, which total 286 trillion cubic feet, Minister of Oil Ali al-Naimi said.

Exploiting unconventional and renewable energy will allow Saudi Arabia to meet rising domestic demand while maintaining crude-oil exports, add Mr. al-Naimi.

"This year alone we are going to test seven wells for shale. We have rough estimates of 600 trillion cubic feet of unconventional shale gas. The potential is very huge and we plan to exploit it," he said during a Credit Suisse conference.

Mr. al-Naimi didn't offer a forecast of how quickly Saudi Arabia might achieve commercial production of shale gas or shale oil, or describe how it will supply the large amounts of water used in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the process used to extract oil and gas from shale.

Saudi Arabia is known more for its massive crude-oil exports than its modest gas output, and so far it hasn't managed to increase gas production enough to replace oil as feedstock in planned petrochemical or electricity-generating projects.

Natural gas output from state giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, averaged 9.9 billion cubic feet/day in 2011, up from 9.4 billion cubic feet/day in 2010. Aramco CEO Khalid al-Falih said in December that the company plans to drill seven natural gas exploration wells in deep and shallow water in the Red Sea, off the coast of the northwestern city of Tabuk.

As MRC wrote earlier, in late 2012, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world's largest petrochemical maker,
unveiled its plans to invest in companies in the U.S and elsewhere that have technology to turn shale gas into chemical products.

The growth in U.S. shale-gas exploration and production has lowered domestic gas prices and enables producers there to use gas as feedstock. That has put pressure on petrochemical producers in Saudi Arabia who get gas for a government- subsidized price of USD0.75 per million British thermal units.
MRC

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) -- Russian producers aim to increase the price of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in April after price rises for March, despite the weak demand in the domestic market, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Cold weather still limits the demand for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the Russian market, that is why converters doubt that the producers will be able to undertake the price increase, citing the oversupply in the market.

At the same time, the difficulties of the transportation and turnarounds of the plants will affect the price forming. The traffic of trucks will be restricted in the Republic of Bashkortostan from 1, April, and from the middle of April the same traffic restrictions will be seen in Tatarstan.

Kazanorgsintez stops its LDPE capacities on almost month's turnaround from 18, April. According to unconfirmed information, Ufaorgsintez plans to stop its LDPE capacities in mid-May on 10-days maintenance.

However, market sources report that Kazanorgsintez and Ufaorgsintez plan to increase the prices of LDPE for April by Rb1,500 - 2,000/tonne. The companies have not confirmed this information, but at the same time did not deny it.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and PetroSA, South Africa’s state-owned oil company, signed a framework agreement to build a crude refinery that’s set to be the country’s biggest, said Bloomberg.

The companies agreed to include the Industrial Development Corp., a Johannesburg-based state lender, into the next phase of the USD10 billion Mthombo refinery project in Port Elizabeth on South Africa’s south coast, they said in a joint statement.The framework agreement with Sinopec, as Asia’s biggest refiner is known, is valid for two years.

The 400,000-barrel-a-day plant would almost double the country’s current combined capacity of 497,000 barrels from four refineries, according to data from the South African Petroleum Association. PetroSA started studying Mthombo as diesel and gasoline imports rose on the back of economic expansion, with demand exceeding local refinery output for the first time in 2007.

"Sinopec and PetroSA will jointly explore other cooperation opportunities in the hydrocarbon industry," Sinopec Group Chairman Fu Chengyu said in the statement.

The companies in May last year agreed on how they will make the business case for the refinery. The framework signed today creates opportunities for cooperation in oil and gas exploration in South Africa and its surrounding countries, the companies said in the statement.

As MRC wrote earlier, Sinopec has consolidated eight of its construction subsidiaries to create Sinopec Engineering Group Co. With an aim to gain more market share within the petrochemical construction market, the new engineering firm is expected to handle 20 simultaneous engineering projects worth USD15.8 billion a year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The imports of polyethylene (PE) to Kazakhstan in January on seasonal factor decreased by 24% from December 2012 to about 10,900 tonnes, according MRC DataScope.

The imports of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) declined while the imports of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) remained unchanged.

Imports of HDPE in January fell to 9,500 tonnes, down 27% from December 2012. Where the imports of HDPE from the Common Customs Union (Russia, Belarus) made 4,500 tonnes, while in December, this figure was 6,500 tonnes. HDPE imports from other countries made 5,000 tonnes, while in December 2012 - 6,500 tonnes.

In January 2013, imports of high-density polyethylene to Kazakhstan made 10,600 tonnes, down 10% from January 2012. This year imports of HDPE declined due to the weaker production of polyethylene pipes. Cold weather and the almost complete absence of state funding of infrastructure projects were the main reasons for the reduction in demand for plastic pipes in the country.

LDPE market was more stable. Thus, LDPE imports in January made 1,4 tonnes, which was equal to imports in December 2012. The import of LDPE in January 2012 made just over 1,000 tonnes.

In 2012 the total imports of polyethylene to Kazakhstan made 109,700 tonnes, where 93,500 tonnes was HDPE and 16,200 tonnes was LDPE.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US has overtaken the Middle East as the region with the cheapest petrochemicals feedstock for the first time since the Gulf’s industry was established, said Plastemart.

The boom in shale gas production has created a wealth of cheap gas feedstock in North America, driving a new generation of petrochemicals expansion in the US.

As MRC wrote earlier, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics, and Chevron Phillips Chemical have recently unveiled their expansion plans in North America. It is only been a few short years since the energy industry began tapping deposits in the Marcellus Shale Formation in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, but natural gas reserves in the USA have already increased by almost 30 per cent and chemical suppliers are rushing to exploit this new wellspring.

ExxonMobil is also considering building two new polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, Texas, as well as a new ethane cracker in Baytown, Texas.
Nova Chemicals has a series of growth projects of its own in development in Ontario Chemical Valley, including the possible construction of a new world-scale polyethylene plant in Sarnia-Lambton.

"The cash cost per tonne of ethylene in the US in Q4-2012 was lower than the cash cost in Saudi Arabia," said Nexant vice-president, Middle East, Graham Hoar, speaking at the MEED Middle East Petrochemicals 2013 conference.

It is a dramatic change in economics in the US. The average US feedstock price has also been pushed down by a surplus of propane in the market. The price of propane in the fourth quarter was half the value than would be expected given the price of naphtha. US does not have the refrigerated facilities needed to export the propane so it is a distressed sale. However, the significant change in costs starting at the end of the last year is only forecast to be temporary, as the US is expected to invest in propane export infrastructure.

MRC