Sadara commissions last plant of its Saudi petchem complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi-based Sadara Chemical Co has commissioned the last plant at its petrochemicals complex in Jubail, reported Reuters with reference to Saudi Aramco's statement.

The toluene diisocyanate (TDI) unit began production this week while the dinitro toluene (DNT) and toluene diamine (TDA) started operations in April, Aramco said.

TDI is mainly used in the production of flexible polyurethane foam for furniture, mattresses and car seats.

It has also other industrial uses, such as coatings, adhesives, sealants, specialty foams among others.

Sadara has been announcing the start up of new plants in its complex, which it says is the world's largest petrochemical facility to be built in a single phase. It started the region's first mixed-feed cracker last year.

The Sadara complex is made of 26 integrated facilities in Jubail, eastern Saudi Arabia and has the capacity to produce more than 3 MMt of products per year.

Many products are produced in the kingdom for the first time, including isocyanates as the world's largest oil exporter moves downstream.

Sadara will transform the kingdom "from a consumer and importer to a global exporter," the statement quoted Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih as saying.

"Sadara's slate of high-value chemicals, including many firsts for the Kingdom and the region, will create the quality performance, value-added and plastics products that support a higher living standard around the world, especially in the emerging Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern markets that will drive two-thirds of global petrochemical demand over the next decade."

As MRC wrote before, in late December 2016, Saudi Arabia's Sadara Basic Services, fully owned by Sadara Chemical Co , started the planned maintenance of a mixed-feed cracker at its parent company's petrochemical complex in Jubail. The shutdown of the facility is expected to last six weeks, with the company's three polyethylene trains also shut during the period as Sadara completes improvements to their reliability and scheduled maintenance.

Sadara Chemical is a USD20 billion petrochemical joint venture between national oil giant Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical .
MRC

July production of unmixed PVC in Russia dropped to 63,100 tonnes from 81,200 tonnes a month earlier, SayanskKhimplast and Bashkir Soda Company reduced their output because of scheduled shutdowns for maintenance. Overall PVC production reached 530,800 tonnes in January-July 2017, compared to 421,100 tonnes a year earlier. Only three plants out of four increased their output, and this year's high level of production growth was caused by the long forced outage at SayanskKhimPlast in February-July 2016.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl (joint venture of SIBUR and SolVin) produced 24,700 tonnes of PVC in July, with 2,200 tonnes accounting for emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC), compared to 25,400 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, RusVinyl's overall production of resin reached 180,500 tonnes in the first seven months of 2017 versus 180,100 tonnes a year earlier.

SayanskKhimPlast shut down its production capacities for a 30-day turnaround on 24 July. Thus, the plant's overall output reached 19,700 tonnes for the incomplete July, compared to 26,700 tonnes a month earlier. SayanskKhimPlast managed to produce 156,000 tonnes of resin over the stated period versus 42,800 tonnes a year earlier (the low output in 2016 was caused by the forced long outage from mid-February to July).

Bashkir Soda Company also shut down its production capacities for a two-week maintenance last month (the outage began on 15 July), the plant's PVC output fell to 10,800 tonnes from 21,600 tonnes in July. The Bashkir plant's PVC production totalled 140,700 tonnes in the first seven months of 2017, compared to 148,700 tonnes a year earlier.

Kaustik (Volgograd) slightly increased its production last month, the plant's suspension PVC (SPVC) output slightly exceeded 7,900 tonnes versus 7,300 tonnes in June. The plant's overall production of resin reached 53,600 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 49,400 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices fell on Monday as a slowdown in Chinese refining raised concerns about demand in the world's second-biggest consumer, while an increase in US drilling capacity could deepen a global supply glut, reported Reuters.

Chinese refineries processed 10.71 MMbpd in July, National Bureau of Statistics data showed, down around 500,000 bpd from June and the lowest rate since September 2016.

Analysts said the drop was steeper than expected, exacerbating concerns that a glut of refined fuel products could weaken Chinese demand for oil.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures were at USD51.74/bbl at 1134 GMT, down 36 cents from Friday's close. They touched a low of USD51.61 earlier in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at USD48.51, down 31 cents.

Investors were also cautious after data published by oil services firm Baker Hughes on Friday showed explorers increased US oil drilling capacity for the second time in three weeks, extending a 15-month recovery.

The rising rig count hints at sustained output growth just as the world's major oil producers, excluding the United States, try to stem oversupply by trimming production.

Efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers to limit output have helped prop up prices above USD50/bbl.

Breaching this threshold has meant more money managers are betting on further gains in Brent, with the latest ICE exchange data showing investors last week raised net long holdings of the commodity by the highest amount this year.

This contrasts with more bearish bets placed in the US market, where investors cut net long US crude positions last week, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Oversupply has been exacerbated by rising production in OPEC member Libya, which is exempt from a global deal to cut output and has been trying to regain its pre-war production levels.

"The recovery in Libyan production has been the single largest factor driving global supply growth in the last few months," oil analysts at Panmure Gordon wrote.

Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Monday it was investigating security violations at its biggest oilfield, Sharara.

Sharara has been producing around 270,000 bpd but the NOC did not specify whether the violations had affected output.

Workers at the country's Zueitina export terminal have also threatened to block a tanker due to dock on Saturday unless demands for salary and overtime payments are met.

As MRC informed before, on 25 July 2017, oil rose by more than 2% on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia vowed to reduce exports from next month and OPEC called on members to boost compliance with agreed output cuts to help curb oversupply and support flagging crude prices. At a meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on 24 July, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers discussed extending their deal to cut output by 1.8 MMbpd beyond March 2018, if necessary.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fluor Corporation has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contract from Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation for an isononanol plant located in Pengerang, Malaysia, said Chemicals-technology.

Fluor’s energy and chemicals business Asia-Pacific region president Ken Choudhary said: "This award is a testament to the strong partnership we have with Petronas. "We will use our experience and best practices gained from completing other isononanol facilities on time and on budget to deliver this project with excellence."

"Isononanol is an important chemical building block in plasticisers used in the automotive and building industries." This project is part of Petronas' Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project, as well as the USD27bn Pengerang Integrated Complex development.

In a consortium with Technip, Fluor is serving as the programme management consultant for the RAPID project, as well as the EPCM contractor for the utilities, interconnecting, and offsites scope.

Isononanol is an important chemical building block in plasticisers used in the automotive and building industries. The facility is expected to start operations in 2019.

As MRC informed earlier, Fluor Corporation announced that the Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Company’s (MWSPC) Umm Wu’al Phosphate Project in Saudi Arabia has started production of ammonia, merchant-grade acid and fertilizer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I announced it has been awarded a contract by Tecnicas Reunidas, S.A. for new product storage tanks that will be part of a clean fuels expansion project at Saudi Aramco's refinery in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

CB&I's scope includes the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of nine flat bottom tanks, as well as modifications to numerous existing tanks, all of which were previously supplied by CB&I.

In support of Saudi Aramco's In-Kingdom Total Value Add program, CB&I will provide all fabrication and project management utilizing its local facilities in Al-Khobar. The project will facilitate CB&I's ongoing efforts to train, develop and employ Saudi Arab nationals in key positions.

As MRC informed earlier, CB&Ihas been awarded a contract by Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) for the engineering, procurement and construction management of a delayed coker unit in Pancevo, Serbia.

CB&I is a leading provider of technology and infrastructure for the energy industry.
MRC