Gazprom Neft starts production of environmentally friendly oils

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazpromneft Lubricants Ltd, operator of the Gazprom Neft lubricants business, has announced that it has begun production of Gazpromneft TDAE (treated, distillate, aromatic, extracted) lubricant-plasticiser at its Omsk plant in Russia, using its own patent technology, reported GV.

The investment in the project, including the modernisation of a 17,000 t/y plasticiser facility at the Omsk refinery, amounted to more than RUB 400 million (~ EUR 5.8 million). According to the company, the new “green” process oil - designed to give plasticity and flexibility to rubber, tyres, and fabricated rubber products - meets latest international environmental requirements.

Established in November 2007, Gazpromneft Lubricants has six production facilities throughout Russia, Italy and Serbia. Total production volumes stand at over 500,000 t/y of premium oils, lubricants and service fluids.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Gazprom Neft began construction of a standalone 12,300 tpy-capacity hydrogen production unit at its Omsk Refinery. This processing facility will provide high-purity (99.9%) hydrogen for new and reconstructed hydrotreatment facilities, intended to reduce the sulfur content of motor-fuel components (blending agents). It will also eliminate hydrotreatment processes’ dependence on the rate of utilization of catalytic reforming units, from which hydrogen is currently produced as a by-product.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro has announced that it will expand its thermoplastic polyurethane production capacity in North America by 25% by debottlenecking its New Martinsville, WV, USA, manufacturing facility, as per GV.

The additional capacity is expected to come online in the second quarter of 2018.

According to Covestro, the investment signifies the strategic importance of TPU in the company’s overall portfolio. As the demand for TPU rises both in North America and globally, the additional capacity will allow Covestro to continue to support the growth of its customers as well as explore new market opportunities, the company said.

"We are very enthusiastic about the expansion of capacity in North America,” said Marius Wirtz, Global Head of TPU. “This aligns with our expansion activities in other regions and is a sign of our commitment to this innovative and versatile polymer."

Covestro’s TPU investment will expand production of its Texin line, which is used in diverse extrusion and injection moulding applications.

As MRC reported earlier, on 1 September, 2015, Bayer MaterialScience became known as Covestro. Bayer aims to float this business on the stock market by mid-2016 at the latest. The plans for the carve-out of Bayer MaterialScience were announced in September 2014.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China is offering to buy up to 5 percent of Saudi Aramco directly, sources said, a move that could give Saudi Arabia the flexibility to consider various options for its plan to float the world’s biggest oil producer on the stock market, said Reuters.

Chinese state-owned oil companies PetroChina (0857.HK) and Sinopec (0386.HK) have written to Saudi Aramco in recent weeks to express an interest in a direct deal, industry sources told Reuters. The companies are part of a state-run consortium including China’s sovereign wealth fund, the sources say.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last year the kingdom was considering listing about 5 percent of Aramco in 2018 in a deal that could raise USD100 billion, if the company is valued at about USD2 trillion as hoped.

"The Chinese want to secure oil supplies," one of the industry sources said. "They are willing to take the whole 5 percent, or even more, alone."

PetroChina and Sinopec declined to comment. The initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco is the centerpiece of an economic reform plan to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil and it would also provide a welcome boost to the kingdom’s budget which has been hit by low oil prices.

But the IPO plan has created public misgivings that Riyadh is relinquishing its crown jewels to foreigners cheaply at a time of low oil prices. Some Aramco employees would like the whole idea to be shelved, sources say.

Internal disagreements between what some advisers recommend and what the crown prince wants have delayed several key decisions about the IPO, industry sources said.

The sources also point to disagreements between senior government officials, with some pushing only to list Aramco locally or to delay the IPO beyond 2018 when they hope oil prices will have stabilized at USD55 to USD60 a barrel.

"A range of options, for the public listing of Saudi Aramco, continue to be held under active review. No decision has been made and the IPO process remains on track," said a Saudi Aramco spokesman.

Industry sources said the sale of a significant stake to Chinese firms was one of several options being considered by the kingdom as it weighs the benefits of a public listing.

One option includes selling some stock immediately to so-called cornerstone investors, such as China, and then selling shares on the local bourse as well as an international stock exchange, with New York, London and Hong Kong in the running.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil hit the highest level in 6 mos. in September amid Iran’s push to regain its lost market share during years it was under sanctions over its nuclear program, said Reuters.

The world’s fifth-biggest crude importer shipped in 1.83 MMt of crude oil from Iran in September, or 446,148 bpd. That is a 22.8% increase from nearly 1.5 MMt a year ago, customs data showed on Sunday.

South Korea mainly buys an ultra-light oil from Iran, also known as condensate, but the data does not provide a breakdown of imports.

Iran has continued to expand its oil production since sanctions were lifted last year. The Middle Eastern country aims to maintain its combined exports of crude and condensate at around 2.6 MMbpd for the rest of the year, even though Tehran had cleared excess oil stored onshore and offshore in recent months and its domestic demand growth keeps a lid on outbound shipments, a senior official of National Iranian Oil Company (NOC) said last month.

Although South Korea’s intake of Iranian oil in September grew on-year, the NOC notified its Asian buyers including South Korea that it could cut condensate exports in October due to maintenance at the South Pars gas field, according to industry sources.

South Korea’s oil imports from Iran jumped 43.1% to 14.03 MMt in January 2017–September 2017, or 377,059 bpd, from 9.81 MMt over the same period last year, according to the data.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s total crude imports in September were steady at around 12.3 MMt from the previous year, or 3.0 MMbpd, the data showed.

In the first nine months of this year, Korea’s crude oil imports rose 3.4% to 110.51 MMt, or 2.97 MMbpd, compared with 106.86 MMt during the same period a year earlier.

South Korea’s final September crude imports data is set to be released by state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) later this month.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s SK Energy has bought 6.5 MMbbl of US crude to be delivered between November and January, a company spokeswoman said on Monday, as the country’s top oil refiner steps up imports of the competitively priced oil, said Reuters.

The ramp-up in imports comes as US crude oil prices have dropped against Brent and Dubai, the benchmarks for Atlantic Basin and Middle East crude, making American oil attractive for Korean refiners. "We have kept buying US crude since we made our first purchase of it, almost 2 MMbbl every month because we found the economics of US crude are good," said Kim Woo-kyung, a spokeswoman at SK Innovation, which owns SK Energy.

The purchases help refiners reduce their heavy dependence on Middle East crude and also allows buyers to secure spot supplies when needed as US crude is freely traded, said Lee Dal-seok, senior research fellow at Korea Energy Economics Institute, a state-run think tank.

The ability to load US crude with Latin American supplies also improves freight economics, he said. SK Energy has chartered four Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) to load US and Mexican crude that will be delivered between November and January, according to trade and shipping sources and data on Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Two of these VLCCs—Gener8 Strength and Dalian—will arrive in Ulsan in November. Supertanker Gener8 Strength is carrying 2 MMbbl of Mexican crude and US crude, while VLCC Dalian has 2 MMbbl of US crude onboard, the sources said.

SK Energy has also bought 500,000 bbl of Mexican crude and 1.5 MMbbl of US crude, which will be loaded later this month onto VLCC Amphitrite and arrive in December, one of the sources said.

In early January, SK Energy is scheduled to receive 2 MMbbl of US crude onboard VLCC Leo Voyager, the source added.
MRC