CPC resumes production at RFCC unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CPC Corp, Taiwan has restarted its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) unit in Dalin, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on November 23, 2017. The unit was shut for maintenance on September 13, 2017.

Initially, the plant was scheduled to be taken off-stream on 8 September, 2017.

Located at Dalin in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the RFCC has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

US crude extends rally to USD58, first time since 2015

MOSCOW (MRC) — Oil extended gains on Wednesday, with US crude hitting USD58/bbl for the first time since July 2015 as a major pipeline cut Canadian crude flows to the United States, where inventories are expected to have fallen further, said Reuters.

The Keystone pipeline will cut deliveries by 85% or more through the end of November, sources said. A report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a big drop in US crude stocks, ahead of Wednesday's official inventory data. "There is a shortage of crude oil into the United States. Hence the rally in the prices," PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said.

US crude rose to USD58.05/bbl, the highest since July 2015, before easing to USD57.78, up 95 cents, by 1216 GMT. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 57 cents at USD63.14. Keystone, which carries 590,000 bpd of crude from Alberta's oil sands to markets in the United States, was shut last week after a 5,000-bbl spill in South Dakota.

This adds to a picture of tighter US supplies. The API said on Tuesday that crude stocks dropped by 6.4 MMbbl in the week to Nov. 17, far above analysts' expectations. The latest official US production and inventory data is due on Wednesday at 1530 GMT.

"If we see the US Energy Information Administration ... confirming the big draw in crude oil stocks reported by the API last night, I think we will see the market going higher," Varga said. Oil has also been supported by an effort led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to end a global supply overhang by restraining output.

The deal to curb production expires in March, but is widely expected to be extended at a Nov. 30 meeting. "There is growing consensus that OPEC will extend their production cut deal at the end of the month. This confidence along with the current geopolitical environment has kept ICE Brent trading firmly above USD60 /bbl," Dutch bank ING said.

"However, an outcome at the OPEC meeting which falls short of market expectations, will likely lead to a selloff, and given the large speculative long in Brent, this could be fairly severe," it added.
MRC

INEOS acquires majority share in two gas exploration licences in North Sea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS UK SNS Limited has agreed to take a majority share in two exploration licenses in the Northern Gas Fields West of Shetland which contains the Lyon prospect, from Siccar Point Energy E&P Limited, said the company on its website.

The deal complements the significant INEOS portfolio of producing assets and discoveries West of Shetland, recently acquired from DONG E&P. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary regulatory consents.

A significant opportunity now exists for INEOS to unlock gas from the most northerly licenced area of the UKCS, 150 km north of the Shetland Islands.

In particular Lyon, a material prospect that is thought to contain of 1-3 trillion cubic feet recoverable gas. If successful it could be large enough to form a new gas-hub development similar to the Laggan-Tormore fields, which have been developed with sub-sea infrastructure and pipelines to the Shetland Gas Plant. Existing gas discoveries in the Lyon area such as Tobermory, Bunnehaven and Cragganmore would all be suitable tie-back candidates into a Lyon gas hub.

Geir Tuft INEOS Oil & Gas CEO said "INEOS intends to become a significant player in this area. This deal confirms our aim to take a leading role to develop the Northern Gas Fields using the significant infrastructure investments already made West of Shetland."

"With the purchase of the DONG E&P business earlier in the year, INEOS took over a significant portfolio of producing assets and discoveries West of Shetland. It is clear that the Northern Gas Area holds further opportunities that could help unlock the development of those discoveries. The deal with Siccar compliments our assets."

Siccar Point Energy’s CEO Jonathan Roger commented "As licence operator we are excited to be moving forward in conjunction with INEOS to drill the Lyon prospect. This represents an opportunity to unlock the material gas potential of the most northerly licenced area of the UKCS. We look forward to working with INEOS in this new exploration partnership and to operating our first exploration well."
MRC

TransCanada starts excavation work after South Dakota pipeline leak

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canada Corp has started initial excavation work at the site of an oil spill on its Keystone pipeline in South Dakota but has not yet pinpointed where the leak came from, a state official said on Monday, reported Reuters.

The 590,000-bpd Keystone pipeline, which links Alberta’s oil sands to US refineries, was shut down on Thursday after a 5,000 bbl spill.

Calgary-based TransCanada is working through the clean-up process, said Brian Walsh, environmental scientist manager for the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"They are digging some smaller excavations to get a sense of where the oil is and have started recovering oil from this area," Walsh said.

TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said it had around 150 people on site working around the clock and the cause of the leak was under investigation.

The company has not yet set an expected restart date for Keystone, which is one of Canada’s main crude export pipelines.

Canadian heavy crude grades remained under pressure on concerns about crude getting bottlenecked in Alberta. Western Canada Select heavy blend crude for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at USD16.25/bbl below benchmark US crude, according to Shorcan Energy brokers.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in May 2017, Pembina Pipeline Corporation announced that it, along with Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C. of Kuwait, had reached key milestones for the previously announced proposed integrated propylene and polypropylene (PP) production facility in Sturgeon County, Alberta. Pembina and PIC had executed 50/50 JV agreements that includes binding commercial terms in support of the Project and have formed a new entity, Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation. Additionally, Pembina was pleased to announce that CKPC woul proceed with activities for front end engineering design for the Project.
MRC

IndianOil & IDCO sign MoU to partner in setting up plastics park at Paradip

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp. (IndianOil) and Industrial Development Corp. of Odisha (IDCO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in setting up a plastics park at Paradip in India, according to Apic-online.

The MoU was signed at a "first-of-its-kind" Petrochemical Investors Conclave in India on 16 Nov. 2017, which was inaugurated by Dharmendra Pradhan, India's Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Details on the proposed project were not available.

"India's petrochemicals sector is going through a golden period, with growth rates of 14% to 15% per annum," noted Pradhan. "Odisha, with ready availability of raw material from Indian Oil Corpora-tion's Paradip refinery and other units, skilled, low-cost manpower, port infrastructure and rail connectivity and a large regional market, must fully utilize the opportunity to create investment opportunities in the downstream plastics park and textiles park in the state," he said.

IndianOil is building a 700,000-t/y polypropylene plant at Paradip, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018 and will feed downstream polymer/plastics ancillary units.

As MRC reported earlier, Indian Oil Corporation's Rs 34,555-crore 15 million tonnes per annum Paradip Refinery was commissioned in phases from March 2015 onwards. Indian Oil Corporation was conducting feasibility studies to set up a petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha for Rs 20,000 crore. The petrochemical complex will be built in the vicinity of the company’s to-be-commissioned 15-mln tpa greenfield refinery at Paradip. The petrochemical complex will be in addition to the already announced Rs 3,150-crore polypropylene project at the same location, the foundation stone for which was laid by MOS for petroleum and natural gas.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
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