Yansab starts maintenance at PE units

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab) has shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) units for maintenance, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the company has commenced turnaround at the units last week. The planned outage is expected to remain in force for around 6-7 weeks.

Located in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia the HDPE and LLDPE units have a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year each.

As MRC informed before, on March 6, 2017, Yansab announced contract award for the ethylene glycol DBN project to (eTEC E&C Limited) for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of the project, the total contract is at lump-sum USD 99.4 Millions. The project will be financed from Yansab own resources. Noting that the expected completion of the project will be end of 2018, after project completion the ethylene glycol plant production is expected to be increased by not less than 80 thousand tons/year.

Yansab is the most recent SABIC, (Saudi Basic Industries Corp), affiliate in Saudi Arabia, and will be the largest Sabic petrochemical complex. It will have an annual capacity exceeding 4 million metric tons (MT) of petrochemical products including: 1.3 million MT (metric-tons) of ethylene; 400,000 MT of propylene; 900,000 MT of polyethylene; 400,000 MT of polypropylene; 700,000 MT of ethylene glycol; 250,000 MT of benzene, xylene and toluene, and 100,000 MT of butene-1 and butene-2.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Contanda announced it has officially withdrawn its permit application to handle and store crude oil at the company’s Grays Harbor terminal, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As announced last week, Contanda will now pursue permits to expand its facility to handle and store a portfolio of cleaner fuels including biodiesel, renewable diesel and ultra-low sulfur diesel in anticipation of increased demand for low-carbon, cleaner fuels.

Since 2009, Contanda has safely operated a state of the art facility to handle bulk liquid storage and logistics at the Port of Grays Harbor. Leveraging LEEN Engineering standards for development, the revised application for eight new storage tanks capable of storing 1.1 million barrels of liquid is in response to customer demand and the strong future across the West Coast for biofuels and commodities such as ultra-low-sulfur diesel as low carbon fuel standards and carbon regulations continue to move forward.

“We heard the community, met with our customers and developed a revised strategy involving the storage of clean products,” said G.R. “Jerry” Cardillo, CEO of Contanda. “With the highest commitment to safety, our neighbors and the environment, we look forward to this potential expansion which will bring jobs, tax revenue and other economic benefits to the community for the long term."

Grays Harbor’s strategic location and infrastructure are attractive to Contanda and potential customers whose products originate in the Northwest and can travel by rail to the port to be transferred to deep-water marine vessels. The project would create as many as 100 jobs during construction and up to 20 permanent positions when operational.

On Jan. 29, Contanda withdrew its permit application for crude oil and submitted its new application to the City of Hoquiam, which begins the permitting process for cleaner fuels. The company will continue to work closely with the City of Hoquiam and the Washington Department of Ecology, but does not yet have a timeline for the revised project.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Canadian government, which faces growing protests against major energy projects, this week will present plans to improve the way oil pipelines and mines are assessed, two well-placed sources said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Three entities share responsibility for probing the environmental impact of proposed projects, a system the ruling Liberals say the public does not trust.

Ottawa is due to unveil draft legislation creating a single body to look into projects on federally regulated land, said the sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. The announcement could come as early as Tuesday.

“There will be one responsible authority,” said one source, adding that the government would stick closely to a plan it issued last June. Under that plan, the National Energy Board (NEB), which critics say is too close to the industry, would lose the power to assess resource projects.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians need more faith in the assessment system. He also stresses the need for Canada to get landlocked crude to its coasts to fetch better prices.

The industry has become frustrated with the current process, which critics say failed now-canceled pipeline projects such as Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and TransCanada’s Energy East. “We don’t want to have a slam dunk-kind process, but the process needs to be fair. It needs to be balanced amongst the various interests,” said Chris Bloomer, chief executive of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. “We need to get to clarity, because we’re not getting stuff done now.”

Green activists and aboriginal protesters, who have had success targeting pipelines, are now focused on Kinder Morgan Canada’s plan to nearly triple the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast. Trudeau’s government approved the expansion in 2016, but it is still facing permit delays.

The legislation could take effect by July 2019, one of the sources said. It would have little immediate impact as projects already under review will continue under the existing system. While industry has pushed for a two stage review, where it is first determined if a project is in the national interest, green groups are concerned that would undermine subsequent assessments.

“I‘m not overly confident we’re going to see a strong bill that restores Canadian confidence in the environmental assessment system,” said Patrick DeRochie of the Environmental Defence group. A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who is responsible for pushing the draft legislation through parliament, declined to comment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - European refiners are threatening to cut Russian oil purchases due to worsening quality after Moscow has re-routed large volumes of crude to China, as part of its fight with OPEC and the United States for market share in fast growing Asian markets, as per Reuters.

The quality of Russia's flagship Urals oil grade has deteriorated so much that multiple buyers are reviewing how much they buy and the price they are willing to pay for it, according to traders and sources close to European refiners.

Russia has forged closer ties with energy-hungry China at a time of chilling relations with the West over Moscow's role in Ukrainian crisis and allegations of its interference in foreign elections, accusations denied by the Kremlin.

Miroslaw Kochalski, vice-president of PKN Orlen, Poland's biggest refiner, told Reuters in an interview that the changing quality of the Urals his company buys could influence future deals. "It opens room for negotiations with partners, also regarding price conditions," Kochalski said. According to the industry sources who spoke to Reuters, that position is shared by others in the industry who buy Urals crude. The Russian energy ministry and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft both acknowledge the problem of weak Urals quality.

The Urals oil that reaches customers in Europe is a blend of different sources of oil, with the mixing taking place inside Russia's pipeline system. The quality depends on the relative proportions of higher-quality and lower-quality darker oils in the mix.

Data on Urals chemical composition, obtained by Reuters from industry sources, showed the oil exported to Europe this month is near the bottom end of the quality range allowed under a standard set by Russia's state standards agency Rosstandart. The trading sources said they track the quality via documents that accompany cargos of crude pumped from Russia.

The worsening of Urals quality has dampened its price and prompted buyers to think about the possibility of reducing the volumes they buy, according to the traders and sources close to European refineries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia wants to complete talks with strategic investors such as China, Japan and South Korea before deciding where to list shares in state oil company Saudi Aramco, reported Reuters with reference to three sources familiar with the discussions.

The decision shows the initial public offering (IPO), which could be the biggest in history, is becoming an increasingly difficult balancing act for Riyadh.

Saudi officials have said the government plans to sell up to 5 percent of Aramco shares on one or more foreign exchanges in addition to Riyadh.

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Riyadh to list Aramco on the New York stock exchange, and British Prime Minister Theresa May has called for it to be in London. But Riyadh also has to take into account views over where the shares should be listed from the countries expected to be Aramco's biggest cornerstone investors - those who commit in advance to invest a fixed amount of money or for a fixed number of shares.

Sources close to the IPO said decisions must be taken by March if the IPO is to be carried out in October or November, and otherwise could be delayed until a year later.

"Everyone is talking about venues for the listing and why they haven't been chosen yet. Indeed, you have Trump encouraging Aramco to list in New York and May encouraging to list in London. But that is only the tip of the iceberg," said a senior Saudi source close to the IPO process. "Aramco is also holding talks with cornerstone investors, who often express their views on where Aramco should list. And hence Aramco and the Saudi government need to think how to get the best value out of all this, how to get the best strategic arrangements out of this."

Asked whether a decision on where to list Aramco would be made only when talks with strategic investors are over, Aramco told Reuters: "This is speculative and we decline to comment."

Asia has become the biggest and most important buyer of crude oil from Aramco and the giant oil firm wants to secure Asian markets for the long-term as it faces competition from suppliers such as Russia and the United States. The sources said some cornerstone investors were keen to see Aramco listed on Asian and Saudi exchanges rather than in New York or London.

"Bankers have been emphasizing to Aramco the importance of securing cornerstone investors first before moving forward with a decision on the listing. Asian cornerstone investors are most logical as that is where the oil flows to," a Gulf-based banker familiar with the IPO preparations said.

Aramco's IPO is part of a drive by the Saudi government to reduce the economy's reliance on oil and transform the kingdom.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who unveiled the Vision 2030 reform plan in April 2016, has suggested Aramco could be valued at as much as USD2 trillion.

The IPO could raise over USD100 billion if Aramco goes ahead with plans to list 5 percent and cornerstone investors could buy a big part of it, sources told Reuters. "If the IPO is going to be done in the second half of the year, then the government really does need to have a decision... They will have to get the prospectus out by the beginning of the second quarter," said a second senior source familiar with the IPO preparations. "If you are going to do it, you might as well do it now," the source said, referring to a rise in oil prices to USD70 per barrel.

Prices have doubled from their lows of 2015-2016 as Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and non-OPEC Russia reduced output to help prop up prices in 2017-2018.

Washington has been a longstanding political ally of Riyadh and New York offers the best liquidity of all exchanges but has stricter disclosure requirements than the London or Hong Kong exchanges.

Saudi Arabia is also considering listing Aramco shares on the local stock exchange, Tadawul, but there are concerns that this could damage the market.

The second source said international exchanges such as such as London, New York and Hong Kong were still being analysed but options also included making Hong Kong the only listing abroad, or listing on Hong Kong plus private placements with cornerstone investors.

A third industry source familiar with the IPO said Riyadh wanted a decision taken by March on where to list the shares so that Aramco could be listed on at least the local bourse by October.

A fourth industry source said the official announcement may not come until October, when Saudi Arabia is due to host a major investment conference.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC