Refiner operating at minimum rates due to COVID-19 hit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PBF Energy Inc said it was operating its refineries at minimum rates, with throughput about 30% lower than the refiner’s expectations, as coronavirus-driven travel curbs hit fuel demand, said Reuters.

The company also announced sweeping cost-cutting measures, including scrapping its dividend, to tackle the demand shock from the virus pandemic as travel restrictions have led to grounding of flights and fewer vehicles on roads.

The refiner announced pay cuts taken by company executives and employees, with Chief Executive Officer Thomas Nimbley taking a 67% cut, while the board and executive leadership have halved their compensation.

The refiner expects to lower 2020 operating expenses by about $125 million and will reduce capital expenditure for the year by $240 million or 35%, including spending on the newly acquired Martinez refinery.

The company also withdrew its throughput outlook for the first quarter and 2020, and said it was suspending its quarterly dividend of USD0.30 per share.PBF also agreed to sell five hydrogen plants to Air Products and Chemicals Inc for USD530 million in cash.

As MRC informed earlier, US refiner PBF Energy has completed its acquisition of Shell’s 157,000 bbl/day Martinez refinery near San Francisco, California. The USD1bn deal, agreed in June 2019, was completed effective 1 February 2020.

PBF Energy and Shell have agreed to jointly move forward with reviewing the feasibility of building a proposed renewable diesel project which would repurpose existing idled equipment at the Martinez refinery to create a renewable fuels production facility. The detailed feasibility review and planning for this project is expected to continue after deal closing.

As MRC informed earlier, in March 2019, Mammoet safely completed a critical lift at Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals Project in Potter Township, utilizing its MSG80 to hoist a 2,000 ton quench tower into position. The facility is the first major US project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the facility will boast an ethane cracker and three polyethylene units, and is expected to employ up to 600 employees.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy trader Gunvor Group said its oil refinery in Ingolstadt, Germany, was in the process of restarting its first units after finishing maintenance, reported Reuters.

The 110,000 barrel-per-day refinery was fully shut down for maintenance for several weeks in March.

as MRC informed earlier, in late 2019, the TOTAL refinery in Leuna has recently awarded Bilfinger two further major contracts worth roughly EUR30 million: the first involves exchanging the reactor systems; the second, performing the turnaround for the plant’s POX methanol facility. More than 800 Bilfinger specialists will be involved in these two projects. TOTAL’s refinery Mitteldeutschland in Leuna is one of the most modern industrial plants in Europe. Its output products include gasoline, heating oil, liquefied gas, diesel and methanol - indispensable raw materials for any economy. It is easy to see that operating and maintaining such a huge facility is no simple task.

We also remind that Total is evaluating new gas cracker project in South Korea as part of petchems growth strategy.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North Atlantic Refining Ltd’s Come-by-Chance refinery in Canada will be the first to close in North America due to the coronavirus pandemic as refineries worldwide cut back operations, reported Reuters.

The company confirmed on Monday that it told stakeholders it was pausing production because of concerns about worker safety as the virus spreads.

Refineries worldwide have shut units or are operating at minimum processing levels due to slumping demand, as the pandemic has caused the global aviation industry to virtually shut and motorists to stay off the roads. Overall global fuel demand is expected to drop by 20% to 30% in April and remain weak for months after that.

So far, the refineries that have shut down are smaller operations. Come-by-Chance, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, can process up to 130,000 barrels per day. Last week, Italy’s API shut its 85,000 bpd refinery in Ancona, the first to shut in Europe, due to demand concerns.

Come by Chance will maintain a reduced workforce, the company said in a statement that went out late on Sunday.

“While we have no cases of COVID-19 at the refinery, our actions are consistent with the advice of public health officials to further prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” it said.

Numerous refineries worldwide, including India’s IOC, Phillips 66 and PBF in the United States, and several units in Brazil and Venezuela have already cut production.

Several U.S. refineries have stopped using contractors that were performing maintenance work, and others, including Delta Airlines’ Trainer, Pennsylvania refinery, are operating with smaller staffs.

The length of the shutdown at Come-by-Chance is currently unclear.

As MRC informed earlier, US-based Phillips 66 is delaying three sizeable scheduled shutdowns at its refineries this year, the company said last week, because of concerns that coronavirus could spread among the refineries' workers if the maintenance goes ahead.

We also reminad that Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Christian Kullmann, chairman of Evonik Industries, has been appointed president of German chemical industry association VCI (Frankfurt) with immediate effect, said Chemweek.

Kullmann succeeds Hans Van Bylen, chairman of Henkel, as VCI president. Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, has assumed the role of VCI vice president. VCI says that due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, the VCI presidential council made the two appointments in a written circulation procedure. They will be endorsed by the VCI general assembly due to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in September 2020.

"The corona epidemic is a fundamental change and a test for our country and for all of us,” Kullmann says. “In this exceptional situation, our companies are doing whatever they can to supply the public and the health system with medical goods without thinking of profits. We are pooling our resources to develop virus tests, vaccines, and medicines and to make available disinfectants and plastics for protective clothing and medical equipment."

According to Kullmann, it is now essential to secure jobs and stabilize the economy. “Together with politicians and trade unions, we need to create the prerequisites for our economy to return to growth as soon as possible,” he says. “In particular, this applies to the Mittelstand, the medium-sized enterprises which have been forming for decades the reliable backbone of the German economy, especially in the chemical industry."

Seeking and driving forward an open and objective dialogue with politicians and society is one of the central tasks of Kullmann’s presidency, he says. “In order to strengthen the performance of the chemical-pharmaceutical industry, we need business-friendly framework conditions in Germany so that we can hold our own and grow in international competition,” Kullmann says. “After all, the chemical industry is an essential starting point of much-needed value and supply chains. Right now, it becomes apparent that our researchers and developers are carrying out immense tasks for humankind, for example in medicine, nutrition, and the fight against climate change. Chemistry is the only way towards a sustainable society, as we are the engineers of the future."

Kullmann became an Evonik board member in 2014 and was named the company's chairman in 2017.

As MRC informed earlier, Evonik has fully resumed operations in its 10 factories and four offices in China. The company did not indicate the level of production load, and whether all employees returned to work. The Chinese government instructed companies to return to work on February 10 after the New Year holidays were extended by 10 days to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in Wuhan in central China.

The company added that not a single employee of Evonik has contracted the virus in China or elsewhere.

It was previously reported that in June 2018, Evonik Industries launched the production of a new generation of phthalate-free plasticizers of PVC with a capacity of 40 thousand tons per year at its production complex in Marl, Germany.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 36,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, with U.S. crude briefly dropping below USD20 and Brent hitting its lowest in 18 years, on heightened fears that the global coronavirus shutdown could last months and demand for fuel could decline further, Reuters.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was down USD1.98, or 7.9%, at USD22.95 by 1337 GMT, after earlier dropping to USD22.58, the lowest since November 2002.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was USD1.31, or 6.1%, lower at USD20.20. Earlier in the session, WTI fell as low as USD19.92. The price of oil is now so weak that it is becoming unprofitable for many oil firms to remain active, analysts said, and higher-cost producers will have no choice but to shut production, especially since storage capacities are almost full.

“Global oil demand is evaporating on the back of COVID 19-related travel restrictions and social distancing measures,” said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo. “In the near term, oil prices may need to trade lower into the cash cost curve to trigger production shut-ins to start to prevent tank tops being reached,” he added.

Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen, said: “The oil market supply chains are broken due to the unbelievably large losses in oil demand, forcing all available alternatives of supply chain adjustments to take place during April and May”.

These included cutting refinery runs and increasing onshore or offshore storage, he said. Supertanker freight rates are rising for a second time this month as traders rush to secure ships for storage. Goldman Sachs analysts said demand from commuters and airlines, which account for about 16 million barrels per day of global consumption, may never return to previous levels.

Besides the demand shock, the oil market is also under pressure from a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, after the collapse earlier this month of a three-year deal to limit supply between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers led by Moscow.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he planned to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. He said that Saudi Arabia and Russia “both went crazy” following the collapse of the deal to cut output, as oil prices were pushed down by an economic slowdown caused by the need to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it plans to boost its oil exports to 10.6 million barrels per day from May. “This game of attrition is likely to drag prices even lower and even a price of $10 per barrel is no longer unimaginable,” said Hussein Sayed, analyst at FXTM.

Collapsing oil prices have left some African producers facing lost revenue when they most need it to tackle coronavirus. Sovereign wealth funds from oil-producing countries mainly in the Middle East and Africa are also on course to dump up to USD225 billion in equities.

The contango spread between May and November Brent crude futures reached its widest ever at USD13.45 a barrel, while the six-month spread for U.S. crude broadened to minus USD12.85 a barrel, the widest discount since February 2009.

In a contango market prompt prices are lower than those in future months, encouraging traders to store oil for future sales.

As MRC informed earlier, the Trump administration has decided not to appeal a court ruling that would sharply reduce its use of waivers exempting refineries from the nation’s biofuels regulation, cheering the corn lobby but drawing anger from oil refiners. The administration had until the end of March 24 to file a challenge, but by early March 25, no such filing had been entered, according to a case docket on the US government’s electronic access service for court records.

MRC