MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian energy group Eni said most of its oil refineries in Italy were working at around 60% of their capacity as the coronavirus emergency continues, reported Reuters.
The pandemic has shut down large parts of economies across the globe and prompted many governments to slap tough restrictions on travel, triggering a steep fall in the demand for refined oil products.
In emailed comments, Eni said its biggest refinery Sannazzaro, in northern Italy, was running at around 50% of its capacity since it was also impacted by planned maintenance work.
It said maintenance work at its Taranto plant in southern Italy had been completed and the units involved were gradually being turned on.
“Eni is monitoring developments in the market so as to be able to make any eventual adjustments to supply,” it said.
State-controlled Eni distributes the fuels and lubricants it produces at its six Italian refineries across more than 4,000 service stations in Italy.
As MRC informed earlier, Italian energy group Eni said in mid-March all its refineries in Italy were working normally except for two which had partially cut their volumes for maintenance work.
Besides, operations at Italian petrochemical producer Versalis (part of Eni) have not affected by emergency quarantine measures in the country. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended its emergency coronavirus measures Wednesday evening and announced the closure of "non-essential" commercial businesses. This follows the announcement of a nationwide lockdown on Monday, limiting movement for around 60 million people. Under these measures people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work or health reasons. Versalis has three steam crackers in Italy, capable of producing 1.675 million mt of ethylene, 750,000 of propylene and 285,000 mt of butadiene a year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC