Tanker off Yemen risks spilling four times as much oil as Exxon Valdez

MOSCOW (MRC) -- If action is not taken to deal with a deteriorating oil tanker stranded off the coast of war-torn Yemen there is a risk it could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster near Alaska, the United Nations warned, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Safer tanker is carrying 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and has been stranded off Yemen’s Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for more than five years. On May 27 water began leaking into the engine room, threatening to destabilize it, U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock told a Security Council meeting on the issue.

While divers from the Safer Corporation were able to fix the leak, Lowcock - who has mentioned the plight of the tanker during monthly council briefings on Yemen for more than a year - warned that “it is impossible to say how long it might hold." “The Safer is carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil. That’s about four times as much oil as was discharged in the Exxon Valdez disaster – a spill the world still talks about thirty years later,” Lowcock said.

In a statement after the briefing, the 15-member Security Council “expressed deep alarm at the growing risk that the Safer oil tanker could rupture or explode, causing an environmental, economic, and humanitarian catastrophe for Yemen and its neighbors." Last week Houthi officials said they would agree to allow a U.N. mission to conduct a technical assessment and whatever initial repairs might be feasible on the tanker. But Lowcock said similar assurances were given in August 2019 and then the Houthis cancelled the mission one day before departure.

“The U.N. team can deploy within three weeks of receiving all the necessary permits,” he said, adding that experts say eventually “extracting the oil is probably the only way to remove the threat of a spill from the 44-year-old tanker for good." The Security Council called on the Houthis to facilitate unconditional U.N. access to the tanker as soon as possible.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Iran-allied Houthi group ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led military coalition in 2015 intervened in a bid to restore the government. Lowcock said both Yemen’s government and the Houthis first requested U.N. help with the tanker in March 2018, but then a Saudi-coalition backed offensive in the area for much of 2018 made it too dangerous to visit the site.

Then while the Houthis previously agreed to the visit they imposed preconditions and linked it with other issues, he said.

We remind that in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical, also known as Jiangsu Shenghong, is planning to restart its methanol-to-olefin unit around July 31, followed an unplanned shutdown of this production unit on July 16, said S&P Gliobal.

This shutdown will hit spot supply and lend support to the battered acrylonitrile market.

As MRC informed earlier, Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical closed an olefin-from-methanol plant in Lianyugang, Jiangsu Province, China on 17 July due to a technical problem. This enterprise with a capacity of 360,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and 470,000 tonnes/year of propylene per year should be closed for about 20 days.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical, part of Shenghong Holding Group, is a major manufacturer of petrochemical products including polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate in China. The company's manufacturing facility is located in the Xuwei New Industrial Park in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s refineries imported and processed record amounts of crude oil in June, and while these are undoubtedly bullish economic signals, it’s worth noting that flows into storage tanks were also likely at an all-time high, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The massive amount of crude being stored in China may end up weighing on oil imports from August onwards, even with the nation’s recovery in domestic consumption. China’s refinery throughput was 57.87 million tons in June, equivalent to 14.08 million barrels per day (MMbpd), which eclipsed the previous record from December 2019 and was up 9% from June of last year.

While China doesn’t provide data on flows into both commercial and strategic storages, an estimation can be made by deducting the amount of crude processed from the amount available from both imports and domestic output. Imports in June were 53.18 million tons, or about 12.9 MMbpd, a second consecutive monthly record. Domestic production was 16.24 million tons, or about 3.95 MMbpd.

Put the two together and the total crude supply available in June was about 16.85 MMbpd, or 2.77 MMbpd more than what was processed by refineries. Given the absence of official data on storage flows, it cannot be confirmed that this is a record, but based on calculations it’s likely that more crude oil went into storage in June than in any other month.

June’s storage flows were outsized in comparison to the already significant volumes going into inventories in the first five months of the year, with calculations showing 1.88 MMbpd being stored over January to May. What China has been doing is taking advantage of low crude prices that prevailed earlier this year amid the global economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between the two leading exporters, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

When coronavirus lockdowns began across China, there were fears that crude imports would slump as consumption dropped. This didn’t happen, however, as Chinese refiners simply diverted crude they had ordered into storage.

When the brief price war broke out between the Organization of the Petroleum Countries and its allies in the group known as OPEC+, China decided to buy large volumes of crude at prices that were close to the lowest in two decades.

As MRC informed before, global oil consumption cut by up to a third in Q1 2020. What happens next in the oil market depends on how quickly and completely the global economy emerges from lockdown, and whether the recessionary hit lingers through the rest of this year and into 2021.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We remind that in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema says it plans to acquire Fixatti (Zurich, Switzerland), a company specialized in high-performance thermobonding adhesive powders, said Chemweek.

The deal will enable Bostik, a subsidiary of Arkema, to enhance its offering of hotmelt adhesive products for niche industrial applications in the construction, technical coating, battery, automotive, and textile printing markets, Arkema says. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020, subject to approval by the antitrust authorities in the relevant countries, the company says.

The transaction forms part of Arkema's strategy to complement the organic growth of its adhesive solutions segment with bolt-on acquisitions, the company says. It is in line with the company's roadmap to become a pure specialty materials player by 2024 centered around adhesive solutions, advanced materials, and coating solutions, the company says. The deal also forms part of Bostik's targeted growth strategy in high value-added technologies, the company says.

The acquisition of Fixatti also has the potential to contribute to Arkema's ambition to increase Bostik's EBITDA margin to 16% by 2024, Arkema says. Moreover, it complements Bostik’s acquisition of Prochimir (Pouzauges, France), a company specialized in high-performance thermobonding adhesive film, last year, the company says. Fixatti operates two sites in Europe and one in China, employs 180 people, and has annual sales of about EUR55 million, Arkema says. It develops and markets a range of thermobonding powders.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2019, Arkema successfully brought on stream a new 90,000-ton acrylic acid reactor at its Clear Lake, Texas site to support the growth of its North American customers in the superabsorbents, paints, adhesives and water treatment markets.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in April 2020 by 11.2% year on year due to quarantine restrictions. However, this figure increased by 3.4% year on year in the first four months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, April production of unreinforced and non-combined films decreased to 107,000 tonnes from 110,400 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in the first four months of 2020 by 12.5% year on year to 402,800 tonnes.

Arkema is a global manufacturer in specialty chemicals and advanced materials, with 3 business segments - High Performance Materials, Industrial Specialties, and Coating Solutions - and globally recognized brands. The Group reports annual sales of EUR8.8 billion. Buoyed by the collective energy of its 20,000 employees, Arkema operates in close to 55 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp Ltd’s 300,000 barrels per day refinery on the country’s east coast to be shut for three weeks for maintenance, the top district administrative official told Reuters.

"The Indian Oil refinery in Paradip will remain shut from July 25 to August 15 for maintenance," said Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, the top bureaucrat in the district of Jagatsinghpur, where the refinery is located.

“As per the company’s request, a shutdown order has been issued,” he said, adding the refinery was last shutdown completely in 2018.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOC) shut production in the first half of July at the terephthalic acid (TPA) plant in Panipat (Panipat, Haryana, India) for routine preventive measures. It is expected that maintenance at this plant with a capacity of 550,000 tonnes/year of PTA will continue for 5-10 days.

PTA is one of the main raw materials for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast, May estimated PET consumption in Russia amounted to 70,170 tonnes, which corresponds to the level of consumption last year (70,450 tonnes). In total for the period January - May of this year, the estimated PET consumption in the Russian Federation amounted to 304,310 tonnes of material. This is 3% lower than the same indicator in 2019.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation headquartered in New Delhi.
MRC