Saudi Aramco to press ahead with oil output capacity boost

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil giant Saudi Aramco is moving ahead with plans to boost its oil output capacity by 1 million barrels per day (MMbpd) to 13 MMbpd despite spending cuts this year and next year, said Reuters, citing chief executive.

Aramco’s capital spending plan for 2021 will be “significantly lower than previous guidance”, CEO Amin Nasser also said on an analyst and investor call after the company’s quarterly results.

The previous capital spending guidance was USD40 billion to USD45 billion.

As MRC informed earlier, on June 17, Saudi Aramco said it completed the share acquisition of a 70% stake in petrochemicals company Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, or SABIC, from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, for a total purchase price of Riyal 259.125 billion (USD69.1 billion). However, the transaction terms have been changed to increase the timeline over which Aramco makes the payments by almost three years. An upfront cash payment of 36% of the deal value has also been eliminated from the deal.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD620/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival September 2020, said the company.

The September 2020 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

The price is on a CFR (cost and freight) Asia basis.

As it was written earlier, MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD590/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival August 2020. The August 2020 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

MEG is mainly used in the production of polyester fibres, resins and films (around 80% of global consumption), followed by use in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin. It is also used as automotive antifreeze.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 367,720 tonnes in the first six months of 2020, up by 19% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes of material in June.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State energy giant Saudi Aramco said in July that it will be reorganizing its downstream business to support its global growth strategy, aiming to complete it by the end of this year, reported Reuters.

The downstream model will be divided into four units: fuels including refining, trading, retail and lubes; chemicals; power; and pipelines, distribution and terminals, Aramco said in a statement.

“This reorganisation is designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Aramco’s existing downstream assets, but does not represent a fundamental change in the overall business structure,” Aramco said.

Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producing company, is expanding its downstream, or refining and marketing, business globally. It pumps around 8.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, of which it exports about 6 million bpd.

The company plans to raise its refining capacity - inside Saudi Arabia and abroad - to 8-10 million bpd, from around 5 million bpd now. Aramco is expanding its refining business at home as well as in new markets, particularly in Asia.

As MRC wrote before, in June, Aramco completed its purchase of a 70% stake in SABIC, the world’s fourth-largest petrochemicals company, from for USD69.1 billion.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Agilyx (Tigard, Oregon) and TechnipFMC say they have recently agreed to collaborate exclusively on the joint development of a process to purify styrene oil into high-purity styrene, reported Chemweek.

The collaboration is the result of over a year of evaluation, and the desire of both companies to expand their energy transition and circular economy offerings, Agilyx says. The aim is to “enable a new production path of styrene via post-use polystyrene (PS) products,” it says.

The developed purification process will bolt on to Agilyx’s existing depolymerization technology and accelerate the presence of recycled styrene and recycled PS in the market, according to the company. The recycled styrene is expected to retain “all of the properties and functionality of traditionally manufactured styrene,” it says.

“We view this collaboration as an important step to meet the increasing demand for recycled content in plastic products,” says Joe Vaillancourt, Agilyx CEO. “Demand for recycled content is increasing globally driven by legislation as well as sustainability goals by major brand owners. We are excited to work with TechnipFMC, a company focused on advancing sustainable technologies and increasing plastic recovery.”

The linkup with Agilyx “fully aligns with a strategic objective of TechnipFMC and its Technip Energies segment to bring sustainable process technologies to the marketplace by developing circular economy technology for a major plastic used widely throughout the world,” says Stan Knez, president/process technology at TechnipFMC.

As MRC informed before, in June, 2020, TechnipFMC and Clariant Catalysts announced that they have entered into a joint development agreement for the demonstration and commercialisation of Clariant’s new state-of-the-art AcryloMax propylene ammoxidation catalyst for the production of acrylonitrile (ACN). This new collaboration will bring together Technip Energies’ well-established expertise in fluid bed technologies and process development with Clariant’s longstanding experience and knowledge in the development, manufacturing and supply of catalysts for the petrochemical industry.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 225,870 tonnes in the first half of 2020, down by 8% year on year. PS consumption in the Russian market increased by 2% year on year in June 2020, totalling 39,590 tonnes.
MRC