Hurricane Laura poses biggest threat to US oil in 15 years

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US energy industry was preparing for a major hurricane strike, cutting crude production at a rate approaching the level of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and halting oil refining at plants along the Texas/Louisiana coast, reported Reuters.

Officials in the two states called for hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate as Hurricane Laura intensified and forecasters predicted it would become a major hurricane with sustained, 115 mile per hour (185 kph) winds.

The intensification will bring at least a 10-foot (3-meter) storm surge to the upper Texas coast later this week and could produce a devastating category 4 hurricane, said Chris Kerr, a meteorologist at agriculture, energy and weather data provider DTN.

Oil producers on Tuesday had evacuated 310 offshore facilities and shut 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output, 84% of Gulf of Mexico’s offshore production, near the 90% outage that Katrina brought 15 years ago.

The storm will make landfall by early Thursday in an area that accounts for more than 45% of total US petroleum refining capacity and 17% of oil production, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Refiners that produce gasoline and diesel fuel were taking steps to halt eight coastal facilities with nearly 2.78 million bpd of processing, 14.6% of the U.S. total capacity, according to Reuters tallies.

The impact on refineries so far is less than Hurricane Harvey, whose drenching rains took down nearly one quarter of US refining capacity three years ago.

US gasoline futures have jumped as much as 10% since Friday, while crude benchmarks settled at a five-month high on Tuesday due to the shutdowns.

“There will be a significant storm surge from Galveston (Texas) to the Sabine River,” an area encompassing some of the region’s largest refineries, said DTN’s Kerr. “There are ideal conditions in central and west Gulf for rapid intensification.”

Officials in several Texas and Louisiana communities called for mandatory evacuations affecting half a million people. Residents from areas of Houston to Orange, Texas, should flee the area and seek shelter inland, Texas officials said.

Cheniere Energy Inc, the largest US exporter of liquefied natural gas, evacuated staff and suspended operations at its Sabine Pass LNG export terminal on the Texas/Louisiana border.

Motiva Enterprises, Total SA and Valero Energy began cutting operations at their Port Arthur, Texas, refineries, according to people familiar with the matter.

Total, Motiva and Valero confirmed the shutdowns, and a Valero spokeswoman said it also was reviewing the risks to its Texas City, plant southeast of Houston.

Citgo Petroleum said it has begun to halt processing at its 418,000 bpd refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Exxon Mobil Corp also began shutting production at its large Beaumont, Texas, refinery and reduced output at its Baytown, Texas, plant ahead of a possible shutdown.

Exxon confirmed it was initiating a shutdown at Beaumont and was preparing for possible severe weather at its Baytown refinery and chemical complex, a spokesman said. If the Baytown plant fully halts processing, total shutdowns along the coast would hit 2.78 million bpd.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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) -- Preparing for hurricane Laura, Phillips 66 began the shutdown of its Lake Charles manufacturing complex in Louisiana, which includes its 260,000 barrels per day refinery, reported Reuters.

The storm is forecast to be near major hurricane strength when it approaches the coast.

“Non-essential personnel have been released from work ahead of the storm,” the company said on its website.

As storms took aim at the US Gulf Coast, energy companies have moved to cut production at oil refineries after shutting 82% of the area’s offshore crude oil output.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, US refiner Phillips 66 said it plans to reconfigure its refinery in Rodeo, California to produce renewable fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soybean oils.

We remind that US-based 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 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) -- L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NTPC to build a CO2-to-methanol demonstration plant in an NTPC power station, according to The Hindu Business Line.

LTHE will be the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner to build a plant that will comprise three sub-units, namely CO2 capture from Flue Gas, H2 production by electrolysis of water, and catalytic conversion of CO2 & H2 to methanol, the company said.

Subramanian Sarma, Whole-Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Energy), said: “This development towards establishing CO2 to methanol plant is an important step towards India’s commitment to combat climate change. LTHE, together with NTPC, will leverage its vast experience in engineering, construction and project management to successfully deliver this demonstration project.”

As per this MOU, LTHE and NTPC will further collaborate to accelerate the development and subsequently commercialise CO2 to methanol plants. In Q1 FY21, the hydrocarbon segment bagged orders worth 1,220 crore, a decline of 64 per cent year-on-year. The total order book of the segment stood at ?42,094 crore, with the international order book constituting 49 per cent of the total order book.

As MRC informed before, Sinopec Zhongyuan Petrochemical, part of Sinopec Group, has taken off-stream its methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant. The company halted operations at the plant on July 24, 2020 for a maintenance turnaround. The plant is likely to remain off-line till early-November, 2020. Located at Henan in China, the MTO plant has an ethylene and propylene capacity of 100,000 mt/year each.

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) -- Cefic says it is looking for tenders to provide consultancy support to assist with its plan to develop its own general impact assessments to assess and quantify the impact of the EU climate-neutrality objective by 2050 on chemical value chains, reported Chemweek.

The application period for offers will close on 16 October 2020 at midnight CET, Cefic says.

The tenderer must have experience in the field of data modeling, chemical value chains and processes, greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement technologies, GHG footprint calculations with life-cycle thinking, GHG protocols, and markets that are relevant for the project such as chemicals, energy, biomass, and waste, Cefic says. Experience with the safe and compliant handling of confidential information is also necessary, it says.

As MRC informed before, in mid-July, 2020, Cefic called on EU member states to agree urgently on a recovery plan to restart Europe’s economy and kick off investments toward a green and digital transition. The EU chemical industry is seeking investments in building renovation, clean mobility, the development of all forms of clean hydrogen, chemical recycling, and carbon capture and storage as well as carbon capture and utilization, Cefic said then.

We remind that in 2017, SIBUR joined the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). SIBUR has also become a member of the European Committee of Ethylene Producers and Technology Suppliers (EEPC, part of CEFIC). Membership in the Council allowed SIBUR to take part in the work of 93 sectoral groups on more than 120 petrochemical products, in 90 strategic groups working on issues of sustainable development, innovation, trade, energy and law in the field of petrochemicals.

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) -- Magnum, the world’s favorite ice cream brand, has announced the roll out of more than 7 million ice cream tubs made with certified circular polypropylene (PP) from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE initiative that uses feedstock made from recycling used, mixed plastic, said SABIC in its press release.

The launch represented the “world’s first” tub within the ice cream industry that contains recycled plastic and that aims to contribute towards the challenge of keeping plastic waste out of the environment and in the value chain.

Magnum is the first to use recycled plastic within the ice cream industry and after a successful pilot launch in Spain, Belgium and Netherlands last year, the full roll out across all European countries is another exciting step to offer more sustainable packaging to consumers. New Magnum tubs have been developed in close collaboration of Unilever and SABIC. To be able to answer consumer’s expectations of robust packaging from Unilever’s A-brand ice cream, SABIC has developed a new polypropylene impact copolymer for frozen food packaging. SABIC’s material uses post-consumer mixed plastic as feedstock which is broken down into its molecular building blocks, to create virgin plastics which are then used to produce these new recyclable, ice cream tubs.

With more in-home consumption due to COVID-19, the introduction of these tubs and their impact on environment becomes extra relevant as the world prepares for a new future. “We are proud to be the world’s first ice cream brand to pioneer this ground-breaking technology”, says Julien Barraux, Global Magnum Vice President “Through this new approach, we hope to lead the food and refreshment industry towards a more sustainable future, paving the way to a circular economy.”

Mark Vester, Circular Economy Leader at SABIC, said: “Magnum tubs display a great collaborative effort between Unilever and SABIC, a true collaboration and innovation which drives positive change towards closing the loop on valuable, used plastics.”

By end of 2020, Magnum will use an estimated 160,000 kilograms of certified recycled plastic material.

The move is part of Unilever’s wider global packaging commitment to halve the company’s use of virgin plastic, by reducing its absolute use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tonnes and accelerating its use of recycled plastic by 2025. The Magnum tubs are now available in Europe and due to be launched globally from 2021 onwards.

As Magnum announced, all its packaging will soon be fully reusable, recyclable or compostable and made with post-consumer recycled material to drive the circular economy approach. By using this new approach, Magnum hopes to lead the food and refreshment industry towards a more sustainable future, paving the way to a circular economy.

SABIC’s ground-breaking TRUCIRCLE solutions encompasses the company’s circular materials and technologies including certified circular polymers from the chemical recycling of used, mixed plastic; certified renewable polymers from bio-based feedstock and mechanically recycled polymers. SABIC's certified polymers are based on a mass balance approach. To secure the chain of custody the value chain parties require an ISCC PLUS certification. This widely recognized international sustainability certification scheme verifies that the mass balance accounting follows predefined and transparent rules. In addition, it provides traceability along the supply chain, from the feedstock to the final product.

As MRC reported earlier, Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the petrochemicals giant 70%-owned by Saudi Aramco, saw average petrochemical prices in the second quarter plunge by 27% year-on-year as it posted a third consecutive quarterly loss, according to CEO Yousef al-Benyan's statement Aug. 6.

According to MRC's DataScope report, 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 Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC