MOSCOW (MRC) -- Phillips 66 expects to report a first-quarter net loss of USD680m-865m because of the polar storm and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, said Reuters.
A February deep freeze in U.S. central and southern states led to power outages and gas-supply disruptions that knocked oil refineries and chemical plants out of commission for up to two weeks. Several companies have issued warnings due to the storm.
Phillip 66’s adjusted net loss will reach between USD550 million and USD700 million for the quarter ended March 31 due to lost production and higher costs from the outages, it said. IBES data on Refinitiv had estimated a USD210 million loss.
Phillips 66 will suffer a larger impact than rivals because of its recent reliance on chemicals for earnings, Blair said. Its chemical plants ran at about mid-70% of capacity, down from a projected 90%. Its refining and marketing and specialties segments also were hurt by lower global demand for refined petroleum products due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exxon Mobil last week said the winter weather would cut its first quarter profit by up to USD800 million, with the largest impact in its chemical and refining units.Phillips 66 had reported a USD2.5 billion first-quarter net loss in the year-ago quarter, on writedowns. It expects to recognize a first-quarter impairment reflecting Phillips 66 Partners’ decision to exit the Liberty Pipeline project.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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