Repsol shut its CDU in Puertollano on unfavourable market continions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spain's Repsol has halted the crude distillation unit at Puertollano due to unfavorable market conditions, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement.

The company's refining margin indicator has fallen to around USD0.50/barrel during January and February this year, from an average of USD2.20/b in the full year 2020 and USD5.00/b in the full year 2019.

As MRC informed previously, Repsol is seeking European pandemic recovery funds to support projects including new biofuel plants and 'green' hydrogen production made from renewable sources in a pivot away from oil and gas to supplying low-carbon energy.

We remind that Repsol's refinery at Puertollano in central Spain has recently carried out an upgrade of its olefins unit. The modernization was a part of planned maintenance of the cracker and chemical derivative plants at the end of 2020.

We also remind that Spain’s Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

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.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 07.04.2021

1. Ecopet increased PET export by 21% last year

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Ecopet plant (Kaliningrad) has increased the volume of exports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) compared to 2019 to 21%, despite the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the slowdown in economic growth, Business Russia reported. The plant produces 690 tonnes of PET per day, increasing productivity during a pandemic by 4.5%. The company's export destinations are spread all over the world and include the USA, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Serbia, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Holland, Kenya, Cyprus and other countries.


MRC

Sinopec Guangzhou to shut No. 2 PP unit in China for scheduled turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Guangzhou plans to shut down its No.2 polypropylene (PP) unit in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China on 27 April, 2021, for a scheduled turnaround, according to CommoPlast.

The maintenance works at this unit with a production capacity of 50,000 mt/year is likely to last for a period of 34 days. Thus, No. 2 PP unit will be bought on-stream on 31 May, 2021.

Overall, Sinopec Guangzhou's PP plant in Guangzhou has three lines with a combined production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, on 4-5 March, 2017, Sinopec Guangzhou shut its No. 3 PP line for a maintenance turnaround. The shutdown lasted for a period of around 2 weeks. Located in Guangzhou province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

Total appoints new CEO of its chemical subsidiary Hutchinson

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total, the world's petrochemical major, has appointed Helene Moreau-Leroy as chairman and CEO of its chemical subsidiary - Hutchinson, as per the company's press release.

She succeeds Jacques Maigne as head of the subsidiary which specialises in sealing systems, fluid transfer systems, vibration, acoustic and thermal insulation, and transmission and mobility systems.

Moreau-Leroy served as deputy CEO of Hutchinson for 6 months after moving from aerospace technology company Safran, which she joined in 2003. She was appointed CEO of Safran Transmission Systems in 2013. As part of Safran’s executive committee she oversaw the integration of Zodiac Aerospace following Safran’s acquisition of the firm in 2018.

Moreau-Leroy has been lead director of the board of directors for French chemicals producer Arkema since 2015, and is a Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour.

As MRC informed earlier, Total's Grandpuits refinery in north-central France will be converted into a plant for the production of bio plastics due to potentially costly repairs on the Ile-de-France pipeline (PLIF) bringing crude to the plant.

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.
MRC

ADNOC and ICE begin trading world first Murban Futures

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have officially started trading the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) flagship crude oil, Murban, as a Futures contract on the new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The introduction of the worlds first Murban Futures contract is the latest step in ADNOC’s ongoing transformation into a more market and customer centric organisation. By making Murban a freely traded crude, similar to Brent or WTI, customers have better price transparency, flexibility to hedge and manage risks and increased access to Murban crude. For ADNOC, its flagship crude grade becomes more available to a broader set of market participants around the world.

Alongside ICE and ADNOC, nine of the world’s largest energy companies and traders are joining IFAD as founding partners. This includes BP, GS Caltex, INPEX, ENEOS, PetroChina, PTT, Shell, Total and Vitol. Representatives from the partner companies joined today’s launch event at ADGM, many participating virtually from around the world.

In March, ADNOC announced that its Murban, Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crude grades will all be sold destination free, from June, allowing its crude oils to become a freely-traded commodity.

Discovered in 1958, Murban has played a pivotal role as the bedrock of the UAE’s sustained economic development. With the launch of IFAD and the new Murban Futures Contract, it enters a new era, further solidifying Abu Dhabi’s position as a global energy hub and a reliable and essential energy provider to the world.

ICE Murban Futures are physically delivered contracts, with one futures contract equating to 1,000 barrels of Murban crude oil delivered from the ADNOC Terminal located in Fujairah, on the East coast of the UAE. Murban is ADNOC’s flagship crude grade, with production capacity of over 2 million barrels per day at present. It currently accounts for around 50% of the UAE’s total production capacity, with plans in place to increase the production of Murban to more than 2.5 million barrels per day by 2030, in line with ADNOC’s goal of growing its production capacity to 5 million barrels of crude per day.

Murban Futures will trade globally on the ICE platform, one of the world’s foremost energy exchange networks. All trades clear through ICE Clear Europe, based in London. From late March, Murban now trades alongside ICE Brent and ICE WTI in the ICE network.

As MRC reported before, in early March, 2021, the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. signed an agreement with Malaysia's Petronas to explore collaboration in the oil and gas sector of Abu Dhabi and in the low-carbon energy industry in the first such partnership between the two national oil producers.

We remind that in early May, 2020, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) began a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown. The Ruwais complex, which has capacity of 835,000 barrels per day, was shut down early this year, the ADNOC spokesman said.

And in late July 2019, ADNOC said its Ruwais refinery west cracker was offline for maintenance.

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.
MRC