Pertamina put out fire at Calicap refinery

Pertamina put out fire at Calicap refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's state oil company PT Pertamina said on Sunday (Jun 13) it had extinguished a fire at its refinery in Cilacap, Central Java, and supplies were not impacted, according to CNA.

The fire broke out on Friday (Jun 11) near the bundwall area and benzene containers. Television footage showed a large blaze and smoke rising from the refinery, which Pertamina said has 200 oil tanks and has a processing capacity of 348,000 barrels a day.

Pertamina official Djoko Priyono said in a statement that the fire had been extinguished on Sunday morning and a cooling process was underway.

"Everything is in a good condition and extinguished," he said, adding that supplies of LPG and fuel were not impacted.

A Pertamina spokesperson said that an internal investigation into the cause of the fire was being carried out.

As MRC informed earlier, this was the second recent fire at a Pertamina refinery after one in March at its facility in West Java.

We remind that PT Pertamina shut its cracker in Indonesia for maintenance works from 18 March, 2020. This cracker with a production capacity of 578,000 tons remained off-stream until 18 April 2020.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 15.06.2021

1. US PP exports down by nearly 13% YOY in Jan-Apr 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US polypropylene (PP) exports reached 516,389 mt in the first four months of 2021, down by 12.9% from 593,327 mt a year earlier, reported S&P Global with reference to ITC data. In January-April 2019, the US exported 553,460 mt of PP, up by 7% from 516,389 mt in the same period of 2021, but down by 6.7% from 593,327 mt in the January-April period of 2020, the date showed. PP demand crashed amid the height of pandemic-related shutdowns in April 2020, but began rebounding as shutdowns eased and demand rose for durable goods like vehicles, homes and appliances.


MRC

Crude oil stays near multi-year highs on improved outlook demand recovery

Crude oil stays near multi-year highs on improved outlook demand recovery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices held near multi-year highs, underpinned by an improved outlook for demand as increased COVID-19 vaccinations help lift travel curbs, reported Reuters.

Brent crude was up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at USD72.83 by 0123 GMT. It rose 1.1% last week and hit the highest since May 2019 of USD73.09 on Friday.

US West Texas Intermediate was also up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at USD71.05 a barrel, after reaching the highest since October 2018 at USD71.24 on Friday and rising 1.9% on the week.

Vehicle traffic is returning to pre-pandemic levels in North America and much of Europe and more planes are in the air as lockdowns and other restrictions are being eased, driving three weeks of gains for the oil benchmarks.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, known as OPEC+, need to increase output to meet recovering demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report on Friday.

The OPEC+ group has been restraining production to support prices after the pandemic wiped out demand in 2020.

We remind that as MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

Jinneng Science & Technology to start up new PDH and PP plants in Shandong province

Jinneng Science & Technology to start up new PDH and PP plants in Shandong province

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jinneng Science & Technology Co Ltd is planning to start up its new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) plant by end of July 2021, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Based in Shandong, China, the company has a 900,000 tons/year PDH unit and two PP lines each with 450,000 tons/year.

A source closed to the company informed that they will be outsourcing propylene for the trial production of PP line in June-July period.

As MRC reported earlier, initially, the company planned to launch these units with in April last year. Construction was delayed due to longer-than-expected land-use permit procedures, the company said.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Located in the Industrial Park of Qihe County (Shandong Province, China), Jinneng Science and Technology Company, Limited is an energy-focused high-tech industrial enterprise based on the production and distribution of fine chemical products and coal chemical products with total assets of 4 billion RMB (USD640 million) and over 3,000 employees. The company was founded in 1998.
MRC

Fire extinguished at Valero Port Arthur refinery

Fire extinguished at Valero Port Arthur refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire on the small hydrocracking unit (HCU) was extinguished on Thursday afternoon at Valero Energy Corp’s 335,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, reported Reuters with reference to people familiar with plant operations.

The fire, which broke out at about noon CDT (1700 GMT), shut the 45,000-bpd 942 HCU at the refinery, the people said.

Valero did not reply to a request for comment.

All personnel at the refinery have been accounted for, the people said. There were no reports of injuries.

The fire started after a seal on a hydrocracker charge pump blew out, the sources said. Because both volatile hydrocarbons and hydrogen are present in an HCU, fires on those units pose a risk of large explosions.

As MRC wrote previously, Valero Energy Corp, the second largest US crude oil refiner, planned to operate its 14 refineries up to 89% of their combined total throughput capacity of 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd) during the second quarter of 2021.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC