COVID-19 - News digest as of 28.07.2021

1.Finnish Neste forecasts lower sales and profit for Q3 on higher feedstock, oil prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Finnish energy company Neste warned of a drop in sales and profit for the third quarter as it deals with higher feedstock and crude oil prices as well as planned refinery maintenance, sending its shares down more than 5%, reported Reuters. Major sources of biofuel feedstock such as waste and residue have seen a steady increase in prices, given the growing emphasis on renewable energy globally. A rise in crude oil prices due to production cuts by the OPEC+ countries and recovering demand driven by the vaccine rollouts is also expected to weigh on its refining business. The company, however, reported a rise in second-quarter operating profit, which rose to EUR463 million (USD546.2 million) from EUR208 million a year ago on gains in inventory valuations.


MRC

Chemical leak kills 2, injures 6 at LyondellBasell Texas plant

Chemical leak kills 2, injures 6 at LyondellBasell Texas plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At least two people are dead and six others are injured after a chemical leak at LyondellBasell's Texas facility on Tuesday, reported FoxNews with reference to officials' statement.

Emergency officials responded to a "mass casualty" incident at the LyondellBasell complex in La Porte, just after 7:30 p.m., according to the Harris County Fire Marshal.

LyondellBasell said in a statement that its complex experienced an acetic acid leak, which occurred within its acetyls unit area that had been shut down earlier in the day for planned maintenance.

"The leak is stopped and clean-up is in progress," LyondellBasell said. "Air monitoring continues to demonstrate no levels of concern for the community. All appropriate regulatory agencies have been notified."

LyondellBasell said two contractors were killed. Among the injured were five contractors and a LyondellBasell employee, who were transported to local hospitals for treatment, the chemical industry company said.

An investigation is underway into the cause of this incident, the company stated.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBassel's La Porte, Texas, cracker was heard to be offline again after a short-lived restart, reported S&P Global with reference to sources familiar with operations' statement on July 23. The cracker had been confirmed as back online July 20, but, according to one market source, it was shut again not long after.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

ExxonMobil adds first woman top-tier executive with external CFO hire

ExxonMobil adds first woman top-tier executive with external CFO hire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp's new chief financial officer Kathyrn Mikells is the first woman and external hire to join the oil major's management committee, as energy firms search to diversify their workforce in response to investor pressure, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Exxon has faced pressure from investors to shake up its leadership in the executive suite and its board of directors after years of poor returns and as other global oil majors invest more heavily in the energy transition.

Mikells is the first woman and first external hire to enter Exxon's uppermost echelon. Up until now, its cadre of senior vice presidents has remained dominantly male and internally sourced, with all four members of the current management committee having spent two decades or more with the company, according to its website.

"We welcome Kathy to Exxon Mobil and look forward to the perspective and experience she brings as we work together to deliver on our strategies and increase shareholder value," Chief Executive Darren Woods said in Monday's release.

Mikells is Exxon's first major hire since outside investors led a board shakeup earlier this year. In that move, activist investor Engine No. 1 claimed several board seats, including one for former Andeavor CEO Greg Goff, known for restructuring companies. Exxon declined to comment further on its diversity strategy for its executive committee.

In the past decade, more women have risen to top ranks of the energy industry: Lynn Good serves as CEO of utility Duke Energy Corp, Vicki Hollub became CEO of Occidental Petroleum in 2016 and Chevron's former CFO Pat Yarrington was one of the first women in the top tier of a publicly-traded major oil company, serving as CFO from 2009 until her retirement in 2019.

Mikells, who joins effective Aug. 9, will replace Andrew Swiger, the company's principal financial officer, who joined Exxon in 1978 and is now at retirement age, the company said in a statement.

Mikells previously worked at spirit distributer Diageo Plc and United Airlines, where she was responsible for the airline's fuel hedging strategy, and also served as assistant restructuring officer.

While Exxon has female leaders, the top tier management committee, comprised of the CEO and three to four senior vice presidents has remained all-male according to a Reuters' review of SEC filings dating to 2001. The company's preference for promoting from the inside was chronicled in Steve Coll's 2013 book, describing the company's 20,000-square foot (1,900-square meters) executive wing as the "God Pod."

As MRC reported earlier, ExxonMobil and SABIC have just announced that their joint venture, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures located near Corpus Christi, Texas, has reached mechanical completion of a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit and two polyethylene (PE) units. Project startup is expected to begin ahead of schedule, likely in the fourth quarter of 2021.

MEG is commonly used in the manufacturing of polyesters and automotive coolants, and as a building block to create various forms of high-performance plastics. PE is commonly used in protective film, packaging and bottles and containers that prolong the shelf-life of food and medicines, as well as in various automotive parts that improve fuel efficiency and performance, and in medical applications.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

BP and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center to collaborate on development of new solutions for zero carbon shipping

BP and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center to collaborate on development of new solutions for zero carbon shipping

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP and the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping signed a partnership agreement committing to a long-term collaboration on the development of new alternative fuels and low carbon solutions for the shipping industry, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As a strategic partner to the Center, bp will second experts to work on relevant research and development projects in the Center’s portfolio and contribute to the development of methodologies and optimized pathways for safe and sustainable fuel solutions for shipping. Additionally, bp will join the Center Advisory Board providing guidance for transition strategies and further development of the Center’s activities.

William Lin, bp’s executive vice president of regions, cities and solutions said: “At bp, we want to play a role in advocating for policies to help decarbonize carbon intensive sectors like shipping. The shipping industry’s transition to net zero is complex and requires technology advancements and policies that will give companies across the value chain the confidence to act. This is a privileged opportunity to collaborate and advocate with key industry players to progress solutions at the pace and scale needed. When we work together, we can fast track development, de-risk investments and provide signals to the market that will speed up the decarbonization of the shipping industry.”

With 70,000 ships consuming m300Tons fuel p.a., global shipping accounts for around 3% of global carbon emissions, a share that is likely to increase as other industries tackle climate emissions in the coming decades.

Achieving the long-term target of decarbonization requires new fuel types and a systemic and regulatory change within the industry. Shipping is a globally regulated industry, which provides an opportunity to secure broad-based industry adoption of new technology and fuels.

As MRC reported before, BP and Lukoil want to quit their Iraqi energy projects due to the current investment environment, the country's oil minister said earlier this month, as OPEC's second biggest producer faces an exodus of international oil companies that want to exit unattractive contracts. Lukoil wants to sell its stake in West Qurna 2 to Chinese companies.

We remind that Russian energy major Lukoil (Moscow) is studying several potential petrochemical projects in Russia and Bulgaria, with investment decisions expected to be made on two of them in 2021.

Thus, Lukoil announced an investment decision in June, 2019, to proceed with a 500,000-metric tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at its Kstovo refinery. In September this year it selected Lummus Technology’s Novolen PP technology and basic design engineering for the facility’s production unit. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest crude refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year, with the company recently adding a catalytic cracking unit that almost doubled the refinery’s production of propylene feedstock to 300,000 metric tons/year.

At Budennovsk in Russia’s far south west, the company’s Stavrolen petchems complex currently has the capacity to produce 350,000 metric tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 metric tons of polyethylene (PE), 120,000 metric tons/year of PP, and 80,000 metric tons of benzene. Lukoil has for several years been considering construction of a new gas chemicals plant at Stavrolen to crack more ethane extracted from associated petroleum gas produced by its oil and gas fields in the north of the Caspian Sea. The potential new plant would raise Stavrolen’s ethylene and PE output to around 600,000 metric tons/year each, and increase PP production to 200,000 metric tons/year.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. BP’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, BP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
MRC

Sanctions barring U.S. imports put Citgo at disadvantage

Sanctions barring U.S. imports put Citgo at disadvantage

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sanctions barring U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude put refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp at a disadvantage to better-financed rivals, the board chair named by Venezuela's political opposition for state oil company PDVSA said, as per Reuters.

Many refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast - including Citgo's facilities in Texas and Louisiana - were designed to process heavy, sour crudes, which historically came largely from OPEC member Venezuela. After Washington imposed sanctions on PDVSA two years ago, Venezuelan crude "disappeared" and U.S. refiners have competed for alternatives from Colombia, Mexico and Canada, said Horacio Medina, chair of the PDVSA ad-hoc board named by the opposition, which has controlled Citgo since 2019.

"These refineries have an important advantage over Citgo," Medina told opposition lawmakers. "They have investors with deep pockets who were capable of putting in money to make investments and modify some of the plants ... to adapt them to process light and medium crudes, which we have not had."

Citgo Chief Executive Officer Carlos Jorda last month said that the company was working on processing more lighter crudes, and its refineries were on track to boost utilization rates in the second quarter after bad weather hit some plants early this year. The eighth-largest U.S. refiner, with a total capacity to process some 769,000 barrels per day between its three plants, has suffered net losses in six of the last eight quarters, including a USD667 million total loss for 2020 and a USD180 million loss in the first quarter of 2021 due to weak demand and storm-related disruptions.

The company has refinanced and raised new debt and is expecting an about USD500 million income-tax refund to bolster liquidity this year. U.S sanctions on PDVSA were meant to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, which stands accused of corruption and election rigging. Maduro has accused the opposition of "stealing" Citgo.

As per MRC, Citgo Refining, the US subsidiary of Venezuelan PDVSA, began the process of restarting production on 21 July at its FCC 2 in Corpus Christi, TX, USA after refurbishment. This unit with a capacity of 136 thousand tons of propylene per year was closed on June 18 due to the interruption of the steam supply. Chemical emissions during the restart are expected until 27 July.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Citgo operates refineries, terminals and a network of gas stations in the United States. The company produces 749 thousand barrels of oil daily and provides about 5% of the country's refining capacity.
MRC