Valero refineries to run at 88-92% capacity utilisation in Q4 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp, the second-largest US oil refiner plans to run its 14 refineries at between 88% and 92% of their combined capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter, reported Reuters with reference to a company executive's statement.

Valero's seven US Gulf Coast refineries are scheduled to operate between 90% and 93% of their combined capacity of 1.9 million bpd, said Homer Bhullar, vice president of investor relations and finance, during a Thursday conference call to discuss third-quarter results.

Jet fuel demand, which has been lagging behind gasoline and diesel demand as lockdowns and work-from-home policies ebbed in 2021, has moved above 80% of 2019 levels, he said.

Valero Chief Executive Joe Gorder said it was unlikely the company would buy another refinery.

Valero has spent several years improving refineries bought in the early part of this century "to a standard that we were comfortable operating in," Gorder said.

As MRC wrote previously, Valero Energy Corp. operated 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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez (part of TAIF Group) has partially shut its polyethylene (PE) production capacities because of technical issues, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Kazanorgsintez had partially taken on-stream its low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) production capacities by 21 October due to technical problems. The outage was unplanned, the dates of resumption of full capacity utilisation has not been announced yet.

It is also worth noting that Stavrolen shut its HDPE production on 12 October for scheduled repairs. The Budennovsk producer plans to resume its PE production on 17 November. The plant's annual production capacity is 300,000 tonnes.

PJSC "Kazanorgsintez" (part of TAIF Group) is one of Russia's largest plants. Kazanorgsintez produces 40% of overall Russian polyethylene (PE) and is the country's largest exporter. To date, the plant produces PE, polycarbonate (PC), PE pipes, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A. Kazanorgsintez is Russia's only PC producer. It manufactures a total of 170 items of products. Kazanorgsintez's annual output is 1.6 million tonnes. The plant is Russia's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE). The plant's annual HDPE production capacity is 540,000 tonnes and its annual LDPE capacity is 225,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's PT Pertamina has postponed the resumptions of operations at its sole polypropylene (PP) plant in Plaju, South Sumatera after a scheduled maintenance because of an upstream issue, according to CommoPlast.

The outage at the company's 47,000 mt/year of PP plant began on 16 September and was to last for about 17 days. Thus, this plant was initially scheduled to resume operations on 3 October, 2021. Then the company delayed its restart to 10 October.

As MRC informed before, Pertamina was forced to take its PP unit in West Java off-line on 26 June, 2020, following an unspecified technical glitch at the upstream RFCC unit that cause a disruption of the propylene feeds. The PP plant was brought back on-line on 7-8 July, 2020. The RFCC unit produces 45,000 tons of propylene annually, while the PP plant has a capacity of 45,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

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

1. Petrobras reports mixed Q3 2021 production figures

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, posted mixed production figures on Wednesday as the state-run oil company ramps up output at some major oilfields while also jettisoning a number of legacy production assets as part of a wider divestment drive, reported Reuters. In a securities filing, Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it produced 2.83 MM barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter, up 1.2% in quarterly terms, but down 4.1% from the same period last yr. Crude production came in at 2.269 MM barrels per day (bpd), a 1.9% increase in quarterly terms and a 4% decrease from the third quarter of 2020. Among the highlights of the quarter, the company said, was the entrance into operation of the Carioca, a type of massive offshore platform known as an FPSO, in the deepwater Sepia field. The firm also has begun commercially producing gas at its P-69 platform in the Tupi field, Petrobras said.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Oct. 22, as sentiment was impacted by pandemic concerns which could weigh on demand outlook, reported S&P Global.

At 11:15 am Singapore time (0315 GMT), the ICE December Brent futures contract was down 36 cents/b (0.43%) from the previous close at USD84.25/b, while the NYMEX November light sweet crude contract fell 29 cents/b (0.35%) at USD82.21/b.

Oil prices slid after Russia announced the implementation of pandemic-related restrictions in Moscow as COVID-19 infections and deaths have spiked. Russian president Vladimir Putin Oct. 20 approved a "non-working week" from Oct. 30-Nov. 7 to help slow the spread of the virus.

"Crude oil prices lost momentum as sentiment was hurt by concerns that the emergence of restrictions and lockdowns in Russia and eastern Europe due to rising coronavirus cases could threaten the global economic recovery and crude oil demand," ANZ research analysts said Oct 22.

Brent crude had traded as high as USD86.10/b late Oct. 21 before falling off this high, similar to what had occurred on Oct. 18, when the contract surged to USD86.04/b before settling lower on the day.

NYMEX November ULSD fell 1.48 cents to USD2.5343/gal, while November RBOB dipped 2.13 cents to USD2.4588/gal. Despite this fall, some analysts remain bullish about the outlook for the market.

We remind that, as MRC ifnormed earlier, the Indian company Nayara Energy, 49.13% of which is owned by Russia's largest state oil company - Rosneft, has launched a USD750 million petrochemical development program. Nayara Energy has the second largest refinery in India with a capacity of 20 million tons per year. The Indian company has already launched a refinery development program: within the first stage, it is planned to build units for the production of polypropylene (PP) with a capacity of up to 450,000 tonnes per year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC