Gazprom Neft to receive USD409 MM from Sberbank and Gazprombank for green refining project

Gazprom Neft to receive USD409 MM from Sberbank and Gazprombank for green refining project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom, said on Monday the government has cleared Rb30 B (USD409 MM) in loans from Sberbank and Gazprombank for a green project in oil refining, reported Reuters.

Gazprom Neft said both banks will provide Rb15 B each for the ecological modernization of its Omsk refinery in western Siberia as part of a state-sponsored green program.

The company embarked on the refinery modernization in 2008 and has managed to cut its environmental impact by 40%. It will be further reduced by 25% by 2025, Gazprom Neft said.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Lummus Technology announced it had been awarded a contract from the Gazprom Neft Moscow refinery for two fired heaters. The heaters will be installed at the refinery in Moscow, and are part of the plant’s modernization to improve operational efficiency and environmental performance.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Gazprom Neft (headquartered in St. Petersburg, part of Gazprom, which owns 95.68% of its shares) is one of the largest Russian oil companies. In 2015, Gazprom Neft remained one of the leaders in the oil industry in terms of key performance indicators - the level of operating profit and return on invested capital. In 2015, Gazprom Neft produced 79.7 mln tonnes of hydrocarbons, increasing production by more than 20% compared to 2014 and thus achieving the highest production growth in the Russian oil industry.

Gazpromneft - Moscow Oil Refinery is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft. The plant's production capacity is 12.15 mln tonnes/year of hydrocarbons. The company produces motor gasolines, diesel, marine and aviation fuel, fuel oil, high-octane additives to motor gasoline, bitumen and gases for various purposes, as well as polypropylene (PP). And in 2010, Moscow Oil Refinery and SIBUR created a joint venture for PP production - NPP Neftekhimiya LLC.
MRC

Penoplex will increase the production of thermal insulation in Uzbekistan

Penoplex will increase the production of thermal insulation in Uzbekistan

MOSCOW (MRC) - Penoplex, the largest Russian producer of extruded polystyrene foam, is investing in expanding a site for the production of thermal insulation in Uzbekistan, the company said.

The launch of a new line for the production of thermal insulation from extruded polystyrene foam in the city of Angren, Tashkent region of Uzbekistan, will allow the company to increase its production capacity by 450,000 tonnes m3 of thermal insulation boards per year.

The additional line will not only provide an opportunity to expand the range of products within the region, but will also fully satisfy the growing demand for high-quality building materials in neighboring countries - Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The launch of the new line is scheduled for 2022.

In the summer of this year, Penoplex launched a plant for the production of thermal insulation from extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) in the Ungheni-Business economic zone of the city of Ungheni, Republic of Moldova.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated consumption of polystyrene and styrene plastics for ten months of this year amounted to 469.95 thousand tons, which is 15% higher than the same indicator a year earlier. In October, the total estimated consumption was 50.06 thousand tons, 4% more than the total consumption in October 2020.

Penoplex products are exported to more than 30 countries around the world. The company includes 13 production sites: ten in Russian cities, as well as three factories abroad. The sites are equipped with modern laboratories, where each batch of materials is tested. They are equipped with equipment from leading world manufacturers.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 13.12.2021

1. Crude oil prices show biggest weekly gain since August on easing concerns over Omicron coronavirus variant impact

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose slightly on Friday and posted their biggest weekly gain since late August, with market sentiment buoyed by easing concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant's impact on global economic growth and fuel demand, reported Reuters. The Brent and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmarks each posted gains of about 8% this week, their first weekly gain in seven, even after a brief bout of profit-taking. Brent futures settled up 73 cents, or 1%, at USD75.15 a barrel, after falling 1.9% on Thursday. WTI rose 73 cents, or 1%, to USD71.67 after sliding 2% in a volatile session the previous day.

MRC

Chandra Asia to announce FID for second petchem complex in Indonesia in 2022

Chandra Asia to announce FID for second petchem complex in Indonesia in 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP), one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Indonesia, is in plans to announce its final investment decision (FID) for its second petrochemical complex in Indonesia (CAP2) in 2022, according to CommoPlast with reference to the company's official statement on its website.

CAP has already appointed four contractors to carry out the front-end engineering design (FEED) for its second petrochemical plant in Indonesia (CAP2). These contractors are Toyo Engineering Corporation, Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd., Wood, and PT Haskoning Indonesia.

Once completed, the company would enter the second stage of the project by selecting engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors.

Chandra Asri has been planning to build the second petchem complex since 2018 to meet the growing domestic demand, reducing the country’s need to rely on the import market.

The initial plan is for CAP2 to construct a cracker with an annual output of 1.1 million tons/year of ethylene, 600,000 tons/year of propylene, 175,000 tons/year of butadiene, and 363,000 tons of benzene. The downstream units include an high deiisty polyethylene (HDPE) line with an annual output of 450,000 tons/year, a 300,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) line, and a 450,000 tons/year of polypropylene (PP).

As MRC reported earlier, in H1 July, 2020, CAP, one of the largest petrochemical producers in Indonesia, received commercial products at its linear low denisty polyethylene (LLDPE)/high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Cilegon (Indonesia) and started ramping up its capacity utilisation. On May 22, the company was forced to reduce the capacity utilisation at this plant with a capacity of 400,000 mt/year of LLDPE/HDPE due to various technical issues.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Thailand's Siam Cement Group (30%) and Indonesian PT Barito Pacific and (64.87%) are the main owners of Chandra Asri.
MRC

Woodside plans to supply LNG to Viva Energy's Geelong refinery

Woodside plans to supply LNG to Viva Energy's Geelong refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia's Woodside Petroleum is in discussions for supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to an LNG import terminal that Viva Energy plans to build in Victoria state, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Viva and Woodside have agreed on a framework and timeline to negotiate capacity rights for Woodside, the country's biggest independent oil and gas company, to regasify LNG for sale into Australia's east coast market, which is expected to face a gas supply shortfall from the mid-2020s.

The deal potentially gives Viva's terminal a leg up over a rival project in New South Wales, the Port Kembla LNG import terminal which is backed by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest. The Port Kembla terminal is yet to line up LNG supply sources.

Viva Energy said it plans to make a final investment decision on the project by the third quarter of fiscal 2022. "Working to secure regasification capacity at Viva Energy's proposed import terminal aligns with Woodside's future production profile and the ongoing needs of east coast Australian customers," Woodside Chief Executive Officer Meg O'Neill said.

Viva Energy said it also signed an agreement with Norway-based Hoegh LNG Ltd to charter a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for the proposed Geelong terminal.

As per MRC, BHP Group has agreed to sell its petroleum business to Woodside Petroleum in a merger to create a top 10 independent oil and gas producer worth AD38.5 billion (USD28 billion) with growth assets in Australia and the Americas.

As per MRC, BP acquired US shale assets from BHP Billiton for USD10.5 billion in the largest deal since the 1999 acquisition of Atlantic Richfield oil company. British oil and gas company BP bought US shale assets owned by mining company BHP Billiton.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC