Former head of Pemex may go to jail for 39 years

Former head of Pemex may go to jail for 39 years

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico's attorney general has requested a prison sentence of up to 39 years for the former chief executive of state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for his role in a corruption scandal, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Emilio Lozoya is accused of having requested money from scandal-plagued Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht to partially finance the presidential campaign of former President, Enrique Pena Nieto in exchange for contracts.

On Monday, the attorney general formally charged Lozoya, who led Pemex between 2012 and 2016, with money laundering, criminal association and bribery. Together, the penalties could result in up to 39 years in prison, said the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. Local media had reported the development earlier.

Mexico's attorney general accused Lozoya of receiving more than USD9 mln in bribes from Odebrecht for which it was awarded contracts during the Pena Nieto government without having to compete in tenders. The penalty is solely for the to Odebrecht-related probe, the sources said, and Lozoya is under investigation for other wrongdoing.

Lozoya, who was extradited from Spain to Mexico in mid-2020, has pleaded not guilty. A lawyer for Lozoya could not immediately be reached for further comment. While initially allowed to await his trial without being jailed, he was put behind bars late last year after photos of him surfaced on social media that showed him dining with friends in a luxury restaurant in one of the capital's most exclusive neighborhoods that sparked outrage among many Mexicans.

As MRC wrote previously, in September 2021, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem said its Mexican subsidiary Braskem Idesa ha reached a new gas supply agreement with Pemex to settle differences between the companies and build a USD400 million ethane terminal.

As MRC informed before, Pemex Petroquimica, a subsidiary of the Mexican state oil company Pemex, has resumed production of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) on line 2 in Cangrejera, Mexico after an unscheduled renovation. Earlier it was noted that Pemex postponed the restart of the second line with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year for the production of LDPE until August 10. It was originally planned that the launch of this production will begin at the end of July. The line was closed on 10 July.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a Mexican state-owned oil and gas and petrochemical company. Since the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938, Pemex has remained a state-owned company and, by law, has exclusive rights to explore and produce oil in the country. Almost 60% of the company's revenues go to the state budget. Petrochemical products include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride.
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Canada chem and plastics exports rose 14.7% in November

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canada’s total exports, along with chemicals and plastics (+14.7%), rose month on month in November, said Canplasics.

It grew despite the flooding and mudslides in British Columbia province that disrupted rail and road access to the Port of Vancouver, which is an important export hub for chemicals, fertilizers and other commodities.
, according to trade data released on Friday.

Federal agency Statistics Canada (StatsCan) said that declines in exports to countries other than the US were more than offset by record-high exports to the US – in particular pharmaceutical products, refined petroleum energy products and crude oil.

“It is possible that alternative shipping arrangements as a result of the situation in British Columbia supported Canadian exports to the US in November, helping to mitigate the impact of the floods on trade activity,” the agency added.

As per MRC, Malaysia's petrochemical production increased in November over the same period last year, according to the Malaysian Department of Statistics. Thus, the production of oil, chemical, rubber and plastic products in Malaysia in November 2021 increased by 8.5% year on year.
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Asia distillates-gasoil cash premiums down hurt by weaker deal in physical market

Asia distillates-gasoil cash premiums down hurt by weaker deal in physical market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia's cash premiums for 10 ppm gasoil dipped on Monday, hurt by a weaker deal in the physical market, but traders expect the market to remain tight in the near term, reported Reuters.

Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content dipped to 73 cents per bbl to Singapore quotes, compared with 86 cents per bbl on Friday.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil rose to a two-month high of USD14.48 a bbl over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, up from USD14.08 per bbl on Friday.

Meanwhile, jet fuel cracks climbed to USD12.63 per bbl over Dubai crude on Monday, against USD11.78 a bbl at the end of last week. Cash differentials for jet fuel flipped to a premium of 9 cents per bbl to Singapore quotes on Monday, compared with a discount of 2 cents per bbl on Friday.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, EIA said in a monthly report earlier last year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
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Crude oil prices rise sharply on Kazakhstan unrest and Libyan outages

Crude oil prices rise sharply on Kazakhstan unrest and Libyan outages

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, extending a rally from the previous session, on escalating unrest in OPEC+ oil producer Kazakhstan and supply outages in Libya, reported Reuters.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose USD1.78, or 2.2%, to USD82.58 a bbl by 1445 GMT, the highest since late November. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained USD2.18, or 2.8%, to USD80.03, the highest since mid-November.

Brent's six-month backwardation stood at about USD4 a bbl, its widest since late November. Backwardation is a market structure where current prices trade at a premium to future prices and is usually a sign of a bullish market.

Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to help quell a countrywide uprising after deadly violence spread across the tightly controlled former Soviet state.

"The political situation in Kazakhstan is becoming increasingly tense," Commerzbank said. "And this is a country that is currently producing 1.6 MM bbl of oil per day."

There were no indications that oil production has been affected so far.

Libyan oil output is at 729,000 bpd, the National Oil Corp said on Thursday, down from a high of more than 1.3 MMbpd last year, owing to maintenance and oilfield shutdowns.

Prices rallied despite a surge in US fuel stocks a week earlier. US crude oil stockpiles fell lin early January while gasoline inventories surged by more than 10 MM bbl, the biggest weekly build since April 2020, as supplies backed up at refineries because of reduced fuel demand.

OPEC+, a group that includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, agreed on Tuesday to add another 400,000 bpd of supply in February, as it has done each month since August.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, EIA said in a monthly report earlier last year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
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Calumet announced close of renewable hydrogen project financing

Calumet announced close of renewable hydrogen project financing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. announced that Montana Renewables LLC (MRL) has closed the previously announced USD50 MM of project financing from Stonebriar Commercial Finance LLC related to construction of the renewable hydrogen plant for Calumet's renewable diesel business in Great Falls, Montana, said the company.

Once complete, the renewable hydrogen plant will allow increased production of renewable diesel and further reduce the carbon intensity of products from MRL. The renewable hydrogen plant has an expected operational startup in the fourth quarter of 2022.

As MRC informed earlier, Commodity trader Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BP for commercial cooperation on an oil refinery in the Caribbean.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP has retained boutique energy bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co to sell its small oil refinery in Great Falls, Montana. The refinery has the capacity to process 30,000 barrels per day of crude, according to the company’s website. That puts it below the largest refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast that can process ten times as much.

Calumet manufactures, formulates, and markets a diversified slate of specialty branded products to customers in various consumer-facing and industrial markets. Calumet is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN and operates twelve facilities throughout North America.
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