North American weekly chem railcar traffic increased by 2.1%

North American chemical railcar traffic rose for third consecutive week, according to the latest freight rail data by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 511,574 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.4 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 27 were 242,633 carloads, up 3.4 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 268,941 containers and trailers, down 0.3 percent compared to 2021.

Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2021. They included coal, up 5,893 carloads, to 74,295; grain, up 2,224 carloads, to 19,458; and motor vehicles and parts, up 1,323 carloads, to 14,624. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2021 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 1,228 carloads, to 9,642; metallic ores and metals, down 660 carloads, to 23,112; and forest products, down 419 carloads, to 9,834.

For the first 34 weeks of 2022, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,849,281 carloads, up 0.1 percent from the same point last year; and 8,976,594 intermodal units, down 5.3 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 34 weeks of 2022 was 16,825,875 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2.9 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending August 27, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,747 carloads, up 2.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 359,832 intermodal units, up 0.7 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 700,579 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.5 percent. North American rail volume for the first 34 weeks of 2022 was 22,997,308 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7 percent compared with 2021.

Canadian railroads reported 76,361 carloads for the week, up 1.8 percent, and 74,570 intermodal units, up 3.8 percent compared with the same week in 2021. For the first 34 weeks of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 4,897,939 carloads, containers and trailers, down 3 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 21,753 carloads for the week, down 6.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 16,321 intermodal units, up 4.3 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 34 weeks of 2022 was 1,273,494 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 1 percent from the same point last year.

We remind, North American chemical railcar traffic rose by 2.3% year on year to 46,132 loadings for the week ended 20 August. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 501,548 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 20 were 237,404 carloads, up 2.9 percent compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 264,144 containers and trailers, down 2.4 percent compared to 2021.
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ExxonMobil affiliates have signed an agreement to sell all of ExxonMobil’s interests in the Aera oil-production operation in California to Green Gate Resources E, LLC, a subsidiary of IKAV, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The transaction involves a share sale of Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company. In addition, ExxonMobil affiliates have entered into a separate agreement for the sale of an associated loading facility and pipeline system.

“This sale is part of our strategy to continually strengthen our industry-leading portfolio, focusing our investments in low-cost-of-supply oil and natural gas to meet consumer demand and create value for our shareholders,” said Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Company.

Mobil California Exploration & Producing Company holds a 48.2% share of Aera Energy LLC and a 50% share of Aera Energy Services Company, a joint venture with Shell. It was formed in June 1997 and has operations in eight onshore fields. In 2021, Aera produced about 95,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day.

The sale does not affect ExxonMobil’s branded network of about 500 independently owned retail sites in California.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals.

As per MRC, Exxon Mobil is in the process of transitioning its 30% stake in a Russian oil development "to another party," according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Exxon Mobil announced in March its withdrawal from the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project due to the situation around Ukraine. In the same month, the company announced the recall of its American employees employed in oil and gas projects in Russia.

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.
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The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers plan to implement a price cap on Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, they confirmed in a joint statement on Friday, as per Reuters.

The initial price cap will be based on range of technical inputs and the price level will be revisited as necessary, said the ministers.

"We aim to align implementation with the timeline of related measures within the EU?s sixth sanctions package," they added.

As per MRC, as a shareholder of Novatek, TotalEnergies asked the management of Novatek on August 25 for information on what happens of the gas condensates produced by the Termokarstovoye field in Russia, in order to shed the fullest light on the recent controversy initiated by French daily newspaper, Le Monde. TotalEnergies publishes the response given to TotalEnergies by Novatek: "All of the unstable condensate produced by our subsidiaries and joint ventures, including Terneftegas, comes into our Purovsky condensate processing plant. The Purovsky Plant also stabilizes condensate from other Russian producers, whose share in the plant's load does not exceed 20%.

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Air Liquide confirms today its intention to withdraw from Russia, said the company.

Taking a responsible and orderly approach, the Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local management team with the objective to transfer its activities in Russia in the framework of an MBO (Management Buy Out). This project is notably subject to Russian regulatory approvals. In parallel, as a consequence of the evolution of the geopolitical context, the activities of the Group in Russia will no longer be consolidated starting September 1, 2022.

Air Liquide employs close to 720 people in Russia and its turnover in the country represents less than 1% of the Group’s turnover. This divestment project to local managers aims to allow an orderly, sustainable and responsible transfer of its activities in Russia, ensuring notably the continuity of oxygen supply to hospitals. As a reminder, the Group has previously announced, in the context of the closing of its accounts at June 30, 2022 an exceptional provision of 404 million euros on the Group’s assets in Russia, which has no impact on cash.

As per MRC, Air Liquide invested and will operate its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022. Located in Huai’an City, in the Jiangsu Province, the unit will have a production capacity of 75 GWh per year. This project demonstrates a circular economy and low-carbon approach, in line with the Group’s Sustainable Objectives and strategic plan, ADVANCE.
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SIBUR will build a facility to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of hexene per year at the Nizhnemkamskneftekhim petrochemical plant's olefins complex, SIBUR head Mikhail Karisalov said at a petrochemical forum in Kazan, said the company.

"Development of the technology and its piloting have been successful, and a decision was made to build this facility using in-house technology at Nizhnemkamskneftekhim," he said.

"This covers 125-130% of SIBUR's immediate demand, and what we used to buy in the UK and Germany. We expect to start pilot operation of this capacity within 18-20 months, and have it in our portfolio as a product from the end of 2024," Karisalov said.

Hexene is used to produce polymers. It is not currently produced in the former USSR, including in Russia, Karisalov said.

We remind, SIBUR has partnered with the global engineering company Technip Energies to licence out its technology for producing 1-hexene, a co-monomer used to make LLDPE and HDPE. The technology, known as HEXSIB, was developed by NIOST – one of SIBUR’s main R&D centres. 1-Hexene can be used to make LLDPE and HDPE and is an essential component of speciality polyethylene grades that offer premium quality and boast much better properties than commodity grades. For example, 1-hexene helps reduce the amount of plastic used in each end product and lower the environmental footprint by providing the same barrier properties to a thinner film.

SIBUR Holding is the leader of the petrochemical industry in Russia and one of the world's largest companies in the sector with more than 23,000 employees. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth about 1 trillion rubles.

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