Saudi Aramco to open new China refinery-petchem complex in 2026

Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners aim to start full operations at a refinery and petrochemical project in northeast China in 2026 to meet the country's growing demand for fuel and petrochemicals, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project in Liaoning's Panjin city, expected to cost USD10 B, will be Aramco's second major refining-petrochemical investment in China.

Joint venture Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO) will build and operate the complex that will house a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery and a cracker with annual production capacity of 1.65 million tons of ethylene and 2 million tons of paraxylene, Aramco said in a statement.

Construction at the complex will start in the second quarter after the project secures the required administrative approvals, Aramco said. The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2026, it added. Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil as feedstock for the plant.

State-owned NORINCO Group, a Chinese military equipment maker, owns 51% of HAPCO while Aramco and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group hold stakes of 30% and 19%, respectively.

We remind, Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and Linde Engineering, a global leader in the production and processing of gases, announced that they have signed an agreement to jointly develop a new ammonia cracking technology.

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Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has let a contract to TS Participacoes e Investimentos SA subsidiary Toyo Setal Empreendimentos Ltda to complete a new natural gas processing unit (UPGN) already under construction at the Polo GasLub Itaborai hub in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as per Ogi.

As part of the Mar. 24 contract, Toyo Setal will conclude construction of the UPGN, which halted in midyear-2022 following the previous main contractor’s inability to complete the project, Petrobras said.

Award of the contract follows Petrobras’ launch of a tender in September 2022 seeking a replacement contractor to complete the remaining scope of work on the Route 3 UPGN. The tender, which closed in mid-November 2022, called for the winning bidder to deliver civil construction, electromechanical assembly, interconnections, commissioning, pre-operational and start-up services, as well as assisted operation of lingering works for both gas processing units of the GasLub Itaborai complex’s Route 3 gas plant, including supply of materials and equipment.

With the newly awarded contract to Toyo Setal, Petrobras said it expects start of gas processing operations in the GasLub Itaborai to begin in 2024 in accordance with the operator’s 2023-27 strategic plan.

Other units required to start these operations—including auxiliary units as well as subsea and onshore pipelines—have already completed construction and are in their final commissioning or preoperational phases, Petrobras confirmed.

We remind, Petrobras it will reduce gasoline and diesel prices at its refineries from Wednesday, a move that will likely offset the resumption of federal taxes levied on fuels. Shares in the company dropped sharply after the news, trading down more than 3% by midday and making Petrobras one of the biggest fallers on the local benchmark stock index Bovespa , which slipped 0.5%. The price cut comes as the government announced on Monday it was set to resume the collection of taxes on fuels, ending a waiver set by former President Jair Bolsonaro last year - a measure that will boost government revenues but is seen as upsetting the middle class.

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Agilyx ASA, a technology company that enables customers to recycle post-use plastics to high value, virgin-equivalent products, and INEOS Styrolution America LLC, the global leader in styrenics, are pleased to announce that they are advancing the development of a previously announced 100 tons per day TruStyrenyx chemical recycling facility in Channahon, Illinois, said the company.

TruStyrenyx is a partnership between Agilyx and Technip Energies and provides an all-in-one solution for the chemical recycling of polystyrene back into a high purity styrene monomer. The styrene monomer can be used to make new, food-grade plastic products or packaging. Under the agreement, Agilyx and Technip Energies will collaborate with INEOS Styrolution and together develop the design and engineering that will serve as the basis for constructing the chemical recycling facility. We anticipate completion of engineering in 2023, which will form the basis for a financial investment decision.

Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx, said: “I’m delighted that we are partnering with INEOS Styrolution to continue development of the first large scale TruStyrenyx plant, utilizing some of the private placement funds Agilyx raised in September. We view TruStyrenyx as a game changer in the recycling of polystyrene, enabling an incredibly high purity, circular solution. This new facility will help to meet the growing demand from brand owners and consumers who want to see more recycled plastics in products."

Greg Fordyce, President of INEOS Styrolution, said: “We are very pleased to announce the advancement of the recycling plant in Channahon, Illinois. This facility will increase polystyrene recycling rates in the greater Chicago area and across the United States and demonstrates our company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. The TruStyrenyx facility will allow us to provide our customers with recycled content that is incredibly high purity for producing environmentally conscious products using innovative and sustainable solutions."

We remind, Sika is to divest some admixtures assets to investment fund Cinven after the UK’s competition authority showed “concerns” about the initially-planned divestment to INEOS. Sika is in the process to acquire construction chemicals peer MBCC, a process it hopes to conclude in the first half of 2023. In January, it said it was to divest to INEOS some admixtures assets coming from MBCC in the UK, the US, Canada and Europe.

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Russia's diesel and gasoil shipments to Brazil, Turkey and Africa were heading to new record highs in March as traders pushed into new markets following an EU ban on Russian oil products, according to traders and Refinitiv data, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A full EU embargo on Russian oil products went into effect on Feb. 5, sending Russian diesel cargoes to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and ship-to-ship (STS) loadings instead of to Europe. According to Refinitiv data, diesel and gasoil shipments from Russian Baltic and Black Seas ports to Turkey have already exceeded 1.2 million tons in March, topping the 0.8 million tons recorded the month earlier.

Russian Baltic ports have sent at least 300,000 tons of diesel to Brazil this month, more than the 205,000 tons for all of February, the figures showed. And Russia has also increased diesel supplies to African countries, market sources added. "Africa will apparently take significant volumes (of Russian diesel)", one trader said.

According to Refinitiv data for March, about 200,000 tons of diesel from Russian-controlled ports were shipped to Libya, about 165,000 tons to Algeria and 100,000 tons to Tunisia. Other recipients included Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco. About 200,000 tons of diesel from Russian ports are due to reach Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates this month, the data showed.

Last month Russia sent at least 450,000 tons of diesel to Saudi Arabia, including some shipped via STS near Kalamata port - though no such cargoes have been recorded on this route so far in March. Records for about 0.7 million tons of diesel loaded in March in Russian Black and Baltic Seas ports gave no specific destination, according to Refinitiv data.

We remind, Russia's piped supply of Urals crude to the European Union via the southern spur of the Druzhba pipeline is set to rise 6% on a daily basis in the first quarter from the three months before, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed. The EU pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5. Supply via the Druzhba pipeline remains exempt from sanctions, though flows via its northern spur, which supplies Poland and Germany, dried up last month.

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Saudi Aramco raised its multi-billion dollar investment in China by finalizing and upgrading a planned joint venture in northeast China and acquiring an expanded stake in a privately controlled petrochemical group, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The two deals, announced separately on Sunday and Monday, would see Aramco supplying the two Chinese companies with a combined 690,000 barrels a day of crude oil, bolstering its rank as China's top provider of the commodity.

Aramco said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a 10% stake in privately controlled Rongsheng Petrochemical Co Ltd for about USD3.6 billion. The deal includes the supply of 480,000 bpd of crude oil to Rongsheng-controlled Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) for 20 years, Aramco added.

It follows a preliminary agreement Aramco reached with the Zhejiang provincial government in 2018 for a 9% stake in ZPC. The deals are the biggest to be announced since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the kingdom in December where he called for oil trade in yuan, a move that would weaken the U.S. dollar's dominance in global trade.

Aramco's investments highlight Riyadh's deepening ties with Beijing which have raised security concerns in Washington, Riyadh's traditional ally. In a deal brokered by China, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish relations earlier this month after years of hostility that had fueled conflicts across the region.

Beijing's secret role in the breakthrough shook up dynamics in the Middle East, where the United States was for decades the main dealmaker. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates have said that they would not choose sides amid an increased polarization of global politics, and they were diversifying partners to serve national economic and security interests.

The deal also highlights growing competition between Saudi Arabia and its ally Russia in crude supplies to China. Western sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine forced Russia to divert its oil away from Europe and to sell it at steep discounts to other markets, including China.

Russia unseated Saudi Arabia as China's top oil supplier in the first two months of the year. Aramco is already selling crude to the east China plant which operates an 800,000-bpd refinery, the single largest in China, under sales agreements renewed annually.

The Rongsheng deal comes on the heels of Aramco's agreement with Chinese partners on Sunday for an oil refinery and petrochemical project in the northeast Chinese province of Liaoning that is expected to start in 2026 to meet the country's growing demand for fuel and chemicals.

We remind, Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners aim to start full operations at a refinery and petrochemical project in northeast China in 2026 to meet the country's growing demand for fuel and petrochemicals. The project in Liaoning's Panjin city, expected to cost USD10 B, will be Aramco's second major refining-petrochemical investment in China.

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