Friday, April 10, 2020
Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 59
1 Weekly Resin Report: Prices Continue to Spiral Down
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-prices-continue-spiral-down/196001843762791
Just like the world at large, the mood at the spot resin market last week is best characterized as nervous. There was a lot of quoting but not much buying, as many participants seemed to be probing the market for ideas of price and availability, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update. Still, overall interest was active, which led to good completed volumes at the resin clearinghouse’s trading desk.
2 Mexico accepts oil output deal, says Trump resolved its impasse with OPEC+
http://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/4/10/mexico-accepts-oil-output-deal-says-trump-resolved-its-impasse-with-opecplus
Mexico said it has reached an agreement with OPEC+ for deep oil-production cuts, after an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump resolved an overnight impasse.
However, delegates from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said they were unaware of the terms of the deal to which Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was referring.
3 Saudi, Russia seek to finalise oil cuts in G20 talks, want U.S. involved
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-g20-energy-idUSKCN21S19K
Saudi Arabia, Russia and their allies will press Mexico on Friday to join an accord for collective oil production cuts equivalent to 10% of global supplies and will push the United States and other producers to remove a further 5%.
The plan for cuts top the agenda for Friday’s video conference of energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, after Moscow, Riyadh and others in the OPEC+ group forged a deal in marathon talks on Thursday, only to have it stumble when Mexico balked at the initiative.
4 Goldman Sachs: 10 million bpd cut by top oil producers not enough
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-research-goldman-idUSKCN21R0QW
Goldman Sachs said a 10 million barrel-per-day (bpd) cut by major producers would not be enough to improve global balances in a market reeling from a coronavirus-led demand collapse and a mounting supply glut.
5 Oil Could Fall Back To $20
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Could-Fall-Back-To-20.html
The decline in demand could cause inventories to fill up, enforcing substantial curtailments by refineries and shut ins at oil wells, according to a new report from Rystad Energy. The hit to demand will “last longer” than previously expected, as more countries impose lockdown orders while “the spread of the virus will resist restrictions more than we first expected,” the firm said. Rystad sees a demand hit of around 20 mb/d in May and more than 15 mb/d in June. Demand growth remains negative for the duration of 2020.
6 Why The OPEC+ Output Cut Is Irrelevant
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Why-The-OPEC-Output-Cut-Is-Irrelevant.html
I’m in favor of the global output cut orchestrated by President Trump but let’s recognize it for what it is: largely irrelevant. Mohammed bin Salman and Vladimir Putin were glad to burn down the world a month ago when they walked away from production cuts. They had dueling temper tantrums in the junior high locker room while the world descended into economic Armageddon. To Trump’s credit, he may have found a way for them to reverse their terrible blunder, save face and emerge looking like much better guys than they really are.
7 OPEC+ Deal Won’t Solve The Oil Storage Crisis
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/OPEC-Deal-Wont-Solve-The-Oil-Storage-Crisis.html
It was going to be a reasonably good year for oil. OPEC+ would continue to keep a lid on production to keep prices above dangerous levels, and U.S. shale would continue to expand. But a series of events–some predictable and some not-so-predictable would change the trajectory of the global oil market.
8 BP’s U.S. Refineries Cut Run Rates As Demand Crumbles
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/BPs-US-Refineries-Cut-Run-Rates-As-Demand-Crumbles.html
Sources told Reuters last week that BP has reduced refinery run rates at its 430,000-bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana, the 242,000-bpd Cherry Point, Washington, refinery, and the 155,000-bpd in Toledo, Ohio, refinery, due to low demand from U.S. consumers.
9 Petrochemical plant constructions slow as pandemic threatens workforce
https://www.bicmagazine.com/departments/engineering-construction/pu-petrochemical-plant-constructions-slow-as-pandemic-threat/
Concern about the virus spreading in construction sites, where up to several thousand workers congregate and share facilities, have had immediate consequences and in some cases indefinitely extended timelines.
While petrochemical companies did not report output declines in March 2020, construction projects have dramatically slowed or even crawled to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
10 Braskem revises petchem production rates to avoid unnecessary inventories
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/petrochemicals/040920-braskem-revises-petchem-production-rates-to-avoid-unnecessary-inventories
Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem is revising its production rates on a weekly basis to avoid unnecessary inventories, according to Pedro van Langendonck, the company’s CFO.
“We are adjusting our production. Some plants are running close to full capacity, some other plants are below that,” Langendonck said Wednesday at its fourth-quarter conference call.
11 China’s PP fibre output up on demand for surgical masks, protective gears
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/04/10/10495115/china-s-pp-fibre-output-up-on-demand-for-surgical-masks-protective-gears
A large number of Chinese producers have switched to making polypropylene (PP) fibre amid a spike in global demand for surgical masks and personal protective gears.
The rise in production, supported by even greater demand, had led to steep gains in prices of the product.
12 Why Covid-19 Is The Ultimate Energy Transition Stress Test For Refiners
https://www.woodmac.com/news/feature/why-covid-19-is-the-ultimate-energy-transition-stress-test-for-refiners/
Refining has always been a challenging business, but global capacity has continued to grow despite periodic bouts of rationalisation in OECD countries. The energy transition introduces the threat of oil demand peaking before 2040, which makes refinery investment decisions even more difficult.
13 Is U.S. Energy Dominance Coming To An End?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Is-US-Energy-Dominance-Coming-To-An-End.html
America’s era of “energy dominance” was brief.
The slogan was always silly. Leaving aside the extensive environmental fallout, the notion that a debt-fueled drilling boom allowed the U.S. to “dominate” energy markets in some way never really made sense. And despite a substantial increase in production over the past decade, activity is and always was connected with the global market – aggressive drilling never insulated the American economy from these global forces, at least not in the way that industry-friendly politicians seemed to think.
14 Canadian oil production could fall 25% before post-COVID ‘resurgence’
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/enbridge-monaco-oilpatch-covid-19-1.5525276
With an American election at this year, the chief executive of Enbridge was already expecting 2020 to be a “choppy” year for the company, since presidential candidates can have differing viewpoints on whether major pipeline projects should proceed and on the oilpatch, as a whole.
15 Molecular Fusion Technology Permanently Embeds Antimicrobials in Polymer Substrates
https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/molecular-fusion-technology-permanently-embeds-antimicrobials-polymer-substrates/67993994262775
A new proprietary line of polymer fusion products with antimicrobial blocking agents has been introduced by Polyfuze Graphics Corp. The products are designed to exceed the rigid labeling standards of the medical, food service, reusable packaging, and health services industries. The labeling technology for olefins developed by the Clarkdale, AZ–based company relies on pigmented polymers to create permanently fused labels for products in the medical, food packaging, outdoor sports and automotive sectors.
16 COVID-19 Reframes Debate on Single-Use Plastic Bags
https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/covid-19-reframes-debate-on-single-use-plastic-bags/24749037262781
As cities and states grapple over whether or not plastic retail bags are safer than reusable totes during the coronavirus crisis — and try to decide to ban or not to ban single-use plastic bags — the plastics industry continues to promote the benefits of plastic across a wide range of applications. These benefits are, after all, why plastic became so ubiquitous in the first place: Consumer safety, improved shelf life (less food waste), and hygiene, to name just a few.
17 Demand up in a time of crisis | Special report
https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/features/demand-time-crisis-special-report-covid-19-07-04-2020
A pandemic that threatens the lives of millions across the globe sounds like the plot to a Hollywood blockbuster. But that is what we are all living through. Coronavirus (Covid-19) is deadly to the elderly and anyone with underlying health problems, and faced with such a growing problem it’s no surprise governments globally have reacted by closing off boarders, locking down cities and preaching social distancing.
18 Graphic: Oil majors cut 2020 spending by 22% after prices slump
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-majors-capex-graphic-idUSKBN21J516
Cuts announced by nine major oil companies, including Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, come to a combined $38 billion, or a drop of 22% from their initial spending plans of $175 billion.
Exxon on Tuesday cut its 2020 budget by $10 billion to $23 billion.
BP has cut its 2020 spending plan by 25% and will reduce output from its U.S. shale oil and gas business.
