Friday, January 24, 2020
Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 48
1 Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-coronavirus-quarantines-to-drive-down-energy-demand-628189
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are edging lower on Friday, shortly before the regular session opening. The markets are also headed for a steep weekly decline as concern that a virus in China may spread, hurting travel and fuel demand, overshadowed supply cuts. China is the world’s second largest oil consumer so any slowdown in travel would show up on demand forecasts.
2 Weekly resin report: Strong export demand pushes PP, PE prices higher
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-strong-export-demand-pushes-pp-pe-prices-higher/21870530062264
Although completed volumes in the spot resin markets dropped last week compared with the week before, they remained well above year-ago levels, reported the PlasticsExchange (Chicago) in its Market Update. The flow of fresh railcar offers has declined from the pace seen during the fourth quarter and spot prices have firmed, cleaning up the lower end of the pricing spectrum. Processors initially balked at higher asking prices, but some came back late in the week and paid up for material.
3 Asian chemicals face tight supply, weak demand post-Lunar New Year
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/01/22/10460741/asian-chemicals-face-tight-supply-weak-demand-post-lunar-new-year
The outlook on Asian petrochemicals and fuel products is mixed post-Lunar New Year, with supply of butadiene (BD), acrylonitrile (ACN) and isopropanol (IPA) tightening while other chemicals will face weak demand and rising fuel supply is expected.
4 Recycled plastics will feel the heat from consumer demand
https://blogs.platts.com/2020/01/22/recycled-plastics-consumer-demand-2020/
The global recycled plastics market will continue to grapple with unfavorable economics in 2020. In the long term, demand for recycled plastics is expected to grow significantly, along with recycling rates for core materials PET, PE and PP.
5 Virus Anxiety Has Oil Poised for Losing Streak
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/virus_anxiety_has_oil_poised_for_losing_streak-24-jan-2020-160881-article/
Oil is heading for the longest run of weekly losses since May on fears China’s coronavirus outbreak may dent demand amid plentiful global supplies, even as U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly declined.
6 Why The Coronavirus Is A Real Threat To Oil Markets
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-The-Coronavirus-Is-A-Real-Threat-To-Oil-Markets.html
It impairs your breathing, causes extreme fatigue and fevers. It kills. And beyond that, it’s keeping oil prices low by threatening to stifle oil demand in one of the world’s largest oil markets. It’s SARS CoV, better known as the SARS Coronavirus, and it’s shaping up to be the oil market’s biggest nemesis this year. And there’s no cure.
7 IEA’s Fatih Birol Sees 1 Million-Barrel Oil Market Surplus
https://www.hartenergy.com/news/ieas-fatih-birol-sees-1-million-barrel-oil-market-surplus-185435
A surplus of one million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil is expected to keep a lid on prices in first-half 2020, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said Jan. 21.
8 U.S. LNG Booms As Natural Gas Prices Crash
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-LNG-Booms-As-Natural-Gas-Prices-Crash.html
Despite the current oversupply and depressed natural gas prices all over the world, the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is set for further growth, at least into the middle of this decade, as suppliers sanction new projects and major buyers ramp up imports.
9 EIA expects U.S. net natural gas exports to almost double by 2021
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42575
In its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on January 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. natural gas exports will exceed natural gas imports by an average 7.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2020 (2.0 Bcf/d higher than in 2019) and 8.9 Bcf/d in 2021. Growth in U.S. net exports is led primarily by increases in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and pipeline exports to Mexico. Net natural gas exports more than doubled in 2019, compared with 2018, and EIA expects that they will almost double again by 2021 from 2019 levels.
10 U.S. crude oil production efficiency continues year-over-year improvements
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42595
U.S. oil production from tight formations increased in 2019, accounting for 64% of total U.S. crude oil production. This share grew because of the increasing productivity of new wells that were brought online during 2019.
11 US Energy Independence Fuels Persian Gulf Insecurity
https://www.rigzone.com/news/us_energy_independence_fuels_persian_gulf_insecurity-24-jan-2020-160883-article/
The U.S. drive for energy independence fuels Persian Gulf insecurity, according to a new report by Verisk Maplecroft. “As U.S. shale oil production has increased, and with Middle East oil exports to Asia now higher than to anywhere else globally, the role of the United States in guaranteeing security in the region as a quid-pro-quo for secure energy supplies has weakened,” Niamh McBurney, head of MENA at Verisk Maplecroft, said in the report.
12 Oil Geopolitical Risk Is Declining, Despite US-Iran Tensions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/randybrown/2020/01/23/oil-geopolitical-risk-is-declining-despite-us-iran-tensions/
The recent Middle East confrontations between the U.S. and Iran has done little to permanently push up the price of oil. Oil prices spiked on the days when there were acts of aggression, but quickly retraced as the other side contained its response. Was this moderation in oil volatility the result of adept diplomacy, or is it a more structural reduction in geopolitical risk?
13 Mexico goes ghost as its oil hedge bill spirals
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-oil-hedge-insight-idUSKBN1ZM1JJ
To frustrate speculators and contain an annual bill of more than $1 billion, Mexico is going to new lengths to mask its attempts to insure its revenue from oil sales against falling prices – no mean feat for a hedging program known as Wall Street’s biggest oil trade.
14 Booming Plastics Industry Faces Backlash as Data About Environmental Harm Grows
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16012020/plastics-marine-oceans-climate-change-oil-gas-carbon-emissions
Frustrated with the sight of plastic bags and styrofoam containers piling up in its harbor, the city of Charleston, South Carolina, rang in the new year with a promise to start enforcing a ban on single-use plastic containers and utensils.
15 What Will The Energy Sector Look Like In 2030?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/woodmackenzie/2020/01/24/what-will-the-energy-sector-look-like-in-2030/
The world we live in today is very different to 10 years ago. What change will the coming decade bring? I asked Wood Mackenzie’s analysts from across our business – energy transition, power and renewables, macro oils, petrochemicals, gas, upstream, corporate, economics, metals and mining – to imagine what 2030 could look like.
16 Global LNG Poised for Terrible Year
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/global_lng_poised_for_terrible_year-24-jan-2020-160885-article/
Liquefied natural gas prices are poised to test record lows this year thanks to an onslaught of new supply and warmer winter temperatures curbing consumption.
17 Keystone XL Takes Another Step Forward
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/keystone_xl_takes_another_step_forward-23-jan-2020-160872-article/
TC Energy Corp.’s long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline took another step forward with U.S. approval of a key stretch of construction. The Interior Department authorized construction across a swath of federal land in Montana, according to a release on Wednesday.
18 Nimble Singapore bunker market swiftly adjusts to IMO 2020
https://blogs.platts.com/2020/01/23/singapore-bunker-market-adjusts-imo2020/
The Singapore bunker market recorded its highest monthly sales volume for the year in December 2019, and uptake of low sulfur bunker fuel finally brought some optimism back into the market as it falls in line with IMO 2020.
19 Russian petrochemical giant ready for Moscow IPO
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-01-22/Russian-petrochemical-giant-ready-for-Moscow-IPO-NswNHYSVxK/index.html
Russian petrochemical company SIBUR said it’s ready for going public and Moscow is most probably to be the place. That’s according to Sergey Komyshan, the executive director at SIBUR.
20 SE Asia ethylene market strengthens on tighter supply, fresh demand
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/01/24/10461407/se-asia-ethylene-market-strengthens-on-tighter-supply-fresh-demand
Ethylene prices in southeast Asia are buoyed by tightening supply and fresh spot demand. Spot availability for February-loading cargoes is curtailed by widespread operating rate cuts at regional naphtha-(liquefied petroleum gas) LPG crackers, as well as ongoing and upcoming cracker turnarounds in southeast Asia and the Middle East.
21 4 Promising Oil Trends To Watch In 2020
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/4-Promising-Oil-Trends-To-Watch-In-2020.html
Since the turn of the year, energy stocks have become a put owner’s dream–what with the energy sector virtually generating the worst returns of all US sectors.
And the harder you look, the worse it gets, making it nearly impossible to find value in this gridlocked mess.
