Friday, March 8, 2019
Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 8
Next week is March Break in Ontario, I will be away from the office. No Newsletter.
1 Oil drops 2 percent as economic outlook weakens, U.S. supply surges
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN1QP03Z
Oil prices dropped close to 2 percent on Friday on a worsening global economic outlook after the European Central Bank (ECB) warned of continued weakness and fresh data showed Chinese imports and exports slumped last month.
2 Weekly resin report: Processors anticipate another decrease in PP prices
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-processors-anticipate-another-decrease-pp-prices/42169694860381
Spot resin trading volumes eased back last week from the frantic pace seen during most of February, but the total tally was still above average, reports the PlasticsExchange (Chicago) in its weekly Market Update. Buyers continued to scoop up favorable polyethylene (PE) offers, while polypropylene (PP) processors only picked away as needed.
3 Forecasting The Oil Price For Fun And Profit (But Not Accuracy)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2019/03/05/forecasting-the-oil-price-for-fun-and-profit-but-not-accuracy/
Over twenty years ago, while in Norway, I showed a group of economists their government’s track record in forecasting national oil production: they consistently predicted a near-term peak and decline and had done so nearly since the beginning of production. At the time of my talk, production had grown regularly and did not appear to be slowing, suggesting that the forecasts needed to be revised.
4 Exxon Mobil sees 2020 capex rising by up to 16 percent
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-meeting-idUSKCN1QN1HI
Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it plans to open its wallet and increase capital spending by 10 percent to 16 percent next year, as the U.S. oil major looks to restore flagging oil and gas production despite investor pressures to boost returns.
5 New U.S. power plants expected to be mostly natural gas combined-cycle and solar PV
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38612
EIA’s long-term projections show that most of the electricity generating capacity additions installed in the United States through 2050 will be natural gas combined-cycle and solar photovoltaic (PV). Onshore wind looks to be competitive in only a few regions before the legislated phase-out of the production tax credit (PTC), but it becomes competitive later in the projection period as demand increases and the cost for installing wind turbines continues to decline.
6 U.S. Petroleum Exports May Surpass Saudis by Year-End: Rystad
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/commodities/
America’s booming oil production could set the stage for country’s total petroleum exports to surpass those of Saudi Arabia by end-2019, according to Rystad Energy AS.
7 Tracking the decoupling of electricity demand and associated CO2 emissions
https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2019/march/tracking-the-decoupling-of-electricity-demand-and-associated-co2-emissions.html
Since 1990, the global CO2 intensity of electricity generation – that is, the amount of CO2 emissions created for each kWh of power generated – has remained broadly stable. Until the early 2010s, growth in CO2 emissions from electricity generation kept pace with electricity demand growth. However the last few years have shown a decoupling: electricity demand continues to rise, but emissions from power generation have begun to flatten.
8 Unlikely twins and differing fortunes: Malaysia’s Petronas & Indonesia’s Pertamina
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-petronas-pertamina-insight-idUSKCN1QO0GR
On the southernmost edge of the Asian landmass and on the shores of the busy shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait, Malaysia’s Petronas is starting up a state-of-the art petroleum processing hub, called RAPID.
9 Is This As Good As It Gets For Oil?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Is-This-As-Good-As-It-Gets-For-Oil.html
Crude oil prices have gone up twenty-seven percent from their Christmas week lows. Many analysts, company representatives, and OPEC officials see them rising further. The 1.2-million-barrels-per-day cut in oil production instituted in January by OPEC members and other countries (OPEC+) has encouraged these views.
10 U.S. LNG exports pick up, with Europe a major buyer
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lng-usa-idUSKCN1QO1KC
Shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) have gathered pace in March and Europe is set to stay a top destination for spot cargoes with Asian prices still too low to ship the chilled fuel that far.
11 Exclusive: Rosneft postpones hydrocracking upgrade at five refineries: sources
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rosneft-upgrade-exclusive-idUSKCN1QO1GL
Russia’s Rosneft is postponing an upgrade of hydrocracking units at five of its refineries, meaning the company will continue paying higher export taxes on the heavy products they produce, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.
12 Chevron, Exxon take turns wooing investors with shale boasts
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-outlook-idUSKCN1QM1GD
The two biggest U.S. oil companies tried to outdo each other on Tuesday, boasting about their prowess in shale to lure investors to their side.
13 S&P cuts Pemex credit rating as outlook sinks for other Mexican firms, banks
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-pemex-s-p-idUSKCN1QL1W8
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Monday slashed the credit rating for Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, piling more pressure on the government to tighten up the debt-laden oil firm’s finances.
14 Why Oil And Gas Needs To Adopt A Silicon Valley State Of Mind
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markvenables/2019/02/28/why-oil-and-gas-needs-to-adopt-a-silicon-valley-state-of-mind/
The goal behind the digital oilfield is to optimize oilfield operations through the provision and implementation of data and analysis tools. These digital methodologies are becoming more common in logistics and machinery monitoring – areas that can be translated from other industries. However, the holy grail remains the provision of real-time, reliable production data.
15 Total buys 10 percent stake in Arctic LNG 2 project from Novatek
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-total-russia-novatek-idUSKCN1QM0PC
Total has agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project from Russia’s Novatek, as the French energy group looks to build up its presence in the area to service a fast-growing Asian market.
