Oil is plummeting after getting hit with a one-two punch

By Polymers (ScrapMonster Contributor)

September 27, 2016 01:25:40 AM

SEATTLE (polymers.in):  In the short terms, electric vehicles could actually lead to a spike in the oil price, according to Dwight Anderson.
- The drop in supply will likely drive prices higher, wherein he cited a 65% drop in capital expenditure at major oil companies.  

A Mexican oil tanker went up in flames on Saturday and it's still not clear why
- The blaze took place about 8 miles off the coats of Boca del Rio in southeastern Veracruz on the tanker Burgos.
- The load was made up of 80,000 bbl of diesel fuel, 71,000 bbl of unleaded gasoline and 16,000 bbl of desulfurizationed gasoline.  

Oil is plummeting after getting hit with a one-two punch
- WTI oil was down 4.06% at USD 44.44/bbl on Friday afternoon.
- Saudi Arabia offered to reduce its oil production if Iran would agree to put a cap on its own output.  

Oil rigs keep climbing
- The number of active US oil rigs rose by 2 to 418 this week.
- Tally of gas rigs rose by 3 to 92, bringing the total to 511.
- The oil rig count has climbed in 12 out of the last 13 weeks, and has not decreased over the last 13 weeks. 

Iran unlikely to agree to oil freeze, pre-sanctions output still aim: source
- Saudi Arabia has told Iran it would be willing to reduce its output if Iran agreed to freeze its production at current levels of around 3.6 million bbl/day.
- Iran produced 3.63 million bbl/day in August for the third straight month. 

Oil Speculators Abandon Hope in OPEC’s Ability to Support Prices
- OPEC kept pumping at a record rate before the meeting, wherein prices rose as high as USD 47.62/bbl this month.
- WTI crude by 50,588 futures and options during the week ended 20th Sept.
- WTI futures declined 3.35 to USD 43.44/bbl.  

Oil Edges Higher as Saudi Offer Opens Door to Future OPEC Deal
- Futures advanced as much as 1.1% after slumping 4% on Friday.
- WTI for November delivery rose as much as 47 cents to USD 44.95/bbl.
- Brent for November settlement climbed as much as 46 cents or 1% to USD 46.35/bbl.  

Oil Firm Spending Seen Up in 2017 for First Time Since 2014
- Companies will spend 2.5% more on capital did this year.
- Spending will increase by another 7% to 14% in 2018.  

Nigerian Lawmakers to Probe Claim $17 Billion of Oil Stolen
- Nigeria’s lower house of parliament ordered an investigation into whether USD 17 billion of fuel exports were stolen.
- More than USD 12 billion worth of crude has been shipped to the US, USD 3 billion to China and almost USD 840 million to Norway.  

Maersk Oil Seen Surviving Split to Become Independent Producer
- AP Moeller Maersk, Denmark’s 112-year -old shipping and energy conglomerate that it was separating the oil-related businesses from the group over the next two years.
- Maersk Oil gets most of its 330,000 bbl of oil equivalent a day from Qatar, the UK, Denmark and Algeria. 

Oil prices dive as OPEC split ahead of talks
- Oil prices could be headed back below USD 40/bbl.
- WTI crude fell sharply to under USD 45/bbl on the weekend.
- Oil prices has crashed from above USD 100/bbl over the past two years.  

Oil Price Likely to Rally in 2018
- Morningstar analysts have raised their price forecast for oil to USD 65 as fundamentals post 2017 are looking particularly bullish for prices.
- The industry is thus setting itself up to have few options to meet incremental supply needs besides US shale by 2018-2019.  

Feedstock (Ethane, Ethylene, Propane, Propylene, PX, PTA, MEG, EDC, VCM)
Sinopec settles September PX/PTA/MEG contract prices. 

Paraxylene: Another Chemicals World Turned Upside Down
- PX industry is enjoying an unprecedented period of demand growth.
- Between 2000 and 2016, global demand for PX will have jumped 135%.
- China will be the major driver because of its role as the workshops of the world.  

Propylene prices drift lower in parts of Asia
- CFR China prices of propylene were assessed down at USD 855/MT levels, a sharp fall of USD 20/MT from Wednesday.
- FOB Korea prices were assessed steady at USD 845/MT levels.  

Front-month CIF NWE naphtha crack recovers to near 5-month high
- Front-month CIF NWE naphtha crack swap spiked 50 cents/bbl to minus USD 2.65/bbl on Wednesday. 

Dow Argentina offering surplus ethylene cargo: source
- Ethylene was assessed at USD 1165/MT CFR NEA, down USD 10/MT on the day.
- Ethylene was assessed at USD 1040/MT CFR SEA also a USD 5/MT dip day on day. 

European propylene spot prices drop amid derivative outages
- European spot prices flat to the monthly contract price for October, compared with premiums of 10 - 13% two weeks ago.
- October propylene contract price indicator was assessed at EUR 722.50/MT.  

PTA price moves up on rising upstream cost
- Asian PTA markets rose USD 5/ton CFR China in the first week of September.
- In China, offers for nearby-month goods were at USD 610 - 615/ton, and negotiations surged similarly to USD 605 - 610/ton. 

Polymers Demand
Flat Turkish PP demand not deterring bullish offers post-Eid
- Players in Turkey’s PP market were cautiously optimistic.
- It became clear that prices below USD 1000/MT CFR and CPT from Middle Eastern and Indian producers. 

WTI and Brent Crude oil rise. Asian polymers fall, European and US static
- WTI and Brent Crude oil rose over the week to 23rd September to USD 44.72 ad USD 46.11/bbl.
- Asian polymer prices fell with reductions of between USD 5 and USD 30/MT reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, Polypropylene and Polystyrene.
- US polymers remained unchanged apart from apart from a reduction of 1 cent per pound reported in the price of Polystyrene. 

Polymers Supply
PP units brought on-stream by FCFC
- Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp has restarted its PP units following a maintenance turnaround. 

Courtesy: www.polymers.io