Earthquake hits bitumen demand in Sichuan, future demand unclear
C1 --05/16/2008
The strong earthquake in Sichuan province has hit the province’s bitumen demand, shows C1’s survey.
“As rescue is the priority, most road construction has come to a halt, not likely to resume in the near term,” said a trader in Chongqing.
In addition, bitumen deliveries have basically come to a halt after the earthquake.
“Our deliveries, particularly those through the railway have been grounded,” said a refinery source in Sichuan.
With regards to bitumen demand from road reconstruction in the future, market players have divergent views. Some expect demand to go up, while others do not. The latter cited limited bitumen requirement from partial maintenance, unclear information on road maintenance and earmarked budget. “The project owner’s funds have been earmarked. Bitumen demand will not be spurred much unless roads are severely damaged or the country makes an appropriation,” said a source with a modified bitumen producer.
CNOOC Sichuan’s bitumen prod. continues after quake, deliveries blocked
C1 --05/16/2008
CNOOC (Bitumen) Sichuan Ltd’s bitumen production remains normal after the recent earthquake in Sichuan province, according to a source with both CNOOC and the refinery.
The refinery’s preliminary check shows that its units were not damaged by the earthquake. The refinery is located in Luzhou, about 500km away from the epicenter.
However, the refinery’s deliveries have basically stopped, particularly those through the railway.
It is possible for the refinery to put off reception of crude oil for the sake of safety, said the refinery source, though it has not been affected by the earthquake as it is through the Yangtze River. In addition, bitumen demand is so weak and the refinery suffers such heavy losses that it may even halt production, said the source with CNOOC.
Bitumen demand in Sichuan province in the near future will be most severely hit as road construction will give way to rescue, said the refinery source. But the refinery is not expected to be put under much inventory pressure as it is just yielding about 300mt of bitumen per day, added the source.
CNOOC Bitumen (Sichuan) is capable of processing 500,000mt of crude oil per year, producing 300,000mt of AH-70/90 bitumen and 100,000mt of modified bitumen. Its bitumen is sold under the brand name of “Zhonghai 36-1”.
PetroChina starts up oil products supply emergency counterplan in SW. China’s Sichuan
C1 (Shanghai)--05/14/2008
PetroChina, the country's largest oil company, formally started up emergency counterplan on May 13 to ensure oil products supply in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, a source with the Northwest China branch of the oil major revealed to C1 Wednesday.
The oil major planned to deliver 20,000mt of oil products to Sichuan from Shaanxi Province in Northwest China by truck, a source with PetroChina Shaanxi denoted, adding that the first batch resources totaling 1,000mt had been sent to the disaster area on May 13. Supply gap in Shaanxi province would be bridged by inflows from Northwest and Northeast China, the source furthered.
Besides, the oil giant also set to move 80,000-100,000mt of oil products from East China to Sichuan and deliver some from Chongqing Municipality by railway, pipeline and barge, market sources pointed out.
Sinopec Jingmen Petchem sends 7,000mt of gasoil to Sichuan for emergent assistance in May 13-14
C1 (Shanghai)--05/14/2008
Jingmen Petrochemical has sent a total 7,000mt of gasoil to disaster area in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province in recent two days for emergent assistance, a source with its parent Sinopec said. Divided into three batches, the 7,000mt of out-of-plan allocation was delivered to Sichuan by rail, the source said. Meanwhile, the refinery provided 2,000mt of jet to Sichuan, which was also transport by rail, the source added.
As C1 reported earlier, a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday, causing serious injury, loss of life, and property damage in epicenter and nearby areas. Wenchuan lies in the southeast part of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, 146 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan.
Jingmen Petrochemical, located in Central China’s Hubei Province, has an annual crude processing capacity of 5.1-mil mt with two crude distillate units equipped.
Depots in SW. China switch to source truck-delivered LPG from C. China due to choked railway
C1 (Shanghai)--05/14/2008
Depots in Southwest China switched to seek LPG for truck delivery from Central China and South China’s Guangxi, as LPG railway transportation was affected by big earthquake, C1’s survey found.
The purchasing costs was estimated to rise due to longer distance from Central to Southwest China, which might drive up LPG prices in the latter region, viewed a source with one of Yunnan-based depots.
Meanwhile, refineries in Northwest China mostly transmit their LPG to Central China by truck, besides supplying local market. They faced little sales pressures on low stocks, because many refineries in the region were in turnarounds now. (
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Lanzhou-Chengdu-Chongqing Oil Product Pipeline resumes operation May 13 after 19-hour blackout
C1 (Shanghai)--05/13/2008
PetroChina resumed operation of Lanzhou-Chengdu-Chongqing Oil Product Pipeline at 15:00 of May 13 after a 19-hour closedown, a source with the pipeline company denoted. The company shut down the pipeline at 20:00 of May 12 on safety concern over the earthquake shook Wenchuan County of Sichuan province at 14:28 of the same day.
Some market sources pointed out the blackout slowed down production in Lanzhou Refining & Chemical Co, source of the piped oil products, due to piling-up distillate inventory. However, a source with the refinery denied the saying. He said the refinery was basically running at usual operation in the past 19 hours. But he pointed out it would take over ten hours for the pipeline to recover normal operation completely.
Lanzhou-Chengdu-Chongqing Oil Product Pipeline, extending 1,247km, was put into use in 2002. It is the main source for oil products supply in Southwest China, including 0.2% sulfur zero pour point gasoil, 90-Ron and 93-Ron gasoline.
Petroleum products trains give way to those carrying disaster relief goods in N. China, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong
C1 (Shanghai)--05/13/2008
Rail transportation for petroleum products paused in North China, Shandong, Sichuan and Guangdong Tuesday to let trains with disaster relief goods to disaster area go first since a big earthquake hit Sichuan in Southwest China Monday afternoon, according to C1's survey. Resumption date was unknown at present.
A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday, the State Seismological Bureau (SSB) said. Wenchuan lies in the southeast part of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, 146 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. The quake was also felt in many other parts of China, like Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Beijing.
Sichuan Shengma Chemical halts oil coke production Tue due to earthquake nearby
C1 (Guangzhou) --05/13/2008
Sichuan Shengma Chemical Co Ltd, the only oil coke producer in Southwest China, suspended production on May 12, affected by a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale striking Wenchuan County in Southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon, revealed a South China-based oil coke trader.
Shengma Chemical, located in Suining City of Sichuan, is close to the epicenter Wenchuan in location. The refinery is an independent refinery equipped with an 800,000-mt/yr crude distillate unit, a 600,000-mt/yr fluid catalytic cracker and a 400,000-mt/yr delayed coker.
Earthquake in SW. China's Sichuan partly interrupts natural gas supply
C1 (Guangzhou)--05/13/2008
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Southwest China's Sichuan province at 14:28 of May 12 caused natural gas supply interruption in some areas, according to a source with Chengdu Gas Company located in capital city of the province. The source did not specify the affected areas, just saying that repair and maintenance work is carried out to trunk natural gas pipelines presently.
The earthquake impacted normal operation of the Southwest China gas pipeline network with an annual transport capacity at 10-bil cubic meters, the source introduced. The pipeline network, with its northern section lying circa 100km away from Wenchuan County, the epicenter, winds its way through central part of Sichuan province and Chongqing Municipality. Operation of another energy artery, Zhongxian-Wuhan Gas Pipeline, reported little influence.
Besides, major gas fields in Sichuan saw no serious impact from the earthquake by far, apart from some small ones near the epicenter, according to a source with PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company.
However, it remained sketchy whether Sinopec's 12-bil-cu-m Puguang Gas field and its affiliated Sichuan-Shanghai Gas Pipeline were affected.
Sichuan is the second largest natural gas producer in China. Its natural gas output reached 18.746-bil cu m in 2007, up 29.2% year on year, taking up about 27% of China's total in the year. (See map below)
PetroChina Nanchong Refinery halts LPG supply Tue due to impact of earthquake
C1 (Guangzhou)--05/13/2008
PetroChina's 1.2-mil-mt/yr Nanchong Refinery suspended its LPG supply Tuesday, after a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in Southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon, said a source with the refinery. Resumption is yet to be decided, according to the source. Earlier, the refinery has shut down all of units for emergent maintenance step by step, the source added.
Despite the shutdown, LPG supply in Sichuan could meet demand in one or two weeks, market sources expected.
Nanchong Refinery, located in Nanchong City of Sichuan, is about 400km southwest of Wenchuan, the epicentre of the big earthquake. The refinery could normally produce 200-300mt of LPG per day.
SW. China's DME plants see production unaffected, while truck sales disturbed by earthquake
C1 (Guangzhou)--05/13/2008
DME producers in Southwest China remained in stable run at present, affected little by earthquake occurring in Sichuan Province on May 12, but their truck sales were disturbed by damaged roads, C1's survey found Tuesday.
Sichuan Lutian Chemical Co Ltd, located in Southeast Sichuan's Luzhou, shut some units Monday afternoon, but reopened them two hours later. It yielded 150mt of DME at present with run rate of circa 50%, flat with one week ago, a company source told C1. In addition, Sichuan Tianyu Oleochemical Co Ltd and Guizhou Xingyi Chemical Co Ltd also kept steady operation at the moment, insiders confirmed to C1.
However, the roads damaged by earthquake disturbed DME transport from the plants to major consuming markets. Sichuan Lutian Chemical was forced to halt truck sales to Chengdu due to paralyzed transportation. Shanxi Weihe Coal Chemical Group Ltd saw its sales down 10% after transportation to consumers in Sichuan broke off, according to C1's survey. DME producers are expected to cut their output soon, if the transport could not recover in the near term, reckoned industry sources.
Plants in Southwest China have a total DME production capacity of 200,000mt per year, and mainly send their products to South China's Hunan and Guangdong provinces besides local market.