New base 07 december 2017 energy news issue 1110 by khaled al awadi

Copyright © 2015 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,
or otherwise copied without the written permission of the authors. This includes internal distribution. All reasonable endeavours have been used to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this
publication. However, no warranty is given to the accuracy of its content. Page 1
NewBase Energy News 07 December 2017 - Issue No. 1110 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE looks to increase US LNG imports to growing gas demand
The National = LeAnne Graves ( images by NewBase )
The UAE's energy minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei, met with the US energy secretary Rick Perry to
discuss further collaboration in the energy sector. Courtesy of the UAE Ministry of Energy Energy
heads from the UAE and United States discussed further collaboration, including the possibility of
liquefied natural gas imports from the North American country.
The UAE energy minister and 2018 Opec president, Suhail Al Mazrouei, met with Rick Perry, the
US energy secretary, on Tuesday to “move forward joint cooperative efforts”.
“The two ministers noted that the growing US LNG exports could provide an option for an
additional source of gas supply to the region,” the UAE energy ministry said in a statement. This
comes after Mr Perry's visit to Saudi Arabia where the countries signed a memorandum of
understanding for clean fossil fuels and carbon management.
Good to see and hear from our business and industry friends here in UAE. Thanks for the
productive discussions and continued support in the #energy industry #innovation
The UAE is a pipeline natural gas net importer while being an LNG exporter. The country has a
substantial amount of proved natural gas reserves, but it has a high sulfuric content which makes
it difficult and expensive to extract.
The country has been turning to LNG imports to help meet demand, which has also been helped
with the sharp decline in the resource’s price.
S&P Global Platts’ Japan Korea Market (JKM), the value of spot cargo delivered to the
traditionally premium northeast Asian market, has been halved in two years since 2014 from
US$14 to $6 per million British thermal units. This is a result of more supply on the market,
outstripping demand. And that is only expected to increase as countries such as Egypt bring more
supply online.

Some US LNG has already
been making its way to the UAE
as Houston-based Cheniere
Energy began sending cargoes
to Dubai last year. UAE imports
are expected to increase thanks
to the delivery of the country’s
second floating storage and
regasification unit in Abu Dhabi,
which helps reconvert the fuel
quicker and at a cheaper cost
than onshore facilities. And a
third import terminal is expected
to be installed in Sharjah next
year.
S&P Global Platts said in a report earlier this year that the number of countries that supply LNG to
the Middle East has more than doubled to 19 last year from only nine in 2014.
Natural gas is the driver for the UAE’s primary energy consumption, helping to generate electricity
as well as desalination. Between 2014 and 2015, the country’s power consumption increased 7
per cent and could grow by 50 per cent by 2020, according to the US International Trade
Administration.
The meeting between Mr Al Mazrouei and Mr Perry also focused on the cooperation to help
execute the UAE Clean Energy 2050 plan, which targets a diversified energy energy strategy
including 44 per cent from renewables, 38 per cent from gas, 12 per cent from clean fossil (such
as clean coal) and 6 per cent from nuclear energy.

Saudi Arabia's SABIC looking at investing in US
REUTERS/FAISAL NASSER
Petrochemicals company Saudi Basic Industries Corp is considering several possible investments
in the United States, while state oil giant Saudi Aramco IPO is looking at gas prospects abroad,
Saudi energy minister said on Wednesday.
However, Saudi Aramco's interest in gas investments is closer to home, probably in Africa or
the Mediterranean, Khalid al-Falih told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Abu
Dhabi.
"SABIC ... is looking at multiple investments in the U.S., taking advantage of this plentiful gas
supply, especially ethane, to crack it and create petrochemical products not only for the U.S. but
for exports out of the U.S. to grow its markets around the world," Falih said.
Last month SABIC's chief executive, Yousef al-Benyan, told Reuters the world's fourth-biggest
petrochemicals company planned to make a decision by the end of next year on an investment in
a cracker plant in Texapets with an affiliate of Exxon Mobil.
"The U.S. gas (market) is already saturated, there are plenty of investors. I don't think the U.S.
needs further investments from Saudi Aramco ... Aramco's interest in international gas is probably
elsewhere, closer to home perhaps in Africa or the Mediterranean," Falih said on Wednesday.
Falih, who is also Aramco's chairman, said last year that Aramco was interested in investing in
international upstream ventures, particularly gas, and could invest in importing gas into the
kingdom. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Wednesday that he has held discussions
with Saudi Arabian officials on possible imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United
States.
Perry was speaking at the same industry conference in Abu Dhabi in the course of his first official
visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this week. The U.S. energy chief has
met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Falih and visited Saudi Aramco during
his trip.
Aramco is preparing for a share listing next year, aimed at getting a valuation of up to $2 trillion for
the company in what could be the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO). Falih reiterated on
Wednesday that the IPO was being planned for the second half of 2018.

Saudi, Iraq ink 18 major energy project deals
Business arabia
Saudi Arabian companies have signed 18 agreements with Iraqi government to jointly develop
several key projects in the energy sector across the country, said a report.
Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Engineer Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih,
the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Export Development Authority and Iraqi Oil
Minister Jabbar Al Alluaibi witnessed the signing of the deals at the seventh session of Iraq
International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition being held in the Iraqi city of Basra, reported
Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Minister Al Falih officially opened today in partnership with his Iraqi counterpart the seventh
session of Iraq International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition.
Saudi Arabia is participating as a guest of honour with a delegation of 22 companies specializing
in the fields of energy and other industries, stated the SPA report.
Speaking at the event, Al Falih said both the kingdom and Iraq enjoyed strategic advantages that
include human resources, geographical location, energy resources, natural and mineral resources
and current and potential industries.
Highlighting the similarity of these advantages, the minister said: "Their integration in others
constitute a solid basis for co-operation which began during the last period and constitutes a
motive to seize the historic opportunity to build an effective partnership to achieve the aspirations
of the two sisterly countries."
Al Alluaibi welcomed the outstanding participation of Saudi companies in Basrah Exhibition,
expressing his optimism to open horizons of cooperation and partnership in the future by signing
these memorandums which enhance relations between the two countries.
He pointed out that Basra was one of the important energy capitals in the world and possesses
areas for wide partnerships with senior investors, he added.

Egypt's Atoll gas field begins test production- minister
NewBase + REUTERS/Stringer .
Test production at Egypt's Atoll offshore gas field began on Tuesday with a production capacity of
300mln cubic feet per day. CAIRO- Test production at Egypt's Atoll offshore gas field began on
Tuesday with a production capacity of 300 million cubic feet per day, Petroleum Minister Tarek El
Molla said.
Actual production would begin in the third week of December, El Molla told Reuters. BP decided in
November 2015 to fast-track the development of Atoll, estimated to contain 1.5 trillion cubic feet of
gas and 31 million barrels of condensates.
About the Project :-
The Atoll gas field is a significant discovery lying in the North Damietta Concession offshore Egypt
in the East Nile Delta. The field will be developed by BP, which has a 100% equity in the
discovery, and is expected to start production in 2018, just 15 months following its discovery.
The field development was approved by BP in collaboration with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding
Company (EGAS) on 20 June 2016. Atoll was decided to be developed as a fast-track project
after the heads of agreement was signed in November 2015 between BP and the Egyptian
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

"The project development has been accelerated to establish a new material hub in the offshore
East Nile Delta region and help reduce the country’s gas deficit."
The project development has been accelerated to establish a new material hub in the offshore
East Nile Delta region and help reduce the country’s gas deficit. BP expects to increase its gas
production in Egypt and achieve 2.5 billion cubic feet a day (bcfd) of production by 2020, which
represents approximately 50% of the country’s current gas production.
BP has also signed a number of agreements for transportation and processing arrangements
related to the field development. Pharaonic Petroleum Co. (PhPC), BP’s joint venture with EGAS
and Eni will execute and operate the project.
Discovery and reserves of Atoll gas field
The Atoll field was discovered by BP in March 2015 by drilling the Atoll-1 deepwater exploration
discovery well. The well was drilled using the sixth generation semi-submersible rig Maersk
Discoverer to a depth of 923m and is expected to be Egypt’s deepest well ever drilled. The drilling
site is located 15km north of Salamat discovery, 80km north of the city of Damietta, and 45km to
the north-west of Temsah offshore facilities.
The exploration well was drilled to a depth of 6,400m and encountered approximately 50m of gas
pay in high-quality sandstones. It is the operator’s second most significant Oligocene discovery in
the area after the Salamat discovery of 2013.
The field is estimated to contain approximately 1.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas and 31
million metric barrel (mmbl) of condensates. An estimated 300 million metric standard cubic feet a
day (mmscfd) of gas is expected to reach the Egyptian domestic gas market once the field starts
production.

Atoll gas field development details
The Atoll field will be developed in two phases with the first phase planned to start in production in
2018.
Atoll Phase One will be an early production scheme (EPS) and will comprise two development
wells tied back to BP’s existing Akhan-Temsah infrastructure. It will include the completion of the
exploration well and a production well along with the drilling of two additional wells. Tie-ins and
other infrastructure required for the production will also be installed in the first phase.
Further drilling accompanied by additional investments is expected to be performed after the
successful completion of the first development phase. The DS-6 drilling ship will drill the Atoll wells
from August 2016 and continue over the next two years.
The gas and the liquids produced from the field will be processed onshore at the existing West
Harbour gas processing facility, which currently processes 280mmscfd from Ha’py and
265mmscfd from Taurt fields.
The full field development is estimated to cost $3bn, while the first phase is being developed with
a $945m investment.

Libya: OPEC’s Oil Deal With Libya Doesn't Mean Much for Markets
Bloomberg + NewBase
OPEC appeared to score a diplomatic coup last week by persuading Libya, its most troubled
member, to accept production limits. In reality, the agreement probably means little for the oil
market.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners agreed on Nov. 30 to
persevere with supply curbs until the end of next year, in a bid to drain oversupplied world
markets. In a surprise addition, an output cap was imposed on members Libya and Nigeria, which
had previously been spared any obligations while they struggled to recover barrels lost to armed
conflict and sabotage.
The pact seemed to be a reversal for Libya, whose top oil official, Mustafa Sanalla, had outlined
the country’s aspirations to revive exports and its need for leniency while nation rebuilding took
place.
Yet in practice, the production cap of about 1 million barrels a day imposes little constraint on
Tripoli, which is barely able to push output any higher, consultants Eurasia Group and Wood
Mackenzie say. Libya plans to abideby the target next year, according to a person familiar with the
matter who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.
“The OPEC quota doesn’t matter,” said Riccardo Fabiani, an analyst at Eurasia Group. “Moving
beyond 1 million barrels a day in 2018 is going to be very difficult anyway.”
With a fragile political accord barely holding the country together, Libya faces an array of
challenges preventing its return to the output levels of about 1.6 million barrels a day pumped
before the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qaddafi.
Potential Threats
Pipelines and other facilities are targeted by armed factions and tribal groups jostling for political
control and a share of oil revenues.

“It would be an achievement in itself if Libya was able to maintain current rates of production,” said
Martijn Murphy, research manager for North African upstream at Wood Mackenzie. “There’s still
no central unity government, and so the potential for violence to flare is acute, and the threat of
militias and tribes shutting down oil pipelines, valves or ports is ongoing.”
One of the biggest constraints for Libya is financial as National Oil Corp. struggles to pay suppliers
and engineers and conduct necessary maintenance, Fabiani said. NOC chairman Sanalla said in
London in October that the company was receiving only 25 percent of its stipulated investment
budget.
Russia, which set aside decades of rivalry with OPEC to join the production deal, had pressed the
organization to impose caps on Libya and Nigeria. While the two countries were exempt from the
accord hammered out last winter, the recovery in their output this year undermined the efforts of
fellow producers to eliminate a global oil glut.
Output Pledge
Details on the terms were scarce even as OPEC’s meeting concluded in Vienna, with no
reference to the cap made in the cartel’s closing statement or a notice issued afterward by Libya’s
NOC. There is a confidential document that commits Nigeria and Libya to limit their production to
the highest level reached this year, without citing any figures, according to a person familiar with
the matter who asked not to be named because that pledge will be kept private.
Libya and Nigeria are to restrict their combined production to no more than 2.8 million barrels a
day, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said after last week’s meeting in Vienna.
Despite the challenges the country faces, Libya might be able to pump slightly more next year,
Wood Mackenzie’s Murphy said. Still, that would require rehabilitation of its main export terminals,
Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, and the development of oil fields in the west and south of the country, he
said.
Both Wood Mackenzie and Eurasia said they expect that, if Libya can increase production next
year, it will do so, regardless of the agreement with OPEC. Other members of the organization,
particularly Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, have flouted the production limits they submitted
to.
Libya “can cheat and exceed the quota and nobody will say anything,” said Eurasia’s Fabiani. “It’s
basically a nominal, or a paper, target that really doesn’t mean much to OPEC.”

Malaysia: Hibiscus Petroleum receives Petronas' consent to
acquire Shell’s 50% North Sabah EOR PSC… Source: Hibiscus Petroleum
Hibiscus Petroleum, Malaysia’s first listed independent oil and gas exploration and production
company, announced that it has received unconditional consent from Petronas Carigali under the
Joint Operating Agreement ('JOA') for its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, SEA Hibiscus, to
acquire from Sabah Shell Petroleum Company and Shell Sabah Selatan their 50% participating
interests in the 2011 North Sabah Enhanced Oil Recovery Production Sharing Contract.
The PSC comprises four producing oil fields and associated infrastructure i.e. St Joseph, South
Furious, SF30, and Barton oil fields. The PSC also contains pipeline infrastructure and the Labuan
Crude Oil Terminal. Total oil production (on a 100% PSC basis) averaged approx. 18,000 barrels
per day ('bbl/day') in 2015. The PSC provides long term production rights until 2040 with identified
future developments opportunities.
Hibiscus Petroleum will announce further developments on the Proposed Acquisition in due
course. The Proposed Acquisition is in line with the Group’s strategy to invest in profitable
development and producing business operations in core geographical areas of interest. The North
Sabah EOR can provide the Group with
immediate access to proven and probable oil
and gas reserves with future potential upside.
Currently, Hibiscus Petroleum’s main
operating asset is a 50%-stake in the Anasuria
Cluster, a concession in the North Sea off the
United Kingdom, which was acquired in March
2016.
Hibiscus Petroleum is optimistic that oil prices
will more likely increase or remain at the
current level in the near to medium term and
the recent price recovery will support the
Group’s performance for as it increases
production in the Anasuria Cluster. Over the past year, Brent crude oil prices have raised approx.
16% and closed at US$63.21/bbl as at 30 November 2017.
Hibiscus Petroleum achieved an average realised price of US$51.54/barrel in the first financial
quarter ended 30 September 2017, 14% higher compared to US$45.21/bbl achieved in the
corresponding preceding quarter. The higher prices are occurring even as Hibiscus Petroleum
targets to execute production enhancement projects in 2018 and 2019 which is expected to
increase its production at Anasuria Cluster to 5,000 bbl/day an increase of 56% from 3,204
bbl/day as at 30 June 2017.
The Group announced recently successfully completed enhancement projects at three wells at its
Anasuria Cluster of oil and gas fields – designed to improve short- and medium-term performance
to compensate for the expected production decline of such mature asset, while seeking to improve
health and safety aspects.
The Group also recently completed a 31-day scheduled shutdown of the Anasuria floating
production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) which commenced in mid-September 2017.
The Group recently announced its 1Q2018 result with a 6% increase in Group Revenue to
RM58.2 million from RM54.7 million a year ago mainly driven by higher average realised crude oil
price.

Nigeria Refining Push Prompts $3.6 Billion Petrolex Plan
Bloomberg + NewBase
Nigeria is set to get another new oil refinery as a government push to end fuel imports attracts
investors to the industry.
Petrolex Oil & Gas Ltd. plans to build a $3.6 billion plant with a capacity of 250,000 barrels a
day, Chief Executive Officer Segun Adebutu said in an interview in Lagos. The closely held
company is working on the “front-end engineering design” and will complete construction in 2021,
he said.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil-producing nation, doesn’t have adequate refining capacity and imports
at least 70 percent of its needs. A government pledge to end such purchases in the next two years
by building local capacity has lured investors including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who is
constructing a 650,000-barrel-a-day refinery. Meanwhile Saipem SpA and other international
companies are in talks to rehabilitate the country’s three existing plants.
Petrolex, whose CEO started an oil and fuel trading business about 12 years ago, has also built a
storage-tank farm and other “mid-stream infrastructure” for $330 million, Adebutu said Dec. 4. The
inauguration of the tank farm and the start of refinery construction -- both at the same site
in Ibefun, Ogun state -- is planned for this month.
The tanks are connected to a pipeline at Mosimi, which will transport products around the country,
according to the CEO, who sees a big market in Nigeria’s 180 million-strong population. Petrolex
will finance the refinery project with loans from Nigerian banks and international lenders, as well
as its own revenue, he said. The company also plans a fertilizer plant and lubricants facility as
well as a liquefied petroleum gas plant, Adebutu said.
Petrolex is targeting listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the next 10 years to ensure the business
“outlives its owners” and can fund future expansion, according to Adebutu. “By the next five years we
would have achieved a significant amount of our ambition, then begin strategy talks with the stock
exchange.” The company’s current workforce is about 3,000 and Adebutu expects to employ about 10,000
people directly by 2021 when all the energy projects will be “up and running.”

NewBase December 07 - 2017 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil edges up as U.S. crude stocks fall, but soaring output weighs
Reuters + NewBase
Oil prices inched higher on Thursday after a data report showed a decrease in U.S. crude
inventories, but rising gasoline stocks and crude production weighed on the market.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $56.18 a barrel at 0424 GMT, up 22
cents, or 0.4 percent from their last settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international
benchmark for oil prices, were at $61.49 a barrel, up 27 cents, or 0.44 percent.
Oil price special
coverage

Traders said the higher prices came as U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels in the
week to Dec. 1, to 448.1 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA, putting stocks below seasonal levels in
2015 and 2016. The slightly higher prices also came after a big sell-off in late U.S. trading.
“WTI prices cratered (on Wednesday) despite a drop in weekly crude inventories ... Traders were
more concerned about the steep rise in gasoline inventories,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading
for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.
Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose 6.8 million barrels, to 220.9 million barrels, according to the
report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), much more than analyst
expectations in a Reuters poll for a gain of 1.7 million barrels.
“This suggests that refiners may not need to process as much crude in the future,” ANZ said in a
note on Thursday. “The EIA report also showed that U.S. production increased again,” the bank
said.
U.S. crude production C-OUT-T-EIA climbed by 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.71 million bpd,
the highest since monthly figures showing the United States produced more than 10 million bpd in
the early 1970s.
Soaring U.S. output threatens to undermine efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to bring production and demand into balance following
years of oversupply.
Sukrit Vijayakar, managing director of energy consultancy Trifecta warned there were “darker
shadows over the pace of rebalancing, if at all any is taking place.”

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release December 07-2017
China’s Blow to Recycling Boosts U.S.’s $185 Billion Plastic Bet
By Jack Kaskey and Ann Koh
The world’s biggest user of scrap has stopped accepting shiploads of other countries’ plastic trash
as it phases in a new ban. That’s bad news for the recycling industry, as China has been a major
consumer of salvaged materials it processes into resin that ends up in pipe, carpets, bottles and
other cogs of modern life.
China has begun buying brand new plastic to replace all the recycled scrap -- and that’s great
news for U.S. chemical makers such as DowDuPont Inc., which are rushing to find markets for
millions of tons of new production amid an industry investment binge. U.S. exports of one common
plastic are expected to quintuple by 2020.
“It’s a good time to be bringing on some new assets,” Mark Lashier, Chief Executive Officer of
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., said in an interview last month as he marked the opening of two
polyethylene plants in Old Ocean, Texas. “If you pull recycled plastic out, that market demand is
going to increase.”
China is undoing decades of effort that built a massive scrap recycling industry -- the cheapest
way to produce plastic products for its growing economy. The country accounted for 51 percent of

the world’s plastic scrap imports last year, with the biggest contribution coming from the U.S.,
according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, an international trade group.
Supply Shift
Now China is changing course, telling the World Trade Organization in July that it will stop
accepting imports of used plastics and paper by Jan. 1 as the nation takes steps to clean up its
industrial pollution. The China ban could shift about 2 percent of global polyethylene plastics
supply from recycled to new material, Vincent Andrews, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a
Nov. 30 report. The country has already halved its purchases of scrap polyethylene from a 2014
peak, he said.
Stockpiled commingled material at Rogue Disposal’s facility
Source: Rogue Disposal
The U.S. is the only country in a position to quickly fill the gap, said Jonas Oxgaard, an analyst at
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
That’s because the U.S. has become the cheapest place in the world to make plastic, thanks to a
fracking boom that’s created a glut of natural gas, the main feedstock for manufacturing. Taking
advantage of low gas prices, chemical producers have invested an unprecedented $185 billion
to build new capacity in the U.S., according to the American Chemistry Council, an industry group.
Natural gas prices at $3.50 per million British thermal units would be about $20 a barrel on an oil
equivalent basis, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said during an investor briefing on Oct. 13. West Texas
Intermediate crude futures traded at $57.40 a barrel at 5:04 p.m. Singapore time.
Exporting high-value resins to China instead of cheap scrap could help chip away at the
U.S.’s $250 billion trade deficit with the nation -- a goal that has been on the top of President
Donald Trump’s agenda.
Two-Way Flow
“Some of the patterns of production we saw 15 years ago are starting to change quite rapidly,”
said Simon Tay, chairman of the think-tank Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “The two-
way flow between U.S. and China becomes much stronger.”

About 30 percent of North America’s recyclables were historically processed in China, according
to Morgan Stanley’s Andrews. China is creating a void in the market for used plastic that will have
a “devastating impact” on recycling worldwide, according to the recycling trade group.
So far, domestic markets for used polyethylene, PET and polypropylene remain healthy, said
Brent Bell, vice president for recycling at Waste Management Inc., North America’s largest trash
hauler.
Even so, some recycling programs are beginning to come under stress because China has
stopped issuing licenses to import scrap plastics ahead of the Jan. 1 ban, Bernstein’s Oxgaard
said. Global prices for the waste have already dropped 10 percent, said Aloke Lohia, chairman of
Indorama Ventures Pcl, which buys used plastic bottles for its processing plants in Europe,
Mexico and Thailand.
The U.S. West Coast appears to be hardest hit. In the area around Portland, Oregon, for instance,
some recyclers are limiting the types of plastics they will accept. Waste haulers in rural parts of
the state recently began steering some plastic to the trash dump because the market is drying up,
said Peter Spendelow, a recycling policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality.
Darkening Outlook
While at this point most of the scrap is still finding a home, “there is certainly potential for things to
get a lot worse,” Spendelow said.
For producers, however, China’s ban on importing scrap will boost demand for new plastics by
enough to nearly absorb all the new polyethylene output coming online next year in the U.S.,
Andrews said in the Morgan Stanley report. The effects can already be seen in China’s increased
appetite for virgin polyethylene, with imports up 19 percent this year as scrap polyethylene imports
dropped 11 percent, he said.
Export Explosion
U.S. exports of polyethylene plastic to Asia will reach about 5 million tons by 2020, a five-fold
increase from last year, with most of it headed to the
Chinese market, according to J.P. Nah, an Asia
polyolefins analyst at IHS Markit consultants.
Four new U.S. plastics plants, including a project by
DowDuPont’s Dow Chemical unit, will begin annual
production of 3.6 million tons of polyethylene by year end,
said Nick Vafiadis, a vice president at IHS Markit. More
are on the way.
All the new U.S. output had been expected to push
plastic prices into a slump until demand catches up. That
still may happen, but much less than previously thought
as the China scrap ban, Hurricane Harvey disruptions
and delays in U.S. plant construction are keeping the
market more in balance.
“It’s going to be a pretty shallow trough versus what we
thought” earlier in the year, Vafiadis said.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
The Editor :”Khaled Al Awadi” Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
sponsored by Hawk Energy Service – Dubai, UAE.
For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 27 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, &
compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the
local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase December 2017 K. Al Awadi

New base 07 december 2017 energy news issue 1110 by khaled al awadi

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to New base 07 december 2017 energy news issue 1110 by khaled al awadi

Similar to New base 07 december 2017 energy news issue 1110 by khaled al awadi (20)

More from Khaled Al Awadi

More from Khaled Al Awadi (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

New base 07 december 2017 energy news issue 1110 by khaled al awadi