Page 15 - DMEA Week 10 2020

DMEA
NEWS IN BRIEF
DMEA
Sipchem carries out
unplanned maintenance
turnaround for Al Waha
petrochemical plant
Sahara International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) announced the unplanned turnaround maintenance for its PDH plant of the Al Waha Petrochemical Company, an affiliate of Sipchem, which will enhance the reliability of the plant and allow it to achieve its future operational plans.
The unplanned turnaround maintenance was started on March 3 2020, and is planned to be completed within two weeks.
The financial impact of this unplanned turnaround maintenance will be announced once the activity is completed and will
be reflected in the first quarter of 2020 financial results.
Al Waha Petrochemical Company
has taken the necessary actions to limit the potential impact of the unplanned turnaround maintenance on its customers.
COVID-19 flight cancellations reach 200,000, jet fuel prices tank
Airlines have cancelled more than 200,000 flights as the COVID-19 continues to spread.
More than 90,000 people have been sickened by the virus, which has killed at least 3,100 people, health officials said.
The global infections have prompted travel restrictions and a sharp drop in demand for trips to and within China.
Airlines around the world have halted service to the mainland and Hong Kong because of the virus.
In February alone, the number of flights that were scheduled to fly to, from and
within China are down 80% from a year ago, according to aviation consulting firm Cirium. From 23 January to 18 February, 99,254
scheduled flights did not fly, close to 90% of them domestic China trips, said Cirium.
The slumped demand is sending jet fuel prices down sharply.
Benchmark jet fuel prices in the US and Singapore are down 17% so far this year, according to data from S&P Global Platts.
“Pent-up demand” may help firm up prices in the second half of the year but “2020 is compromised as far as jet [fuel] demand is concerned,” S&P Global Platts energy analyst Claudio Galimberti told CNBC.
However, the coronovirus still represents a blight on airline profits.
Air travel demand globally is set to fall for the first time since 2009 because of the virus, which will cost airlines about $29bn in revenue, the International Air Transport Association said.
“The coronavirus outbreak has dampened the modest recovery in (domestic) demand seen in the second quarter with intakes falling over the last few weeks,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.
Air France-KLM, which also suspended China flights, said it expects coronavirus- related demand reductions to drive down results through April by up to $217mn.
Saudi Aramco shares fall 10%, halting trading
The state oil giant Saudi Aramco has seen its shares drop by 10% as Riyadh stock market opened on March 9, halting trading.
The Tadawul market only allows stocks to fluctuate by 10 per cent a day, meaning it halted traded early Monday as the market opened.
It came as global oil prices suffered their worst losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War.
Other Mideast markets fell as well as the new coronavirus has affected global energy prices and OPEC failed to make a production cut deal with Russia last week.
Boursa Kuwait shut down within 30 minutes of opening Monday as stocks again dropped by 10%, the third such emergency halt to trading in recent days.
The new virus has caused major economic disruptions, including in global aviation, which has helped slow demand for oil. An OPEC meeting with Russia last week failed to see countries agree to a production cut.
In response, Saudi Arabia has warned it will increase its production and slash its own prices to claw back market share.
That sent oil prices into a free fall, losing some 25% of their value. Mideast stock markets followed suit.
Air Products tech selected for Mozambique LNG
US-based LNG equipment maker, Air Products has signed an agreement to provide its proprietary LNG technology, equipment and related process license and advisory services to the Mozambique LNG project.
Air Products’ manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Florida will manufacture two LNG heat exchangers, which will then be shipped to the project site on the Afungi Peninsula in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
This LNG production facility will be the first onshore LNG project in Mozambique.
Under the agreement with EPC contractor CCS JV, a joint venture involving of Saipem, McDermott and Chiyoda, Air Products will provide two of its proprietary coil wound main cryogenic heat exchangers (MCHE).
The MCHEs will operate at the site
as part of two separate LNG production trains designed to produce approximately 13mn tonnes per year of LNG in total from the Golfinho/Atum natural gas fields in Mozambique.
Typically, an LNG heat exchanger can be as large as over 15 feet in diameter and 180 feet long, or about two-thirds of the size of a football field. A finished unit can weigh as much as 500 tonnes.
Week 10 13•March•2020
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P15