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Octane blending
Overview
Demand for high octane components vary throughout the year depending on seasonality, premium gasoline market share, and refinery performance. Stricter gasoline standards also contribute to demand for high octane components.
Among the list of high-octane components are reformate, alkylate, MTBE, ETBE, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene, and others. Some of these components primarily see demand from the chemical market but could be diverted to the gasoline pool if there are returns in that segment.
Each blendstock has specific octane rating and rvp content that determines its value in the gasoline pool. Gasoline blenders will look at market prices for each of the octanes and see how it relates to the value in the gasoline pool. In the summer of 2023, high volumes of ethylbenzene were diverted to the gasoline instead of the production of styrene, as styrene prices fell below ethylbenzene blend value.
MTBE is a high-octane component for gasoline blending, but only used in some countries. MTBE demand has been led by growth in Asia, Middle East, and Latin Markets. Other regions have focused on increased biofuel usage which includes ethanol and ETBE.
Argus’ experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global markets.
Latest octane blending news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global octane blending industry.
Korea’s GS Caltex to debottleneck Yeosu cracker in Sep
Korea’s GS Caltex to debottleneck Yeosu cracker in Sep
Singapore, 4 July (Argus) — South Korea's petrochemical producer GS Caltex is expected to start a two-month scheduled maintenance and debottlenecking at its mixed-feed cracker in Yeosu in September. The cracker will undergo a turnaround and debottlenecking from 23 September to 25 November, according to sources at the company. GS Caltex's mixed-feed cracker currently has a nameplate capacity of 750,000 t/yr of ethylene and 410,000 t/yr of propylene. Its ethylene capacity will increase by 150,000 t/yr to 900,000 t/yr after the debottlenecking process, while propylene capacity will rise by 60,000 t/yr to 470,000 t/yr. The debottlenecking process will also raise GS Caltex's crude C4s output from the existing 250,000 t/yr to 300,000 t/yr. The company now feeds its crude C4s to a 90,000 t/yr butadiene extraction unit, a joint venture (JV) plant between GS Caltex's parent company GS Energy and fellow producer Lotte Chemical. GS Caltex also owns two polymers units at the same site — a 500,000 t/yr high density polyethylene (HDPE) and a 180,000 t/yr polypropylene (PP) plant. The PP unit takes in propylene from GS Caltex's existing refinery fluid catalytic crackers (FCC). The debottlenecking will raise olefins output, resulting in a surplus of 400,000 t/yr of ethylene for domestic sales and exports after supplying its HDPE plant. The propylene surplus will be 800,000 t/yr after factoring in GS Caltex's 500,000 t/yr propylene output from existing FCCs and its PP consumption. This will also mark the first turnaround of GS Caltex's cracker since it was commissioned in 2021 . GS Caltex's mixed feed cracker can take in a combination of naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and off-gas from its FCC. New derivative units GS Energy also plans to bring two more new downstream units on line, after the cracker maintenances. GS Energy and Lotte Chemical aims to start-up their new 350,000/215,000 t/yr phenol/acetone plant and 240,000 t/yr bis-phenol A unit in the fourth quarter of this year. Feedstock propylene will come from an existing GS Caltex cracker. Another JV between GS Energy and Hanwha Solutions will be a new 300,000 t/yr ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plant. It aims to start up in September 2025, and the feedstock ethylene for the EVA unit will also come from GS Caltex's existing cracker. By Toong Shien Lee Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Malaysia's Lotte Titan yet to produce on-spec aromatics
Malaysia's Lotte Titan yet to produce on-spec aromatics
Singapore, 19 June (Argus) — Malaysian petrochemical producer Lotte Titan has yet to produce on-specification aromatics after its aromatics unit in Pasir Gudang restarted on 10 June. The unit, which can produce up to 110,000 t/yr of benzene and 60,000 t/yr of toluene, continues to face technical issues after experiencing delays to its restart date earlier this month, with flaring being observed at the Pasir Gudang complex. The company now aims to produce on-specification aromatics products by the end of the week. The associated No.2 naphtha cracker, which also restarted on 10 June, is producing on-specification olefins, although production rates remain unstable. The No.2 cracker has a nameplate capacity of 430,000 t/yr of ethylene and 220,000 t/yr of propylene. By Joonlei Lee Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
June Europe olefins contracts settled lower
June Europe olefins contracts settled lower
London, 31 May (Argus) — The June monthly contract prices (MCPs) for European ethylene and propylene were agreed today at €1,220/t and €1,105/t, respectively. Both MCPs fell by €30/t from the previous month, in line with the monthly change in naphtha prices, the feedstock for the majority of European cracker production. The decrease in average naphtha prices between May and April was €31/t, according to Argus assessments of naphtha para 65 cif NWE, with another commonly used index heard to be showing a similar decrease of just less than €30/t. The propylene MCP was agreed first, arriving promptly on the last working day of May after apparently straightforward negotiations between individual buyers and sellers. Producers had hoped to hold on to some of the fall in naphtha costs, but with spot prices easing in May and a more cautious demand outlook, buyers wanted at least the feedstock change passed through. The ethylene settlement followed soon after propylene. Ethylene supply is slightly on the longer side with producers balancing relatively firmer demand for some co-products with managing the ethylene balance. Spot prices have been steady at discounts close to 40pc of the MCP and producers are choosing to ease back production rather than sell at lower prices. Similarly, they were unwilling to go beyond the feedstock movement for the June MCP because of weak margins and the risk of oil prices reversing some of their significant falls in May. The European MCPs for ethylene and propylene are reference prices used by the industry as benchmarks for long-term contract pricing. Net prices paid vary based on individually negotiated pricing structures, including discounts to the MCPs. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US ethane supply gains seen trailing demand growth
US ethane supply gains seen trailing demand growth
Houston, 23 May (Argus) — Export and domestic demand growth for US ethane is expected to outpace US supply growth by as much as 72,000 b/d by 2026, according to a recent forecast from consultancy East Daley Analytics. A surplus of US ethane production, bolstered by gains in natural gas drilling and production to meet growing demand for electricity generation and LNG exports, has led to increasing investments in additional ethane export terminal capacity to provide other outlets for the petrochemical feedstock. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed US ethane production from natural gas processing rose to a record 2.78mn b/d in October of 2023 and fell to 2.69mn b/d in February, the latest data the agency has available. Those volumes don't take into account ethane that is rejected into the gas stream at processing plants during periods of restrained capacity or when natural gas prices spike on weather-related outages, incentivizing lower ethane recovery. Mont Belvieu, Texas, EPC ethane's premium relative to its natural gas fuel value at Waha reached a peak of 50.31¢/USG on 6 May, a 16-month high, and has averaged 26.08¢/USG in May so far, according to Argus data. As ethane margins versus natural gas rise, ethane extraction at natural gas processing plants becomes even more profitable, pushing ethane recovery rates higher. Yet East Daley's forecasts suggest projects to absorb this additional feedstock may quickly outpace production. The consultancy projects US ethane production will rise by 283,000 b/d by 2026, driven mostly by gains in natural gas production in the Permian and Marcellus basins. Increased gas takeaway capacity from the completion of maintenance on Kinder Morgan's Permian Highway pipeline (PHP), the Gulf Coast Express (GCX) pipeline, and the Transwestern pipeline at the end of this month, will allow for higher levels of ethane rejection, according to Rob Wilson, East Daley's vice president of analytics, limiting potential gains in ethane production from the additional gas. Further gas capacity restrictions in the Permian are expected to be mitigated when the 2.5 Bcf/d Matterhorn Express pipeline — which runs from the Waha, Texas, gas hub to Katy, Texas, on the Gulf coast — comes online in the third quarter of this year. Domestic demand for ethane is projected to rise by 129,000 b/d by 2026 with the addition of Chevron Phillips Chemical's joint venture with QatarEnergy to construct a 2mn t/yr ethane cracker on the Texas Gulf coast that is scheduled to come online in 2026. That joint venture will consume 118,000 b/d of ethane when at full capacity, but will operate at 50pc of capacity when first on line in 2026, according to East Daley. Increased US ethane cracking will come on top of a 231,000 b/d increase in ethane exports by 2026, driven by demand from Chinese crackers and burgeoning demand from Indian crackers, according to the consultancy. Ethane export expansions at Energy Transfer's Marcus Hook terminal in Pennsylvania and Enterprise Products Partners' new flexible LPG and ethane terminal at Beaumont, Texas, are expected to be complete by 2025 and 2026, respectively. Combined, these projects add another 360,000 b/d of ethane demand by 2026, outstripping expected supply growth by an estimated 72,000 b/d, according to East Daley's forecast. By Abby Downing-Beaver Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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