Here’s couple of stories that probably won’t get much attention. Especially from the MSM which should be alerting the public to events that will impact oil consuming importers. It’s easy to understand: two countries that export oil will reduce that volume by instead processing that oil themselves. Not only does this capture more of the profit stream of the oil production dynamic but will also reduce the amount of oil entering the export market and thus putting some amount of upward pressure on oil prices. Of course, the amount of that pressure as a result of just these two projects won’t be very great. But they do highlight the trend more and more oil exporters are considering: to offset the eventual decline of revenue from selling a diminishing asset the goal is to capture more of the profit stream then just selling raw crude oil. Additionally, such projects might consume a significant amount of NG that currently has little domestic marketability.
And as you read these stories keep in mind what I just posted about the companies (which few of the public ever heard of) that actually buy and resell to refineries much of the oil in the global market. As exporters digest more oil internally think about the growing leverage the oil trading companies will have.
From:
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/ceo_a ... 8-article/Reuters – “State oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) plans to build the world's largest integrated refining and chemical site in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates, ADNOC's chief executive officer said. Sultan al-Jaber, head of ADNOC, said investments like refining and chemicals represent the company's biggest future opportunity. The company plans on tripling petrochemical production to 14.4 million tonnes annually by 2025, he said. "Our goal by 2025 is to transform Ruwais into the largest integrated refining and chemicals site in the world - doubling our refining capacity and tripling our petrochemicals production," said al-Jaber.”
And from:
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wood_to_de ... 1-article/“Wood has been selected to develop the world’s largest fully integrated crude oil to chemicals complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on behalf of Saudi Aramco and SABIC. The company will provide front end engineering design and project management services during the engineering, procurement and construction phase, supporting the development of the complex which is expected to process 400,000 barrels per day and approximately nine million tons of chemicals and base oils annually.”
And similarly from:
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/iran_ ... 2-article/Reuters – “Iran has sharply reduced its gasoline imports in recent weeks after starting up a new refinery, trade sources said, bringing the oil-rich country closer to its goal of fuel self-sufficiency. Iran, despite being OPEC's third-largest crude oil producer, has for years struggled to meet its domestic fuel needs due to a lack of refining capacity and international sanctions that limited the supply of spare parts for plant maintenance.”