Issue 18/2017 - Global Chemicals Quick Facts

Dow Chemical and DuPont complete the merger

The merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont has been completed and is effective
August 31, 2017.
The combined company, named DowDuPont, has three business units
: Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products.
On August 31, shares of DuPont and Dow Chemical ended trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while shares of Dow DuPont began trading
on the New York Stock Exchange.
Dow Chemical shareholders receive 1 Dow DuPont stock for every Dow Chemical share, while DuPont shareholders receive 1.
282 Dow DuPont shares
for every DuPont stock held.

The United States will become a net exporter of oil by 2023

Strong growth in shale oil production is transforming U.
S.
oil trade
.
Net U.
S.
oil imports have fallen from a peak of 12.
5 million b/d in 2005 to 4.
4 million b/d
this year.
Total U.
S.
crude oil and natural gas liquid production increased by 87 percent to 15.
6 million bpd
during that period.
Analysts at PIRA Energy Group predict that the United States will become a net oil exporter by 2023, and if oil trade with Canada is excluded, the United States will become a net oil exporter
in 2019.
Analysts pointed out that the United States is still a large net importer of crude oil, of the more than 7 million barrels per day of net crude oil imports, 3 million barrels per day from Canada, 2 million barrels per day from Latin America and 2 million barrels per day from the Middle East
.
Meanwhile, U.
S.
net exports of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and fuel oil will reach 900,000 bpd this year, while natural gas liquids will reach 1.
4 million bpd
.

The refining and chemical industry in the Houston area of the United States is emerging from the shadow of the hurricane

According to IHS Markit, refineries and chemical installations in the Houston area are emerging from the shadow of Hurricane Harvey and quickly resuming production
.
After Hurricane Harvey made landfall, 25 percent of U.
S.
refining capacity was forced to shut down, a percentage that had dropped to less than 10 percent
as of September 8.
ExxonMobil is restarting the Bay City refinery, the second-largest refinery in the United States, and is evaluating a chemical plant
in Beaumont.
IHS Markit estimates that Hurricane Harvey affected 54 percent of U.
S.
ethylene production capacity and 36 percent of ethylene consumption
.
Ethylene producers are resuming production, but are still constrained
by damaged logistics infrastructure.
It will still take a few weeks for the U.
S
.
ethylene market to reach pre-hurricane production levels.
BASF said: "Logistics is the biggest challenge
for our production plant in Texas because the storms caused by Hurricane Harvey have severely damaged the local logistics infrastructure.
”