Three refineries in Russia started commercial loadings of petroleum coke (petcoke) in July 2016, according to data compiled by Legion Oil & Gas LLC. About 20,000 tons of 1.5 to 3 percent petcoke were loaded in total. All volumes from these new Russian petcoke units were moved to the domestic market.
“We have seen an increase in supplies of petroleum coke of low and medium sulphur content in Russia recently, and are expecting additional supplies of up to 50,000 tons of petcoke loaded to the Russian market in August,” Legion Oil & Gas LLC trader Denis Varaksin commented. “As domestic demand is rather stable, we see a good chance that part of these volumes will end up in export markets.”
Russia’s government is pushing refineries to increase refining depth and produce less fuel oil and bitumen, but more light oil products. Creating these new Russian petcoke units provides a perfect opportunity to increase refining depth and boost yields of light products.
Taneco Refinery Eyes the Black Sea Region
Tatneft’s Taneco refinery has launched its 700,000 tons per year-capacity petroleum unit in Nizhnekamsk, about 2,000 km from ports on the Black Sea. The refinery loaded 15,000 tons domestically in July and more than 17,000 tons in just the first half of August.
At full capacity, Taneco can produce 50,000 to 60,000 tons of petroleum coke per month with a guaranteed sulphur limit at 5 percent. The actual sulphur content is below 3 percent, according to the latest tests.
Taneco refinery plans to utilize its petroleum coke in energy production after launching a power plant. The power plant is not in operation yet.
Legion Oil & Gas LLC is currently testing Taneco petroleum coke to identify export opportunities for this grade of product. LEGION Oil & Gas LLC sees potential interest for 3 percent petcoke from Turkish buyers active in the cement and metal industries.
Antipinsky Refinery Petcoke to China
Another one of the new Russian petcoke units can be found at the independent Antipinsky refinery. Antipinsky launched a delayed coker unit (DCU) this July. The refinery produces anode grade petcoke with a sulphur content up to 3 percent, with a planned capacity at 500,000 tons per year. The refinery is located in the Tyumen region, roughly 2,000 km from the border with China, where this product is in demand.
At the end of July, the refinery dispatched several railway wagons to the domestic market. During the first half of August, it loaded about 3,000 tons. Antipinsky plans to produce 40,000 tons of petcoke per month and to increase DCU run rates.
Legion Oil & Gas LLC has received and tested petcoke samples from Antipinsky. Results confirm that this petcoke is a good raw material for steel and aluminum industries. It has a sulphur content below 3 percent, and a low content of metals, especially iron and vanadium.
Rosneft Restarts DCU in the Far East
The Russian energy giant Rosneft has restarted shipments from its 260,000 tons per year delayed coking unit at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur refinery. The refinery produces low-sulphur petcoke. The sulphur content is around 1.3 percent, but the guaranteed maximum sulphur content is 3 percent.
The unit is located in Eastern Russia, just 500 km from the port of Vanino. This port currently handles petcoke imports for Russia’s biggest petcoke consumer, aluminum champion Rusal.
The location gives the refinery an advantage to supply Asia-Pacific markets, where China is the biggest petcoke buyer.
Komsomolsk-on-Amur refinery loaded 5,200 tons of petcoke in July and 6,700 tons in the first half of August this year, all to the domestic market.
Rosneft offered only 520 tons of petroleum coke from Komsomolsk refinery to export in September. Most of the volume the company loads by term-contract to its domestic clients. Rosneft also sells low-sulphur petcoke from Angarsk (Eastern Siberia) and high-sulphur petcoke from Novokuibyshevsk refineries (Volga region).
Unlike the other new Russian petcoke units mentioned here, this one was built several years ago, but could not stabilize production until this year.
Legion Oil & Gas LLC is a reliable supplier and trader of petroleum coke from Russia and CIS countries. The company has experience in organizing rail wagon and dry tanker shipments.
