Nova enters PCR via food-grade rHDPE deal with Merlin

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nova Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) has entered the post-consumer recyclate (PCR) market through a partnership with Merlin Plastics (Delta, British Columbia, Canada), according to Chemweek.

Under the agreement, Nova will finance a “multimillion-dollar” project supporting Merlin’s expansion into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) PCR suitable for food-contact applications. Merlin will, in turn, supply up to 30 million pounds/year of the material to Nova under a five-year agreement.

“This partnership with Merlin and our forthcoming suite of PCR-containing resins will help meet our customer and brand-owner needs and expand high-quality PCR supply for use in consumer packaging,” says Luis Sierra, president and CEO of Nova.

Merlin is Canada’s largest plastics recycler, with operations in British Columbia and Alberta.

Nova expects the Merlin HDPE PCR to obtain non-objection letter (NOL) status from the US FDA during the first half of 2021. The company will begin sales at the same time to customers in the US and Canada.

Nova says its portfolio of PCR will also include non-NOL recycled HDPE and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) sourced from North American recyclers. Supply agreements are still being negotiated.

Nova says it is not actively pursuing the acquisition of a recycler.

“Initially, the PCR produced as a result of our investment will divert PCR from lower-value applications such as plastic lumber or detergent bottles into higher-quality applications such as flexible packaging,” says Nova. “However, by demonstrating that milk, water, and juice jugs can have a second life in high-value consumer packaging applications, we believe it will help enable a ‘virtuous cycle’ over time where more high-quality packaging is binned, collected, and recycled into FDA NOL recyclate as market demand grows.”

As MRC reported previously, early this summer, NOVA Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) says it has developed a new technology for the production of high-density biaxially-oriented polyethylene (HD-BOPE) films. Biaxial orientation extends the physical characteristics of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films, enabling the manufacture of fully recyclable high-performance film structures without mixing resin types.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's HDPE production totalled 1,040,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 84% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co. (Baofeng Energy) has selected KBR's proprietary cracker technology for its new methanol-to-olefins (MTO) project to be built in Ningxia, China, according to Apic-online.

Under the contracts, KBR will provide process technology licensing and process design packages for Baofeng Energy's 500,000-t/y coal-to-olefins facility and its 500,000-t/y C2-C5 comprehensive utilization project.

Once complete, the complex will be the "largest" single-train MTO plant in the world, KBR noted. Value of the contracts and a project schedule were not given.

"KBR will use a combination of its best-in-class SCORE steam cracking and MTO recovery technologies to achieve Baofeng Energy's project objectives of highest yields and lowest capital investment," said KBR.

"The SCORE steam cracking unit will convert the ethane and propane feedstock into ethylene and propylene, which are later separated and further purified in the MTO recovery section to ensure the quality needed to produce polymer-grade ethylene and propylene."

Johnson Matthey was recently chosen to be the licensor and supplier of associated engineering, technical review, commissioning assistance, catalyst and equipment supply for a new methanol synthesis unit for the project.

As MRC reported earlier, Ningxia Baofeng Energy has brought on-stream its No.1 MTO unit following a maintenance turnaround. The company resumed operations at this unit on August 2, 2020. The unit was shut for maintenance on 1 July, 2020. Located at Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, the MTO unit has an ethylene and propylene production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc has restarted the gasoline-producing fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park, Texas refinery, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The 70,000-bpd FCC was shut on Aug. 23, the sources said.

As MRC wrote before, in late August 2020, US producers took steps to either evacuate crews from Gulf of Mexico platforms as Tropical Storms Marco and Laura continued their northward push toward the Gulf Coast and expected landfalls at the end of last week of August. Shell said Aug. 22 that it was shutting in production at the "majority" of its Gulf of Mexico assets and evacuating crews from platforms.

We remind that Shell will announce a major restructure by the end of the year as the company prepares to accelerate its shift toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, said CEO Ben van Beurden to employees. The restructuring will include workforce reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures, although no figures have been decided yet, the CEO reportedly said during an internal webcast.

We also remind that Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to idle a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at the joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery in 2021, said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in July 2020. Currently, the refinery is operating at about 75% of its 318,000 barrel-per-day capacity because of reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil company Saudi Aramco is reviewing plans to expand at home and abroad in the face of sharply lower oil prices and a heavy dividend burden, reported Reuters with reference to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

Aramco will review a USD6.6 billion plan to add petrochemical output at its Motiva refinery in Texas, as well as a big natural-gas project with Sempra Energy in the same state, according to the report.

The state-run company is also pausing investments in refineries in China, India and Pakistan, the WSJ said.

Oil companies globally have been cutting spending across the board to shore up cash as the industry contends with a realization that lower crude prices could be the norm for a long period of time after the COVID-19 pandemic sapped fuel demand.

In Saudi Arabia, Aramco is delaying plans by a year to boost crude production capacity to 13 million barrels a day, from currently about 12 million, the report added.

The company plans to cut its capital spending to between USD20 billion and USD25 billion this year to pay a USD75 billion dividend it pledged to investors during its initial public offering last year, the Financial Times reported last month.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Aramco has recently suspended plans to participate in a joint venture (JV) to build a USD10-billion refining and petrochemicals complex at Liaoning, China, as the company cuts spending in response to continued low oil prices.

Besides, Saudi Aramco exited plans to participate in a refinery and aromatics JV with Pertamina in Indonesia earlier this year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp is assessing possible worldwide job cuts, a spokesman said, after the company announced a voluntary lay-off program in Australia, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Exxon is the latest oil major to embark on axing jobs spurred by a historic collapse in fuel demand because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has slashed capital spending this year by 30% to around USD23 billion and said in August it planned both capital and operating expense cuts to defend its dividend after reporting losses in the first and second quarters.

“We have evaluations underway on a country-by-country basis to assess possible additional efficiencies to right-size our business and make it stronger for the future,” spokesman Casey Norton, based at the company headquarters in Irving, Texas, said in emailed comments to Reuters.

The comments mark a shift, after Exxon told Reuters in July it had no plans for layoffs due to the pandemic and no percentage targets to reduce its workforce through this year’s employee reviews.

In Australia, Exxon said on Wednesday it had completed a review of its current and future project work in the country and was seeking volunteers to quit the company.

“This program will ensure the company manages through these unprecedented market conditions,” it said in a statement.

“Until other study work is complete, it would be premature to draw conclusions for other countries,” Norton said.

Exxon is looking to sell its 50% stake in the Bass Strait oil and gas joint venture in southeastern Australia, which analysts have estimated could fetch up to USD3 billion.

Analysts have speculated it could also sell or close its Altona plant in Melbourne, Australia’s oldest refinery.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil has put off for a year work on its refinery expansion in Beaumont, Texas. The expansion project is now slated to be online sometime in 2023, versus the original 2022 proposal. Bloomberg first reported the delay. ExxonMobil declined to confirm the story, noting that it does not comment on the status of individual projects. The company "is evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term as a result of market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and commodity price decreases," the company said in a statement.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC