Biofuel waivers expected for some oil refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Trump administration is expected to grant waivers to some oil refiners that would exempt them from requirements to blend biofuels into their fuel mix for the 2019 compliance year, according to two sources familiar with the matter, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The move would be one of the last actions by President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency to seek to balance the competing desires of the biofuel and oil industries over biofuel blending laws. The decision, however, would be a blow to the biofuel industry and corn producers that say the exemptions hurt demand for their products, though the oil industry rejects that claim.

EPA did not respond to requests for comment, though a high-ranking EPA official acknowledged the agency is weighing the decision. The announcement could come as early as this week, one of the sources said, and would apply to some exemptions for the 2019 compliance year. There are currently 32 pending petitions for the 2019 compliance year, according to EPA’s website.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into their fuel mix, or buy credits from those that do. Refiners can apply for exemptions if they can prove the obligations would cause them financial harm.

The Trump administration has dramatically ramped up the number of such exemptions granted to the industry - angering biofuel producers. Last year a decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals cast doubt over the waiver program after it ruled that EPA can grant the so-called Small Refinery Exemptions only to facilities that have received them continuously each year since 2010. Most of the refineries securing waivers in recent years have not secured them continuously.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review the ruling after appeals by refining companies that argued the 10th Circuit Court’s decision had improperly deprived them of a method to avoid financial hardship granted by Congress.

"There is absolutely no legal or policy justification whatsoever for granting these exemptions; we are confident that if EPA actually goes through with this, the incoming Biden administration will act swiftly to reallocate the volumes erased by these waivers," said Renewable Fuels Association President Geoff Cooper.

Renewable fuel (D6) credits for 2020 traded on Monday at 75 cents each, down from 90 cents in the previous session, traders said. Biomass-based (D4) credits traded at USD1.05 each, down from USD1.12 each previously, traders said.

Refiners must hand in credits to EPA each year to prove they complied with their annual obligations for the previous year. But the agency has yet to enforce compliance for some refineries for the 2019 compliance year due to the impacts of the coronavirus, and it is unclear whether compliance for 2020 will also be delayed. “This Administration’s plans to approve yet another round of Small Refinery Exemptions is a fitting end to four straight years of broken promises to rural America,” said Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, a Democrat who represents Illinois.

As MRC wrote previously, in January 2020, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co Ltd, one of two new major refineries built in China in 2019, started up the remaining units in the first phase of its refinery and petrochemical complex. The complex is situated in east China’s Zhoushan city. The company, 51% owned by private chemical group Zhejiang Rongsheng Holdings, said it ha started test production at ethylene, aromatics and other downstream facilities, without giving further details.

Zhejiang Petrochemical started a first 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude processing unit in late May, 2019, following on from the start of a 400,000-bpd refinery owned by another private chemical major Hengli Petrochemical. The newly started units at Zhejiang Petrochemical should include a second 200,000-bpd crude unit, a 1.2 million tonnes per year (tpy) ethylene unit and a 2 million tpy paraxylene unit, according to several industry sources with knowledge of the plant’s operations.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court ruling that severely limited the government's powers to exempt small refineries from the nation's biofuels law, rekindling a long-running dispute between the oil and corn industries, reported Reuters.

The decision came after appeals by refining companies that argued the 10th Circuit Court's decision last year had improperly deprived them of a method to avoid financial hardship granted by Congress.

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners must blend billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol and other biofuels into their fuel or buy credits from those that do - a law meant to help farmers and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

But small facilities under financial stress can also seek waivers from the obligation, and the Trump administration has dramatically ramped up the number of such exemptions granted to the industry - angering biofuel producers that claim the waivers undercut demand for their products.

After a challenge from biofuel industry groups, the 10th Circuit ruled last January that the US Environmental Protection Agency can only grant the so-called Small Refinery Exemptions to facilities that have received them continuously each year since 2010. That decision cast doubt over the entire waiver program, since most of the refineries securing waivers in recent years have not secured them continuously.

"We are disappointed in the Supreme Court's decision to review the case but will continue to vigorously pursue a resolution to the damage that small refinery exemptions do to the biodiesel industry," said Kurt Kovarik, spokesman for the National Biodiesel Board.

The Fueling American Jobs Coalition, which advocates on behalf of refiners, cheered the Supreme Court's decision, saying the review comes at an "urgent time" for refiners battered by the economic downturn.

The court is expected to hear the case in April, and a ruling could take several months.

As MRC wrote before, in October, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a federal strategy for addressing marine litter that includes broad efforts to incentivize recycling and build infrastructure both domestically and overseas. “Internationally, up to 28 billion pounds of waste makes it into our oceans every year, harming marine life and coastal economies,” says EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Marine litter is a top priority for this Administration, and working together with our global partners, we aim to solve the current growing marine litter problem in our shared oceans.” According to EPA, five countries in Asia - China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - account for over half of the plastic waste input into the ocean. The majority of marine litter comes from land-based sources, such as littering and the mismanagement of waste, and the most effective way to combat marine litter is to prevent and reduce land-based sources of waste from entering the oceans in the first place.

We remind that Braskem has formed first partnership for removing household plastic waste from landfill in Greater Sao Paulo last year. The partnership forged between Braskem and Tecipar, the Brazilian company specializing in environmental engineering, will avoid some 2,000 tons of plastic waste annually from being discarded in the landfill of Santana do Parnaiba, a city in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. This volume is equivalent to 36 million units of plastic packaging made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The partnership reinforces Braskem's commitment to the Circular Economy and is aligned with the business strategy of the company, which is engaged in supporting the development of the recycling chain and its market.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Corning and PPG industries say they are working to register an antiviral paint product with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, DC) that contains Corning Guardiant, a glass-ceramic technology that has proven efficacy in killing the COVID-19 virus, reported Chemweek.

The technology’s efficacy was demonstrated in tests approved by EPA.

The product contains copper, which has shown antimicrobial efficacy when applied to surfaces, according to Corning. “Our scientists have developed this unique paint additive using our highly engineered glass-ceramic technology,” says Corning chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks. “We are excited about the new lab results and look forward to working with our valued partner PPG.”

PPG’s antiviral paint product will be called Copper Armor. “Following registration with the EPA, we look forward to launching a paint product in the coming months that contains Corning Guardiant, providing customers with an additional safeguard from (COVID-19) in areas that pose a higher health risk,” says PPG chairman and CEO Michael McGarry.

Corning is collaborating with paint and coating makers globally, including PPG, to develop coatings that include the Guardian technology and meet regulatory requirements around the world, the company says.

As MRC wrote previously, in February 2020, PPG said it had completed its acquisition of Industria Chimica Reggiana (ICR, Reggio Emilia, Italy), a maker of automotive refinish products. Financial terms of the deal, including purchase price, were not disclosed. The deal was announced on 8 January. ICR was founded in 1961 and employs about 180 people. ICR manufactures automotive refinish products, including putties, primers, basecoats and clear coats. It also makes a range of coatings, enamels and primers for light commercial vehicles and other light industrial coatings applications. ICR employs about 180 people and sells its products in more than 70 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the US and Latin America.

We remind that Russia"s output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

1. Pandemic hastens threat of closure for struggling oil refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The collapse in oil demand from the COVID-19 pandemic is hastening the reckoning for those refiners already struggling as new capacity overtakes demand, posing an existential threat to many, particularly Europe’s ageing plants, said Chemweek. Even before the pandemic struck, which at its height destroyed over 20% of global oil demand, analysts expected global refining capacity would have to rationalize, particularly in Europe. According to consultants WoodMac, 1.4 million barrels per day, or around 9%, of refining capacity is under threat of rationalization in Europe in 2022-2023. WoodMac declined to name specific refineries, but in a list sent to its clients and seen by Reuters, BP’s 377,000 bpd Rotterdam refinery, Total’s 102,000 bpd Grandpuits refinery in France and Petroineos’ 200,000 bpd Grangemouth refinery in Scotland were among 11 plants mentioned. The three companies did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Last week, energy trader Gunvor said it was considering mothballing its loss-making Belgian refinery.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), will shut its 226,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bathinda refinery in northern Punjab state for about 40 days from end-January for maintenance, two sources said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

During the shutdown HMEL will also carry out work to be able to hook petrochemical units, including a 1.2 million tons a year ethylene cracker, sources with knowledge of the plan said.

The 40-day shutdown is expected to start around Jan. 25-26, said one of the sources, adding the company plans to commission petrochemical units in September-October.

The sources declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak to media. HMEL's chief executive Prabh Das said 'no comments' when asked about the shutdown plan.

Indian refiners have turned their focus to raising production of petrochemicals to cater for rising demand and help hedge against lower refined fuel margins.

State-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd own 49 percent stake each in the project.

As per MRC, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) plans to commission a new polypropylene (PP) plant in Bhatinda, Punjab, India in 2021. The capacity of the new enterprise will be 500,000 tonne/year of PP. The company already operates an operating PP plant with a capacity of 440,000 tonnes per year at this site, which was launched in 2012.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 090,900 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC