Pembina and TC Energy team up for carbon transportation and sequestration project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian midstream energy company Pembina Pipeline and energy infrastructure major TC Energy (formerly TansCanada) plan to build a “world-scale” carbon transportation and sequestration system in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province, said the company.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. and TC Energy Corp. have announced a plan to develop a carbon transportation and sequestration system in Alberta.

The companies say the project will form the backbone of Alberta's carbon capture utilization and storage industry. It will be capable of transporting more than 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Pembina and TC Energy plan to retrofit existing pipelines as well as build new systems to connect the province's largest sources of industrial emissions to a sequestration location northeast of Redwater, Alta.

They say that by using existing assets it speeds up timing of the project, reduces environmental and community impacts and is cheaper. Pembina and TC Energy hope to have the first phase to be operational as early as 2025.

As MRC informed earlier, the proposed merger of Canadian energy companies Pembina Pipeline and Inter Pipeline (IPL) could lead to the construction of a second propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene (PP) plant in Alberta. The Canadian company Inter Pipeline Ltd will complete the construction of a polypropylene (PP) plant in Alberta province, Canada by the end of the year, and the polypropylene production itself will begin in early 2022. In addition, the construction of a propane dehydrogenation unit is due to be completed next month. The polypropylene production capacity will be 525 thousand per year.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Pembina Pipeline has been a gas supplier to the North American power system for over 60 years. Pembina owns and operates pipelines that transport a variety of hydrocarbon fluids, including conventional and synthetic crude oils and others, produced in Western Canada and North Dakota.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil restarted the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery, following a month of work, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

An Exxon spokeswoman declined to discuss the status of specific units at the Baton Rouge refinery.

The 90,000-bpd PSLA-8 CDU was shut on May 18 for planned maintenance scheduled to last at least 30 days, the sources said. PSLA-8 is one of four CDUs at the Baton Rouge refinery, which is Exxon's second-largest in the United States.

As MRC informed previously, earlier this month, Gov. John Bel Edwards and ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery Manager David Oldreive announced the company’s final investment decision for more than USD240 million in capital improvements at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has launched a new range of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for lithium-ion batteries, made using bio-feedstock, said the company.

Kynar CTO PVDF grades using the mass balance approach under the ISCC+ certification process will be produced firstly in Arkema’s Pierre-Benite plant in France for its European customers, focusing initially on grades specifically targeted for the lithium-ion battery market.

This patent pending technology allows a climate change impact reduction of almost 20% of the Kynar® PVDF binder (expressed in kg eq. CO2/kg, according to the ISO14040 standard) while reducing dependence on upstream crude oil consumption. The crude tall oil used in upstream feedstock production is a residue of the Kraft process of wood pulp manufacture. The new Kynar® CTO grades are certified to be compliant with industry leading responsible forestry standards. They do not result in deforestation, and there is no direct competition with food crops.

As per MRC, Trinseo completed the EUR1.14 billion acquisition of Arkema's PMMA business in May. The EUR1.14 billion deal was announced in December and was expected to be completed by mid-2021. The company has seven PMMA plants, four in Europe and three in North America. Products are marketed under the Plexiglas brands in the Americas and Altuglas in the rest of the world. PMMA Manufacturing Arkema is an integrated business from methyl methacrylate (MMA) to PMMA, marketed under the Plexiglas brands in the Americas and Altuglas in the rest of the world.

The main sector consuming approximately 75% of MMA is the production of polymethyl methacrylate acrylic plastics (PMMA). Methyl methacrylate is also used to produce methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer (MBS), used as a modifier for polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, PVC prices in Russia broke another historic record in May, but this factor did not affect demand. The key issue was whether the seller had enough resin. Some companies began to work out options for providing themselves with raw materials for July, a period of stoppages for repairs of two manufacturers.

Arkema is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers headquartered in Colombes (near Paris, France). Founded in 2004 as a result of the restructuring of the French oil company Total, Arkema, with a turnover of EUR6.5 billion, has operations in 40 countries, 10 research centers around the world, and 85 plants in Europe, North America and Asia.
MRC

1. Easing COVID-19 emergency restrictions to boost summer gasoline demand in Japan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's easing of COVID-19 emergency restrictions will boost the gasoline demand in July, when the country kickstarts the summer driving season, but the expected transport restriction for the Tokyo Olympics sent mixed signals for the fuel demand, reported S&P Global. Japan decided June 17 it will lift its state of emergency measures on nine out of 10 prefectures when it expires on June 20 but will place Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto and Fukuoka under its COVID-19 priority measures, together with Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa until July 11. The state of emergency measures on Okinawa will remain until July 11 but the state of emergency on Okayama and Hiroshima will be lifted on June 20. The priority measures on Gifu and Mie will also be lifted. This means 56% of Japan's population will be under the priority measure, with the state of emergency on Okinawa, accounting for 1% of the population.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures fell further during mid-morning trade in Asia June 18, extending overnight losses, as risk aversion gripped the market after hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve, even as the global demand recovery narrative remained intact, reported S&P Global.

At 10:50 am Singapore time (0250 GMT), the ICE August Brent futures contract was down 64 cents/b (0.88%) from the previous settle at USD72.44/b, while the NYMEX July light sweet crude contract was 56 cents/b (0.79%) lower at USD70.48/b.

The Brent and the NYMEX light sweet crude markers had fallen 1.76% and 1.54% overnight to close at USD73.08/b and USD71.04/b respectively, halting the recent dizzying rally.

Vandana Hari, CEO of Vanda Insights, told S&P Global Platts on June 18 that the downturn in prices comes as the market consolidates after recent gains, and was triggered by a hawkish tilt in the US Federal Reserve's dot plots from a meeting concluded June 16.

The dot plots show that Federal Reserve officials are leaning towards two interest rate increases by the end of 2023 based on median estimates. The prospect of higher rates has fueled risk-off sentiment in broader financial markets.

Some analysts said oil prices also faced headwinds from concerns over the deteriorating pandemic situation in the UK, which reported 11,007 new COVID-19 infections June 17, the highest since Feb. 19, government data showed. That surge despite high vaccination rates has called into question the nascent recovery on the pandemic front in the rest of the western hemisphere, analysts said.

However, Hari said that the global demand recovery narrative remains intact despite the surge in UK cases.

We remind that as MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC