Marathon completes test run for North Dakota refinery producing 100% renewable diesel

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Topsoe’s HydroFelx technology has been used at the Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) renewable diesel facility in North Dakota, United States, exceeding all process guarantees, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new HydroFlex unit produces 100% renewable diesel from soy and corn oil with a combined capacity of 12,000 barrels per day. Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology enables clients to convert low-carbon renewable feedstocks into cleaner fuel alternatives.

“At Marathon Petroleum, we are meeting the needs of today while investing in a sustainable, energy-diverse future, and our renewable diesel production is a significant part of that commitment,” says Jeff Sexton, Marathon’s Refining Technology Director. “We’re excited about the success we’ve had with this technology at our Dickinson Renewable Diesel facility, which achieved its design capacity during the second quarter. We are looking forward to the conversion of our Martinez, California, refinery to renewable fuels production over the next year.”

With HydroFlex, customers can convert low value feedstocks to renewable fuels that qualify for the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit. The innovative HydroFlex process layout offers lower capital expenditure, and also lower energy consumption during operation, resulting in a lower carbon intensity. Topsoe’s HydroFlex can be deployed in both grassroots units and revamps for co-processing or stand-alone applications.

As MRC informed earlier, in May, 2021, US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said its board had approved the conversion of the Martinez refinery in California to a renewable diesel plant. Besides, the company made a final investment decision regarding this project. Martinez, once complete, will be one of the largest renewables facilities in the country.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation's largest refining system. MPC's marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical, a subsidiary of one of the world's largest energy and chemical companies - Sinopec, intends to shut down its polypropylene (PP) plant in Tianjin, in northeast China for a scheduled maintenance on 10 August, 2021, according to CommoPlast.

It is expected that the turnaround at this plant, which can produce 70,000 mt/year of PP, will last for about 50 days. Thus, this facility may resume operations on 28 September, 2021.

As MRC reported earlier, the company took off-stream its PP plant for repairs from 5 May to 20 June, 2017.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Sinopec corp. is one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemical companies. Business Sinopec Corp. includes oil and gas exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas, oil refining, petrochemical production, production of mineral fertilizers and other chemical products. In terms of refining capacity, Sinopec Corp. ranks second in the world, in terms of ethylene capacity - fourth.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum sees continued strong demand for construction staple polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and caustic soda through the rest of 2021, driven largely by tight supply, homebuilding growth and continued global economic recovery from COVID-19 fallout, reported S&P Global with reference to CFO Robert Peterson's statement Aug. 4.

Peterson said the company sees domestic PVC demand up 16% from Q2 2020, and up 13% from pre-pandemic 2019, he said during the company's Q2 2021 earnings call.

"And so strong demand is also attributed to really low levels of inventory and supply chain, combined with the construction sector, which you're seeing, and obviously, in a lot of their construction materials," he said.

Occidental reported a USD97 million loss for the quarter, up from an USD8.35 billion loss in Q2 2020 at the height of COVID-19 shutdowns. OxyChem, the company's chemical segment, reported a USD312 million profit, nearly triple USD108 million a year ago.

"We expect that 2021 will be a record year for OxyChem," he said.

Peterson noted that US housing starts have been strong, fueled in part by low mortgage rates and in part by consumers seeking more space or expanding their existing homes during elongated stretches of working from home amid COVID-19. That construction boom has fed demand for PVC, which is used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products.

At the same time, PVC supply has been constrained by two hurricanes in 2020, a deep freeze in mid-February that forced weeks-long petrochemical plant shutdowns, and operational issues. The US normally exports more than 30% of about 8.2 million mt/year in US PVC capacity, but outflows have declined sharply amid the domestic pull for less overall volume availability.

Caustic soda prices have begun recovering from sluggish demand in 2019 and 2020, Peterson said.

Chlor-alkali production has faced similar setbacks on extreme weather and operational issues, keeping rates lower than the typical 90% range during warmer months. That means less PVC and caustic soda availability when demand for both is seen robust, he said.

Caustic soda demand was seen continuing to grow alongside economic recovery and growth, he said. More participation in sports events, concerts and travel, and returns to offices, means more demand for paper products – bulk delivery boxes, printing paper, cups and napkins.

As MRC informed before, OxyChem had a seven-day PVC turnaround slated for April, 2020, at its plant in Pasadena, Texas, USA. This plant's production capacity is 1 million mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of unmixed PVC totalled 515,900 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 1% year on year. At the same time, two producers reduced their output.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OxyChem) is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America. Oxychem is Oxy's Texas-based subsidiary which manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins, chlorine and caustic soda used in plastics, pharmaceuticals and water treatment chemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil pumped 400,000 b/d of oil equivalent from the Permian Basin in Q2 021, which it aims to increase by 40,000 boe/d in Q3 through continued operating efficiencies, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement July 30.

Jack Williams, senior vice president, said the company's current eight rigs are drilling the same lateral length that it took 25 rigs two years ago.

"Completions are improving, too," Williams said during a Q2 earnings call. "Our frac rates are around 50% faster. This has resulted in a reduction in drilling and completion costs of more than 40%."

Williams said the producer remains focused on capital efficiency, delivering free cash flow "across a broad range of price scenarios" and making double-digits returns when oil prices are below USD35/b.

ExxonMobil's Q2 refining throughput increased 3% from the previous quarter, when winter storms in Texas disrupted operations. Fuel margins also increased but remain low because of an ongoing market oversupply.

It was ExxonMobil's first earnings call since climate-focused investors secured three seats on the company's board of directors, delivering their strongest pushback yet that the oil driller must start facing the future by shifting to lower-carbon technologies and preparing for sharply lower fossil fuel demand.

Woods said executives have had productive meetings with the new board about developing a new strategy for the energy transition. He detailed plans for carbon-capture projects, low-emission fuels and methane detection technologies, but he took a cautious tone about the timelines.

Woods said ExxonMobil expects to make final investment decisions next year for an expansion of its LaBarge CCS facility in Wyoming and a new carbon-capture technology pilot associated with the Porthos project at the port of Rotterdam.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding this month to explore infrastructure to help decarbonize the industrial basin in France's Normandy region and an MOU to participate in the Acorn CCS project in Scotland.

Woods said a USD100 billion proposal to capture and store CO2 emissions from heavy industries around the Houston Ship Channel was "gaining industry and third-party support," without giving more details.

The company aims to increase production for low-emission fuels by 40,000 b/d by 2025 through several projects to repurpose existing refinery units and through co-processing biofeeds and purchase agreements, Woods said.

As MRC informed previously, ExxonMobil and SABIC have announced that their joint venture, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures located near Corpus Christi, Texas, has reached mechanical completion of a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit and two polyethylene (PE) units. Project startup is expected to begin ahead of schedule, likely in the fourth quarter of 2021.

MEG is commonly used in the manufacturing of polyesters and automotive coolants, and as a building block to create various forms of high-performance plastics. PE is commonly used in protective film, packaging and bottles and containers that prolong the shelf-life of food and medicines, as well as in various automotive parts that improve fuel efficiency and performance, and in medical applications.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments 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) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all polycarbonate (PC) grades in Europe, as per the company's press release as of August 3.

Effective Augustl 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot PC prices for the products listed below increased as follows:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR100 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PC grades in Europe on May 1, 2021 by EUR510 per metric ton.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) rose in January-May 2021 by 8% year on year to 42,200 tonnes (38,900 tonnes a year earlier).

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.8 billion in net sales in 2019, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,700 employees.
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