US loans ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery oil from emergency reserve to relieve fuel disruptions after Hurricane Ida

US loans ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery oil from emergency reserve to relieve fuel disruptions after Hurricane Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm authorized the country's emergency oil reserve to loan 1.5 million barrels of crude to an ExxonMobil refinery in Louisiana to relieve fuel disruptions in Hurricane Ida's wake, reported Reuters.

Earlier, President Joe Biden directed Granholm to use all tools, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), to keep gasoline flowing in the storm's aftermath.

"It's important to know that the region hit by it (Ida) is a key center of our nation's oil production and refining infrastructure...that's why we're not waiting to assess the full impact of the storm," Biden said.

The loan to the Baton Rouge refinery is aimed to "alleviate any logistical issues of moving crude oil within areas affected by Hurricane Ida to ensure the region has access to fuel as quickly as possible," the Energy Department said.

Several refineries including Baton Rouge remained cut off from crude and products supplies from the south via ship and barge after portions of the Mississippi River were closed by several sunken vessels.

The Energy Department said it encourages refiners to prioritize refined products for the affected region.

Ida cut through multiple US regions, devastating parts of Louisiana. On Wednesday rains caused massive flooding in the US Northeast. Roughly 1.5 million barrels of daily offshore crude production is currently shut in, according to federal data from Wednesday. US energy companies, prevalent along the Gulf Coast, were straining to get operations working again due to lingering loss of electrical power and other problems related to storm damage.

Biden noted that the Environmental Protection Agency approved emergency fuel waivers for Louisiana and Mississippi to increase the availability of gasoline. The EPA issued the waivers last week, allowing winter-grade fuel to be sold out of season to avoid shortages. The SPR had 621.3 million barrels of crude in stock as of last week, according to the Energy Department, the lowest since August 2003, data showed. The oil will have to be paid back to the SPR at a later date with interest.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil said last week it was restarting its 517,700 b/d refinery at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after it was shut down ahead of Hurricane Ida.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

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

India faces numerous challenges in its bid to ban single-use plastics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Indian government is planning to phase out single-use plastics leading to complete elimination. But concerns revolve around the availability of alternatives and plastic waste management systems, said RFI.

A government committee has identified the single use plastic (SUP) items to be banned based on an index of their utility and environmental impact.

In the three-stage ban, the first category of SUP items proposed to be phased out are plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candy, ice-cream and ear buds, and thermocol that is used in decorations.

The second category, proposed to be banned from July 1, 2022, includes items such as plates, cups, glasses and cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays; wrapping and packing films used in sweet boxes; invitation cards; cigarette packets; stirrers and plastic banners that are less than 100 microns in thickness.

A third category of prohibition is for non-woven bags below 240 microns in thickness. This is proposed to start from September next year.

As per MRC, the European Parliament has recently voted to ban single-use plastics across the board in an attempt to stop the unending stream of plastic pollution making its way into the oceans. Such plastic products include things like straws, plates, cups and cotton buds, and can take several centuries to degrade in the oceans where they are increasingly observed to be consumed by marine life. According to the European Commission, such plastics make up 70 percent of all marine litter.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

Sinopec intends to spend USD4.6 bln on hydrogen energy by 2025 as part of becoming a carbon-neutral energy provider

Sinopec intends to spend USD4.6 bln on hydrogen energy by 2025 as part of becoming a carbon-neutral energy provider

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, the world's petrochemical major, plans to spend 30 billion yuan (USD4.6 billion) on hydrogen energy by 2025 as the state oil and gas major pivots to producing natural gas and hydrogen as part of becoming a carbon-neutral energy provider by 2050, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Asia's biggest oil refiner plans to become China's largest company to produce hydrogen for use as a transportation fuel, targeting annual capacity of 200,000 tons of hydrogen refuelling by 2025.

"Sinopec will expand forcefully into making hydrogen from renewable energy, and zero in on hydrogen for transportation fuel and using green hydrogen for refining," acting Chairman Ma Yongsheng said.

The company aims to produce more than 1 million tons of so-called green hydrogen from renewable energy sources between 2021 and 2025, as well as add 400 megawatts of solar power generation capacity for supplying electricity to charge vehicles. Sinopec has so far built 20 hydrogen filling stations, with another 60 under construction or in the planning and approval stage. The company produces about 3 million tons per year of hydrogen from non-renewable energy sources that is mainly used in oil refinery and petrochemical processes.

China's natural gas consumption is expected to rise 13.3% in 2021 amid a strong economic recovery and Beijing's push to replace coal with lower-carbon gas, Ma said. That level of growth should continue over the next three years.

Like state-run peers PetroChina and CNOOC Ltd that are prioritising natural gas development over oil, Sinopec plans to boost gas output in the second half of 2021 by 13.5% from a year earlier, compared with 13.7% growth in the first six months.

Sinopec maximized its refinery operations in the first half, pushing throughput to 126.11 million tons of oil, or about 5.1 million barrels per day, up 13.7% from a year earlier when demand was curtailed by the outbreak of COVID-19.

As MRC reported earlier, in August 2021, Sinopec launched the first phase of the Gulei refining complex in Zhangzhou city in China’s southeastern Fujian province. The refining complex, a 50:50 joint venture between Sinopec’s Fujian Petrochemical Company Ltd and Taiwan Xuteng Investment Company Ltd, invested 27.8 billion yuan (USD4.28 billion) in the first phase. That will result in an 800,000 tonnes per annum ethylene plant, a 600,000 tonnes per annum styrene unit and seven other downstream petrochemical units, Sinopec said.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

Toray starts production of ABS in Malaysia

Toray starts production of ABS in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) has boosted Toray Group’s worldwide production and distribution capacities of its TOYOLAC Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) resin transparent grade, through its latest facilities set up at Prai Industrial Park, Penang, Malaysia, said Chemengonline.

The plant set up at Toray’s new facilities at Prai has boosted Toray Plastics (Malaysia) Sdn. Berhad, TPM’s ABS resin production and distribution capacities by 75,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), to 425,000 m.t/yr. Taking into accounts the ABS production output at the Chiba Plant in Japan, Toray Group is now capable of churning out some 497,000 m.t./yr of ABS to the worldwide markets annually.

The diverse TOYOLAC range produced by Toray includes transparent grades ABS, offerings improved anti-static, scratch and chemical resistance properties. To boost sales in its key Chinese and Southeast Asian markets and in anticipation of the rising demands from Europe, the United States of America and India, Toray look forward to increasing its worldwide production further, including the facilities at TPM.

Toray has made expanding globally in growth areas a central strategy under Project AP-G2022, its medium-term management program. The company accordingly aims to capture rising demand for transparent ABS resin and enhance supply stability by reinforcing collaboration between the Chiba Plant and Toray Plastics (Malaysia) TPM.

As MRC reported before, in December 2018, Toray Industries, Inc., announced its decision to enhance production capacity of ABS resin TOYOLAC, manufactured at and distributed by Toray Plastics (Malaysia) Sdn. Berhad. The company will add a facility with production capacity of 75,000 tons annually to expand the sales of high performance varieties such as transparent grade, which has the No. 1 global market share, and start its operation in November 2020. The move will increase TPM’s production capacity to 425,000 tons a year and Toray Group’s capacity with the existing facility at Toray’s Chiba Plant to 497,000 tons a year.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, ABS imports to Russia grew by 40% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year and amounted to 20,900 tonnes against 15,000 tonnes. The share of South Korean supplies fell to 56% (11,800 tonnes) against 60% (9,000 tonnes) a year earlier.
MRC

Shell reports damage to crude transfer station in Gulf Of Mexico from Hurricane Ida

Shell reports damage to crude transfer station in Gulf Of Mexico from Hurricane Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell said it observed damage from Hurricane Ida to its transfer station West Delta-143 offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, reported Reuters.

West Delta-143 serves as the transfer station for all production from its assets in the Mars corridor in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico to onshore crude terminals. Shell said it is not yet safe to send personnel offshore to learn the full extent of the damage and estimate the effect on production.

The producer maintained 80% of its offshore output shut in the Gulf. Its Perdido asset in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico was never disrupted by the hurricane, and a floating platform Turritella, also known as Stones, is currently back on line.

"When we are able to safely deploy personnel offshore to these assets, we will conduct additional inspections and work to restore production as soon as possible," the company said in a statement.

As MRC informed before, Shell found evidence of building damage at its 230,611-bpd Norco, Louisiana refinery. But sources familiar with plant operations did not know the extent of the damage or time needed to make the repairs. Shell is awaiting the restoration of external electrical power to the Norco refining and chemical plant complex.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

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