bp to invest around USD2 bln in low carbon energy this year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- bp expects to invest around USD2 billion in low carbon energy in 2021, rising to USD3-4 billion in 2025 and aiming for around USD5 billion in 2030, as per the company's press release.

bp’s strategy aims to significantly expand its low carbon energy interests, with a target of having developed 20GW net of renewable assets by 2025 and aiming for 50GW by 2030.

So far in 2021 bp has entered offshore wind in both the US and UK, acquired a major solar development pipeline in the US and its solar joint venture Lightsource bp has continued to grow. By the end of the first half of 2021, bp had developed 3.7GW of renewable power capacity and had a further 21GW development pipeline.

In line with this strategy, bp has just announced the appointment of Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath as its new executive vice president, gas and low carbon energy, and member of bp’s leadership team.

Until recently she was chief executive officer of RWE Renewables, one of the world’s leading renewables businesses. Anja-Isabel will join bp on March 1st 2022.

Bernard Looney, bp chief executive, said: “I am delighted that Anja has chosen to join us and help lead bp’s transformation from international oil company to integrated energy company. She is exactly the right person for bp, at exactly the right time - a globally respected and deeply experienced leader in renewable energy with a proven track record of transforming and growing businesses.

“I have been hugely impressed by the quality of her strategic thinking and her deep operational expertise. But as impressive as this is, I am even more impressed with how she has done it - leading teams with the right values and a strong sense of purpose. I look forward to welcoming Anja and working together to create value as we drive bp towards net zero and help the world get there too.”

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath is an electrical engineer with more than 25 years of senior experience in energy, industry and management consultancy, including at the highest level in leading and transforming major renewable energy companies. She led the development of RWE Renewables into one of the world’s largest renewable power companies and the second largest offshore wind player globally, integrating the renewables businesses of E.ON and Innogy into RWE to form RWE Renewables in 2019. Before becoming chief executive of RWE Renewables on its formation, she led E.ON’s Climate & Renewables business as chief executive and previously chief operating officer.

As announced separately, Dev Sanyal, bp’s current EVP gas & low carbon energy, will leave the company at the end of 2021.

As MRC reported before, bp and Lukoil want to quit their Iraqi energy projects due to the current investment environment, the country's oil minister said in July, 2021, as OPEC's second biggest producer faces an exodus of international oil companies that want to exit unattractive contracts. Lukoil wants to sell its stake in West Qurna 2 to Chinese companies.

We remind that Russian energy major Lukoil (Moscow) is studying several potential petrochemical projects in Russia and Bulgaria, with investment decisions expected to be made on two of them in 2021.

Thus, Lukoil announced an investment decision in June, 2019, to proceed with a 500,000-metric tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at its Kstovo refinery. In September this year it selected Lummus Technology’s Novolen PP technology and basic design engineering for the facility’s production unit. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest crude refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year, with the company recently adding a catalytic cracking unit that almost doubled the refinery’s production of propylene feedstock to 300,000 metric tons/year.

At Budennovsk in Russia’s far south west, the company’s Stavrolen petchems complex currently has the capacity to produce 350,000 metric tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 metric tons of polyethylene (PE), 120,000 metric tons/year of PP, and 80,000 metric tons of benzene. Lukoil has for several years been considering construction of a new gas chemicals plant at Stavrolen to crack more ethane extracted from associated petroleum gas produced by its oil and gas fields in the north of the Caspian Sea. The potential new plant would raise Stavrolen’s ethylene and PE output to around 600,000 metric tons/year each, and increase PP production to 200,000 metric tons/year.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of PE and 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.

bp is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. bp’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, bpP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Refineries in Texas continued to operate as usual, although rains, floods and power outages hit Texas and Louisiana on Tuesday, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Tropical Storm Nicholas moved slowly toward the Houston metropolitan area after weakening from a hurricane. Nicholas was about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Houston, Texas by 7 a.m. Central Time (1200 GMT), heading northeast with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), the National Hurricane Center said in a bulletin, after it hit the Texas coast hours earlier.

Although Hurricane Ida knocked off significant amount of refining capacity in the Gulf Coast earlier this month, Texas refineries remained operating as of early Tuesday. Motiva Enterprises' 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas refinery - the largest in the United States - was operating normally as Nicholas was passing over the area on Tuesday morning, said sources familiar with plant operations.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc's 302,800 bpd joint-venture Deer Park, Texas refinery was also operating normally on Tuesday morning after the passage of Nicholas, said sources familiar with plant operations. Nicholas caused widespread power outages as it crossed over the Houston metropolitan area late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

About 485,000 customers were without power in Texas on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Texas energy company CenterPoint Energy Inc said on Tuesday that about 400,000 homes and businesses in its Houston-area service territory were without power.

More than 40% of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas output remained offline on Monday, two weeks after Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast, according to offshore regulator Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

Damages to an offshore hub that pumps oil and gas from three major oilfields for processing onshore and power outages at onshore processing plants are responsible for the production losses. All four liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants operating along the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, remained in service early Tuesday, according to pipeline feedgas data from Refinitiv.

As per MRC, US petroleum consumption recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but there has been a marked shift from consumer-facing sectors towards industry and freight transportation, mirroring the uneven economic recovery. The total volume of petroleum products supplied to domestic customers climbed to 20.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, according to the Energy Information Administration. Volumes were down by less than 300,000 bpd (1.4%) from the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and were actually 200,000 bpd (1.1%) above the pre-pandemic five-year average for 2015-2019.

As MRC informed earlier, recyclers in Southeast Asia were heard operating with low capacity utilisation in the film grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) market due to COVID-19-led lockdown measures. Market sources also said persistent bottlenecks at ports in Asia and some maintenance-related plant closures are likely to hurt the supply of petrochemicals during the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 3.

We remind that Southeast Asian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling companies will continue facing challenges with the availability of raw materials, due to the low collecting and processing rate, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, June estimated HDPE consumption in Russia decreased to 125,900 tonnes from 128,300 tonnes a month earlier. Domestic producers raised their exports, while some producers' output decreased. Russia's overall HDPE shipments to the Russian market totalled 675,670 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, down by 6% year on year. Production increased by 12%, whereas imports fell by 33%.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Lukoil is considering options for participation on a partnership basis in methanol production projects and expects to make an appropriate decision by the end of the year, said the head of the company Vagit Alekperov in an interview to Kommersant.

"Polypropylene in Nizhny Novgorod will be provided with its own resources. Propylene from the new cracking in Perm, in addition to providing Saratovorgsintez, can be the basis for new petrochemical projects. We are also considering options for partnering in methanol production. We expect to make a decision by the end of the year," - he said.

According to him, Gazprom's gas will most likely be used there, which is about 2 billion cubic meters per year, but if it gives an opportunity, we can make a swap. "Our relations with Gazprom allow us to look at this issue quite optimistically," Alekperov added.

He explained that we are talking about new construction in ports, the company is looking at suitable sites both in the north and in the south of the country. The head of Lukoil also added that all investment decisions to expand the gas processing plant in Budennovsk had been made.

"In the future, we plan to launch a gas chemical complex. We have invited Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak to launch the project. We hope that a joint trip to Stavrolen will take place at the end of September," he said. In addition, the head of Lukoil said that the company is negotiating with Gazprom to buy its gas in Yamal, and if the price rises, it is ready to forcefully put its fields in the region into operation.

At the same time, he added that with a successful outcome of the negotiations, the commissioning could take place at the end of 2023, since the necessary gas pipeline has already been built.

As MRC informed before, Lukoil, the second largest oil company in Russia, has begun construction of a polypropylene (PP) production complex at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery in the city of Kstovo. It is noted that the complex will become the largest polypropylene production facility in Russia integrated into an oil refinery. The raw material for polypropylene production at Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod site will be propylene from two modernized catalytic cracking units with a capacity of 4 million tons per year. After putting the complex into operation, the enterprise will be able to produce about 500 thousand tons of polypropylene grades.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's 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.

Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for the exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Russia - Stavrolen.
mrcplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) said its sales volumes are being impacted by the increasing disruptions in commodity supplies; further reductions in customer production due to certain parts shortages such as semi-conductor chips; and continuing logistics and transportation challenges in many regions, according to Markets Insider.

As a result, the company lowered its third quarter sales volume outlook. Also, PPG withdraw its guidance for the third quarter and full-year 2021.

The company now expects third quarter sales volumes will be lower by USD225 million to USD275 million, compared to what it anticipated at the start of the third quarter.

PPG noted that raw material inflation for the third quarter is trending higher than previously communicated by about USD60 million to USD70 million.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, PPG announced an expansion of its coatings manufacturing capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The investments at sites in The Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand in the region for the latest generation of coatings for aluminum and steel cans used in packaging for beverage, food and personal care items. The projects include a further expansion of the company’s location in Tiel, The Netherlands, which will increase the plant’s production capacity for PPG INNOVEL non-BPA internal coatings for beverage cans by 30%. Expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the project follows a 50% expansion completed at the end of 2020.

BPA is the main feedstock for the production of polycarbonate (PC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated consumption of polycarbonate (PC) granules in the Russian market were almost 56,000 tonnes in January-July 2021, down by 3% year on year (58,000 tonnes).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. crude oil production is expected to fall by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.08 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, noting that Hurricane Ida should force a bigger decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 160,000 bpd, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

More than 90% of crude output in offshore Gulf of Mexico was shut in late August due to the powerful storm. Several companies are still in the process of returning production to normal levels and restart plans have been slowed due to power outages and damage to some facilities.

As a result of the outage, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production averaged 1.5 million bpd in August, down 300,000 million bpd from July, the agency said. Output in the GOM is expected to gradually come back online during September and average 1.2 million bpd for the month before returning to an average of 1.7 million bpd in fourth quarter.

The agency also said it expects U.S. petroleum and other liquid fuel consumption to rise 1.55 million bpd to 19.74 million bpd in 2021, a smaller increase compared with a previous forecast for a rise of 1.58 million bpd. For 2022, U.S. crude output is expected to increase to average about 11.72 million bpd, driven by growth in shale production.

The total oil and gas rig count is up about 94% over this time last year. Demand for 2022 is expected to rise 890,000 bpd to 20.63 million bpd, a bigger increase than the agency's previous forecast for a rise of 860,000 bpd.

Globally, an estimated 98.4 million bpd of petroleum and liquid fuels was consumed globally in August, an increase of 5.7 million bpd from August 2020 but still 4 million bpd less than in August 2019, the EIA said.

As per MRC, Oil rose on Monday, supported by concerns over shut output in the United States because of damage from Hurricane Ida, with analysts expecting prices to remain rangebound in a stable market over the coming months. Brent crude rose 55 cents, or 0.8%, to USD73.47 a barrel by 1222 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 64 cents, or 0.9%, at USD70.36. Brent has held between USD70 and USD74 a barrel over the past three weeks.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, one of the largest operators in the Gulf of Mexico, declared force majeure on some oil deliveries due to damage from Hurricane Ida, which has crippled U.S. offshore oil production. More than three-quarters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil output remained shut following Ida. Crude buyers said the full restart of production remained unclear due to extensive damage to various facilities. The hurricane was one of the most devastating for offshore producers since back-to-back storms in 2005 cut output for months.
MRC