Nipigaz and French Technip will decarbonize Zapsibneftekhim

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The engineering company Nipigaz, as part of a joint venture with the French Technip Energies, will deal with the decarbonization project for Zapsibneftekhim, Chairman of the Board, CEO of Sibur Mikhail Karisalov said in an interview.

In July, Sibur announced that within the framework of the deal with TAIF on the merger of oil and gas chemical businesses, it would exclude from its structure a non-core asset - the engineering company Nipigaz, whose shares would be distributed as dividends among the existing shareholders of Sibur Holding. According to Karisalov, the deconsolidation will take place in the near future.

Now "Nipigaz" through Nova Energies (a joint venture with Technip) is engaged in the project for decarbonization of the production of "Zapsibneftekhim", with a very interesting potential, Karisalov said.

“As you know, the Tobolsk industrial site has a thermal power plant, which we once bought from Fortum. In addition, there are production facilities themselves - both those that were historically and that we have created over the past 10 years. So, the total potential of the project on decarbonization of our Tobolsk cluster - this is a decrease in emissions by almost 4 million tons of CO2 equivalent, "he said.

Karisalov noted that shareholders are looking for competitive niches for their engineering company, and low-carbon technologies are an area where today there is an opportunity to be among the first. “Therefore, we are looking at projects to reduce our carbon footprint with great interest. This implies both the development of know-how and the integration of available solutions,” he concluded.

Let us remind you that in March Nipigaz reported in March that a joint venture with Nova Energies is being created to implement investment projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the field of bioenergy, biochemistry, production of pure hydrogen and ammonia.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co., the leading independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, has licensed its UNIPOL PP process technology to GAIL (India) Ltd, India’s principal gas transmission and marketing company under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 500 KTA polypropylene (PP) plant, located in Usar, Maharastra, India, will be the first PDH and PP plant in India. It is also the largest single-line UNIPOL PP process technology capacity that Grace has licensed in India.

This is GAIL’s second UNIPOL PP process technology license, continuing to show the confidence in Grace to deliver value even through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laura Schwinn, President of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business said, “We are honored to be the technology of choice for the first PDH-PP plant in India. We know that our UNIPOL® PP Process Technology and our catalysts will provide GAIL with the edge they are looking for in the Indian market. We are committed to their success through the services and solutions that we offer for the lifetime of the plant and we look forward to seeing their business grow and flourish in the years to come.”

Grace's all gas-phase UNIPOL PP process technology delivers technology, innovation, and services for plant lifetime performance. The versatile process technology provides the broadest range of PP homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry.

As MRC informed previously, in April 2018, W. R. Grace & Co. completed the USD416 million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle Corporation.

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.

A leader in polyolefin catalysts and licensing, W.R. Grace has the world’s broadest portfolio of polypropylene and polyethylene catalyst technologies used to produce thermoplastic resins for a variety of applications. A leading innovator and strategic partner to its customers, Grace supplies catalyst solutions for all polyolefin processes, as well as polypropylene process technology and process controls. Grace employs approximately 3,700 people in over 30 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, has acquired on an exclusive basis the technology and plants of Ecoplastic, an Italian company of the De Berg group specializing in the recovery, recycling and transformation chain of styrenic polymers, as per the company's press release.

The present agreement guarantees Versalis the expertise developed by Ecoplastic, allowing it to accelerate developments in advanced mechanical recycling and expand the portfolio of the Versalis Revive range of recycled polymers, consolidating its European leadership in recycled styrenic polymers.

Ecoplastic has developed a production process of styrenic polymers, expanded polystyrene (rEPS) and solid polystyrene (rGPPS) with recycled content up to 100% starting from secondary raw material obtained from expanded polystyrene waste selected from the industrial and commercial sectors.

The new products will be used for applications in which sustainability and circularity requirements are essential, such as packaging and construction.

The agreement with the De Berg group constitutes a concrete step for the start of the first phase of construction of the advanced mechanical recycling hub as part of the transformation project of the Porto Marghera plant, where the installation of the units acquired from Ecoplastic for the production of styrenic polymers obtained entirely from recycled, already sorted and pre-treated raw material, will take place from next year. The overall capacity of this first phase will be around 20,000 tons per year.

As MRC reported before, there is more uncertainty over Versalis’ plans for its Porto Marghera, Italy cracker closure following local media reports that the company has taken the earlier declaration for a Spring 2022 stoppage, off the table, said the company in April 2021.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, July estimated consumption of polystyrene (PS) and styrene plastics in Russia rose by 4% year on year, totalling 46,540 tonnes. Russia's overall PS consumption was 328,980 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 23% year on year. Russia's July production of PS and styrene plastics was 44,520 tonnes, down by 4% year on year (42,770 tonnes).

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC

1. Crude oil futures down after strong mid-week gains on prospect of increased supply in the US and fresh COVID-19 outbreak in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures edged lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Sept. 17 amid profit-taking by investors after strong mid-week gains, and as markets assessed the prospect of returning supply in the US Gulf Coast and a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in China, reported S&P Global. At 10:41 am Singapore time (0241 GMT), the ICE November Brent futures contract was down 16 cents/b (0.21%) from the previous close at USD75.51/b, while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was 15 cents/b (0.21%) lower at USD72.46/b. Demand concerns have resurfaced as China battles a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 cases in southern Fujian province. The country's National Health Commission recorded 49 locally transmitted cases Sept. 15 and 50 the day before.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures edged lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Sept. 17 amid profit-taking by investors after strong mid-week gains, and as markets assessed the prospect of returning supply in the US Gulf Coast and a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in China, reported S&P Global.

At 10:41 am Singapore time (0241 GMT), the ICE November Brent futures contract was down 16 cents/b (0.21%) from the previous close at USD75.51/b, while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was 15 cents/b (0.21%) lower at USD72.46/b.

Demand concerns have resurfaced as China battles a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 cases in southern Fujian province. The country's National Health Commission recorded 49 locally transmitted cases Sept. 15 and 50 the day before.

Supply from the US Gulf Coast was also gradually returning to normal after 95% of US Gulf oil and gas production was shut in late August due to Category 4 Hurricane Ida; 513,878 b/d of crude or 28.2% remained offline as of Sept. 16, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

"With the oil industry still recovering from Hurricane Ida, the arrival of Hurricane Nicholas this week stoked fears of further disruptions. However, that risk appears to have abated, with companies reporting little disruption in Texas," ANZ Research analysts said in a note.

Nonetheless, crude prices recorded strong gains mid-week, with both benchmarks on track to settle higher by at least 3.5% on the week.

Commercial crude oil stocks in the US have fallen for six straight weeks, with the most recent report from the US Energy Information Administration showing a 6.42 million-barrel draw to 417.45 million barrels last week. US crude oil stocks now looked set to push past pre-pandemic lows of 416.07 million barrels for 2019.

As informed earlier, Shell said earlier this month it observed damage from Hurricane Ida to its transfer station West Delta-143 offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. 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 then it was not yet safe to send personnel offshore to learn the full extent of the damage and estimate the effect on production.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC