Reliance Industries and several other companies plan to recycle plastic used in medical devices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune jointly with Reliance Industries Ltd and several other companies from Pune have achieved a breakthrough to manufacture useful moulded plastic components from COVID-19 PPE waste, said Economictimes.

The successful "pilot project has the potential to scale up and replicate throughout the country to convert PPE waste into useful and safe products," RIL said in a statement.

A pilot project converted the decontaminated PPE waste (mainly comprising PPE suits/overalls) into an easily processable and upcycled agglomerated form (pellets or granules). The polymer pellets can find usage in non-food applications, including high-performance automotive components.

A substantial increase in demand for single-use plastic items such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks and gloves has been witnessed since the pandemic.

Across India, more than 200 tonne of COVID-19 related waste was generated every day in May 2021. So far, this hazardous PPE waste is incinerated at central waste management (BMWM) facilities. Incineration is energy-intensive and leads to the release of harmful greenhouse gases.

As MRC informed earlier, Reliance Industries (RIL) has taken off-stream one of its polypropylene (PP) plants in Jamnagar, India for a scheduled maintenance. Thus, this unit with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons/year of PP was shut on 5 August 2021 and will remain idle for approximately one month. The local supply is expected to take a hit from the shutdown, especially when demand is recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak.

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.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

Shell to sell Permian assets to ConocoPhillips

Shell to sell Permian assets to ConocoPhillips

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its business in the Permian Basin, the biggest oilfield in the US, to rival ConocoPhillips for USD9.5bn in cash, reported Financial Times.

The Anglo-Dutch oil supermajor had pointed to the Permian as one of its core oil and gas-producing regions as recently as this year. But it is under intense pressure to accelerate a shift out of fossil fuels.

In May, a district court in the Netherlands ordered the company to slash its net carbon pollution by 45% compared with 2019 levels by 2030, prompting chief executive Ben van Beurden to say that Shell would hasten plans to reduce emissions.

Shell said last Monday that the deal would include roughly 225,000 net acres of land that produce 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Houston-based ConocoPhillips said it expected to produce about 200,000 b/d from the properties by next year.

Shell said it would use SD7bn of cash from the transaction to fund “additional shareholder distributions after closing” and the remainder to pay down debt. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets expected the sale would fund additional share buybacks. Shell’s shares rose more than 1.5% in after-hours trading last Monday.

The deal highlights the widening gap between Europe-based oil companies such as Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, which are attempting to pivot towards renewable energy and low-carbon electricity, and US peers that continue to bet on the future of oil and gas.

The US shale oil and gas industry, bedevilled for years by steep financial losses, is undergoing a period of rapid consolidation that has fuelled tens of billions of dollars in deals over the past year and a half.

Shell said that producing oil and gas would continue to play a “critical role” in its strategy providing “the energy the world needs today whilst funding shareholder distributions as well as the energy transition”.

Shell’s sale had been expected for several months, with a number of major shale producers having considered buying the assets. Some bankers had said that the company might struggle to find a buyer because Shell does not operate about half of the wells it owns, meaning other companies - foremost Occidental Petroleum - make operational decisions.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas 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

Dow secures renewable power for Canadian petrochemical site

Dow secures renewable power for Canadian petrochemical site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Capital Power Corporation has announced a 15-year renewable power purchase agreement with Dow Chemical Canada ULC, a subsidiary of Dow, for 25 megawatts (MW) of capacity and the associated environmental attributes from our Whitla Wind 2 project, currently under construction in southeastern Alberta, as per the company's press release.

This long-term agreement demonstrates cross-industry collaboration to support grid diversity and increasing renewable electricity - empowering both companies to advance their sustainability priorities, tackle climate change and deliver a low-carbon future. Currently under construction, the 151-MW Whitla Wind 2 project is expected to be online and producing renewable energy by the end of 2021 - completing the Whitla Wind facility, which will be Alberta’s largest wind facility with 353 MW of generation capacity.

“Our longstanding, positive relationship with Capital Power began over twenty years ago, and remains strong today,” said Edward Stones, Global Director, Dow Energy and Climate Change Business. “We continue to partner with suppliers like Capital Power to competitively and sustainably source the power needed for Dow’s global operations. This new agreement further reduces our footprint at Dow’s Prentiss manufacturing site with the added benefit of supporting a more renewable grid in Alberta.”

Dow is a leading user of clean power in the chemical industry and among the top 20 globally. In 2020, Dow increased contracted renewable power by 50% to more than 800 MW of capacity, surpassing the company’s 2025 Sustainability Goal of obtaining 750 MW of its power demand from renewable sources.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Dow Chemical, one of the largest US petrochemical companies, has begun bringing operations back online "as third-party utility balances and raw materials availability allow," according to the company's statement Sept. 8. The restarts would be gradual, as Dow's complexes involve multiple plants that have to be restarted one by one while checking for any storm-related, as-yet-undiscovered damage. At Plaquemine, Dow has two crackers and multiple polyethylene plants.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Dow Chemical is an American diversified chemical company headquartered in Midland, Michigan. It is a major manufacturer of polymer products, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene and synthetic rubbers. The company produces more than five thousand products at 188 production facilities in 37 countries.
MRC

SIBUR and TAIF finalise terms of merger

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR and TAIF have entered into an agreement finalising the creation of a combined entity that will leverage the facilities of PJSC SIBUR Holding and create the largest petrochemical company in Russia and one of the biggest in the world.

Under the agreement, TAIF shareholders will receive a 15% stake in the new combined company in exchange for 50% plus 1 share in JSC TAIF. To ensure faster integration and higher efficiency of the combined entity’s operations and investment programme, the parties have agreed on an early exercise of an option for the remaining stake of TAIF’s shareholders. SIBUR’s financial obligations in the second phase of the transaction will be secured by several issues of exchange-traded bonds. As a result, in a matter of days required to finalise the deal the combined entity will consolidate 100% of the shares of TAIF Group, which includes petrochemical and energy companies.

The new company will support Russia’s leadership in the chemical, petrochemical and oil & gas sectors while making the country’s products more globally competitive thanks to economies of scale, higher production efficiency, better sales processes and improved customer service in line with global best practices.

Following the completion of all ongoing investment projects, the new combined company will be among the top 5 producers of polyolefin and rubber globally. The company’s investment programme will yield further growth of chemical non-commodity exports and import substitution, and also unlock new ways of tackling sustainability and environmental challenges.

The deal brings together the two companies’ vast expertise in major investment projects and facilitates efficient distribution of feedstock, which will boost Tatarstan's petrochemical cluster and pave the way for new partnerships with the region.

Earlier it was reported that the European Commission on September 2 received a notice of the deal concerning the merger of SIBUR and TAIF. Upon preliminary examination, the commission concludes that the declared transaction may be subject to the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this matter has been postponed.

As MRC reported, on 23 April of this year, SIBUR announced a merger with TAIF by exchanging 15% of its shares for 50% + 1 share in TAIF. The scope of the transaction includes only TAIF's petrochemical and generating companies. TAIF together with SIBUR will spend more than 1 trillion rubles. for the implementation of joint projects. In total, the companies plan to implement over 30 projects. According to figures provided by SIBUR, the joint entity would produce 8.1m tonnes/year of polyolefins, when including upcoming capacities in their Amur GCC and EP-600 large-scale projects.

TAIF JSC is the parent company of the largest non-public group in the Russian Federation. The group's netted revenue over the past 12 months amounted to more than Rb720 bn. TAIF plans to enter the production of commercial products in the amount of more than Rb1.7 trln by 2035. per year, for this planned investment of Rb1.8 trln for the next 15 years.

SIBUR manufactures and sells petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: olefins and polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP, etc.), as well as plastics, elastomers and intermediate products (synthetic rubbers, expanded polystyrene, PET, etc.)
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 24.09.2021

1. Lower diesel exports from China proving a boost to Asia refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Slumping diesel exports from China are proving a boon to other refiners in Asia, with the profit from producing the fuel rising to the highest in 18 months, reported Reuters. China has been Asia's second-highest exporter of gasoil, the building block for middle distillate fuels that include diesel, heating oil and jet kerosene, but its shipments have slumped in recent months amid lower refinery processing and a lack of export permits. China's diesel exports dropped in August to the lowest since May 2015, slumping to 540,000 tonnes, equivalent to about 135,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 1.39 million tonnes in July, according to official customs data released on Sept. 18. Diesel exports have been on a downward trend since March this year, when they were 2.81 million tonnes, or about 680,000 bpd. The total for the first eight months of the year is now 3.5% below the same period in 2020.

MRC