Sasol to cut carbon emissions by 30% to 2030

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol Ltd, South Africa's major fuel and petrochemical producer, has raised its emissions reduction targets for 2030 to 30% from 10% previously in a bid to make the company a net zero carbon emitter by 2050, reported Reuters with reference to its CEO's statement last week.

The new targets come as the company faces pressure from investors and environmentalists to take decisive steps at its heavily polluting plants, often described as amongst the continent's worst greenhouse gas emitters (GHG).

Fleetwood Grobler, CEO of Sasol said in an interview with Reuters that the company intends to cut down its GHG emissions from 63.9 million tonnes to about 44.73 million tonnes by 2030, up from 57.5 million tonnes as per its previous target.

"This works on three levers - increase of natural gas as a transition fuel, renewable power source and energy efficiency processes," he said.

The world's top manufacturer of motor fuel from coal consumes around 40 million tonnes of coal annually from its own mines and exports up to 4 million tonnes each year.

The petrochemicals major intends to gradually replace coal, with increased natural gas consumption which will be used as a transition fuel. However, its coal consumption will, at a limited level, would still continue till 2040, he said.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at its Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners are gearing up to alter their crude oil import mix in favour of lighter grades that yield more gasoline to meet a surge in demand for the motor fuel in Asia’s third-largest economy, said Reuters.

Refiners in the world’s No. 3 oil importer and consumer will increase imports of gasoline-yielding crudes from the United States and West Africa, while cutting heavier sour grades from the Middle East that yield more middle distillates like diesel and kerosene, they said. The move dovetails with an earlier push to reduce India’s reliance on Middle Eastcrudes to enhance energy security.

“The gasoline demand is very, very strong, whereas diesel is lagging behind right now,” said Amrita Sen, head of research at Energy Aspects. "Refiners are shifting yields further to gasoline ... I would expect more West African, gasoline-rich crude to flow into India, less sour crude to go in there."

Indian refineries are designed to maximise diesel production mostly from Middle Eastern oil, as government-controlled prices made the middle distillate the preferred fuel for industries and trucking firms. But a narrowing price gap between gasoline and diesel, and a consumer switch to personal vehicles instead of diesel-powered public transport since the onset of the coronavirus, are helping to lift gasoline consumption.

"Demand growth in gasoline is much higher compared to diesel due to changing consumer preference on personal use vehicles ... and better power supply reducing use of diesel gensets," said M.K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

Credit rating agency Moody’s India unit ICRA expects India’s gasoline consumption to rise 14% to a record 31.9 million tonnes (739,000 bpd) in the fiscal year to end-March 2022, while diesel consumption is expected to take well into the fourth quarter or even next year to recover pre-pandemic levels.

Tarun Kapoor, the top bureaucrat in the oil ministry, earlier this month said India’s refining system configuration would be different going forward, focusing on higher output of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas. Improved road infrastructure has also cut distances and travel times for heavy vehicles, reducing diesel consumption.

As well, Indian Railways, a key gasoil buyer, is cutting diesel use as it rolls out a plan to electrify its entire broad-gauge network by 2023. “India’s gasoline demand will continue to rise ... so our crude diet will change accordingly and move towards the lighter grades,” said a Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd official.

Crude with API gravity of more than 40 - such as U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Light, WTI Midland, Nigeria’s Akpo and Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend - can be used to maximise gasoline output at refineries equipped with fuel-upgrading units such as a catalytic reformer, he said.

And Angolan crudes like Palanca, Kissanje and Azerbaijan’s Azeri Light that produce more vacuum gasoil will suit refineries with fluid catalytic crackers, the BPCL official said. Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest refiner, is having similar discussions about changing up its crude mix, a company official said.

State refiners, which mostly buy lighter grades through spot tenders instead of term contracts, also plan to raise the share of spot purchases in their imports to 37% in the fiscal year to end-March 2022, from 22% in 2018/19, said another official at one of the state refiners.

As per MRC, India plans to force refineries and fertilizer plants to use some green hydrogen, junior oil minister Rameswar Teli said on Monday, as Asia's third-largest economy strives to reduce carbon emissions. Governments and energy companies around the world are betting on clean hydrogen playing a leading role in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, though its future uses and costs remain uncertain.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina and privately-held Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery were awarded 4.43 million barrels of crudes in China's first set of planned auctions from state crude reserves, reported S&P Global with reference to sources from both companies.

The state-run PetroChina won 951,137 barrels of Qatar Marine and 1.1 million barrels of Forties, each cargo priced at USD65/b.

Hengli took 1.79 million barrels of Oman at USD65/b and 592,031 barrels of Upper Zakum at USD70.50/b.

However, the 2.95 million barrels of Murban crude failed to attract any bids.

As planned, China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration held the auction on the National Oil Reserve Trading System Sept. 24. Participants said the notional price for the auction barrels was USD65/b.

As MRC informed previously, PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer,aims to have oil, gas and green energies to each account for a third of its portfolio by 2035, as the Chinese oil major shifts toward a lower-carbon future.

We remind that in August, 2021, PetroChina Liaoyang Petrochemical Co Ltd , part of the Chinese petrochemical major - PetroChina,successfully started up its new polypropylene (PP) plant last week. Based in Liaoning City, Liaoyang Province, China, the new PP plant has a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.

Hengli Group is an international company that owns a diversity of business: petrochemical, advanced polyester materials, textiles, trading, finance and thermal power. In 2019, Hengli’s total revenue was 556.7 billion RMB, ranking No. 181 in the Fortune Global 500 list. Hengli operates the largest PTA site in the world combined with the biggest performance fibre textile production base.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil climbed for a fourth consecutive session on Friday, posting a second straight weekly gain, riding on tighter supplies amid lower Chinese exports in the spot market and steady arbitrage shipments to the West, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Refining margins or cracks for 10 ppm gasoil jumped to USD11.24 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, a fresh high since March-end last year. They were at $10.85 per barrel a day earlier. Cracks for the benchmark gasoil grade in Singapore have risen 7% this week, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content dipped 3 cents to 45 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes on Friday, while cash differentials for jet fuel were at a premium of 11 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, up from 4 cents per barrel on Thursday. Jet fuel cracks surged to USD9.16 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, the strongest since March 2020. The cracks were at USD8.57 per barrel in the previous session.

Gasoil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped 5.7% to about 2 million tonnes in the week ended Sept. 23, according to Dutch consultancy Insights Global. - ARA jet fuel inventories fell 14.7% this week to 879,000 tonnes.

State major PetroChina and private refiner Hengli Petrochemical on Friday won four cargoes totalling about 4.43 million barrels, or 60% of the total oil offered in China's first state reserves auction, industry sources said. - Completed in less than an hour, PetroChina's Dalian refinery took one cargo each of Qatar Marine and U.K. Forties crude at USD65 a barrel, said several sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Hengli bought an Oman cargo at USD65 a barrel and Abu Dhabi's Upper Zakum crude at USD70.50 a barrel, they said.

As per MRC, China's oil consumption is likely to peak around 2026 at about 16 million barrels per day and that of natural gas by around 2040. Siinopec's oil peak forecast echoes a prediction by consultancy Rystad Energy in April that cited rapid adoption of electric vehicles as the main cause for global oil demand to peak over the next five years.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2021, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, the world's petrochemical major, 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 1,396,960 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has completed the book-building process for the initial public offering of its drilling unit, raising more than USD1.1 billion in the company's second flotation of a subsidiary, reported S&P Global.

Now ADNOC is selling 11% of ADNOC Drilling, which is expected to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Oct. 3, it said in a Sept. 27 statement. ADNOC initially had intended to sell a 7.5% stake in its drilling unit.
Following the listing, ADNOC will own 84% of ADNOC Drilling and Baker Hughes will retain the 5% stake it bought in the unit in 2018. Helmerich & Payne will own 1% through its IPO investment that was announced on Sept. 8.

ADNOC Drilling, which currently has 96 rigs, will acquire eight more for USD86.5 million from Helmerich & Payne, ADNOC said in a Sept. 8 statement. After the transaction, Helmerich & Payne will invest USD100 million in ADNOC Drilling's IPO.

This will be ADNOC's second flotation of a unit after it sold 10% of fuel retailer ADNOC Distribution on the Abu Dhabi exchange in 2017, raising USD851 million.

Last year, ADNOC raised USD1 billion from institutional placement of another 10% of shares of ADNOC Distribution, with the parent company retaining an 80% shareholding in the unit.

Since 2019, ADNOC has been monetizing its oil and gas assets as it seeks to unlock cash to fund strategic projects, which include increasing oil output capacity to 5 million b/d by 2030, from around the current 4 million b/d.

In June 2020, ADNOC inked a deal worth more than USD10 billion with a group of investors to sell a 49% stake in its gas pipelines a year after striking a similar transaction for its oil pipelines.

As MRC wrote before, in August 2021, ADNOC partnered with Fertiglobe for the sale of blue ammonia to Idemitsu in Japan, for use in its refining and petrochemicals operations.

We remind that in June 2021, Indian refining giant Reliance Industries signed an agreement with ADNOC to build a multi-billion-dollar chemical project in Ruwais, marking the group’s first investment in a greenfield overseas project.

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.
MRC