U.S. administration plans to propose in days the amount of biofuels oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. administration plans to propose in days the amount of biofuels oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix this year and next year, as it reaches out to lawmakers to discuss the move, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

President Joe Biden's administration has delayed decisions on 2021 blending obligations by more than a year, and it missed a deadline to finalize 2022 obligations this week. The delays came as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered fuel demand and Democratic lawmakers focused on other legislation.

Officials for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which administers the mandates, declined to comment on the timing. The oil and biofuel industries have called for the EPA to announce the proposals, saying delays have created uncertainty for the market.

After the news on Thursday, prices for renewable fuel (D6) credits, known as RINs, fell from USD1.08 each to USD1.06 each, traders said. Merchant oil refiners and the biofuel industry have battled over the requirements for years. Refiners say the mandates are too costly, while ethanol producers and corn farmers like the mandates as they have helped to create a multibillion gallon market for their products.

Reuters previously reported that the administration was considering big cuts to the blending requirements, a move that would anger the biofuel industry. The EPA would reduce blending mandates for 2020 and 2021 to about 17.1 B gallons and 18.6 B gallons, respectively, Reuters reported, compared to the 20.1 B gallons finalized for 2020 before the pandemic.

The agency would also set the level for 2022 at about 20.8 B gallons, Reuters reported. The EPA did not comment on those levels at the time of publication.

As per MRC, The European Union plans to capture five MM tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year by 2030 through technologies, and create an EU system to certify carbon removals. The EU has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050, eliminating the more than 3 B tons of CO2 equivalent it currently emits each year.

As MRC wrote before, deployment of carbon capture storage (CCS) in Indonesia by American energy giant ExxonMobil Corp could cost about USD500 mln. In November 2021, Pertamina and ExxonMobil signed a MoU during the COP26 summit to look at ways of using CCS in Southeast Asia's largest country. CCS facilities are likely to be implemented in two Indonesia oil and gas fields, namely the Gundih field in Cepu and the Sukowati field in Bojonegoro, in Central and East Java respectively.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's powerful biofuel and farm lobbies are pushing the government to reverse a measure announced last week that maintained the minimum biofuel content level in diesel at 10% for all of 2022, reported Reuters.

"Lawmakers of the biodiesel caucus will act. As soon as the president learns of the repercussions of the measure, and he will certainly change his stance," Francisco Turra, board chairman of the Aprobio biofuels lobby, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

A 10% mix represents a drop from the 13% requirement initially planned for 2021, and an even sharper fall from the 14% that was supposed to be adopted from March 2022, Turra said.

"There is a huge loss of the investments made and of jobs that would be generated," Turra said.

In September, Brazil's National Energy Policy Council cut the minimum biofuel content requirement to 10% from 13% previously, citing a rise in the price of soybeans, which represent some 75% of biodiesel content.

But lowering the biofuel mix in diesel is irrelevant to the its final price, the industry says.

As MRC informed previously, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated in late October, 2021, that he is considering the privatization of state-run oil company Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, boosting its shares along with news of a fresh price hike in the domestic gasoline and diesel market.

We remind that in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian industrial conglomerate Novonor is considering exiting its majority stake in petrochemical company Braskem SA via a secondary share offering, said Reuters.

Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht, had previously organized a competitive merger and acquisition process in an attempt to attract bidders for its stake in Braskem. After that process failed, various media outlets, including Reuters, reported that Novonor was planning to exit Braskem via a share offering.

In the latest filing, Braskem said it had received correspondence from Novonor indicating that the company was considering a secondary share offering, though no final decision had been reached.

Braskem added that it would assist Novonor in carrying out studies regarding the possible consequences of the share offering.

These include the improvements to corporate governance practices, as well as other measure necessary for Braskem’s possible migration to being listed on the Novo Mercado segment of the B3 – Brazil’s stock exchange located in Sao Paolo.

Novonor – formerly known as Odebrecht – announced its intention to sell its shares in polyolefins producer Braskem in August 2020, to fulfil commitments made to creditors before and during its bankruptcy.

We remind that Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year PP plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russian producers' October PP production fell to 155,500 tonnes from 169,700 tonnes a month earlier, three producers shut its production for scheduled maintenance. Russia"s overall PP output reached 1.693 mln tonnes in January-October 2021, compared to 1.530 tonnes a year earlier. Four out of seven producers increased their capacity utilisation, with SIBUR Tobolsk/ZapSibNeftekhim traditionally accounting for the greatest growth in the output.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has teamed up with regional energy company envia Mitteldeutsche Energie AG for the construction and operation of a 24-MWp solar park in the state of Brandenburg that will supply green electricity to the group's nearby production site, according to RenewablesNow.

The joint project is part of BASF's efforts to cut its carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The partners plan to install some 52,000 solar modules on an area of 24 hectares (59.31 acres) in the town of Schwarzheide, southern Brandenburg, starting in the first quarter of 2022, enviaM said on Thursday.

The park is expected to be put online in the second quarter of next year and generate 25 GWh of electricity annually, the bulk of which will be supplied to BASF's production site in Schwarzheide under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). The electricity from the solar park will partially meet the power needs of BASF's production lines for cathode materials for batteries that are currently under construction.

The subsidy-free project, including the solar park and the substation, will cost about EUR13 million (USD 14.74m).

The initiative, which includes the creation of a joint venture that will implement the project, is still subject to approval by anti-trust authorities.

EnviaM's subsidiary envia THERM GmbH is responsible for the planning, construction and operation of the solar park.

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project Kairos@C has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide SA said Wednesday that its board of directors has decided to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive officer, and nominated a new CEO, according to MorningStar.

The French industrial-gases company will ask shareholders to appoint Francois Jackow CEO at its annual general meeting in May. The appointment will be effective June 1.

Mr. Jackow will succeed Benoit Potier. Mr. Potier will be up for renewal as chairman of the board of directors at the AGM, the company said.

Mr. Jackow has worked at Air Liquide since 1993 and is currently its executive vice president. He will also be nominated for a seat on the company's board.

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project Kairos@C has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

We also remind that in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted earlier that month due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other"s capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC