Arkema to double its photocure resins capacity in China

Arkema to double its photocure resins capacity in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema announces the project to double its UV curable resins production capacity at its Nansha plant in China. This expansion will support the fast-growing demand in Asia for cutting-edge solutions in electronics, driven by 5G technology, and in renewable energies, said the company.

This investment is fully aligned with the Group’s strategy to develop its Coating Solutions segment with high value-added solutions and reinforce its downstream acrylics activities in Asia. It will enable Arkema to grow its high-performance and solvent-free solutions portfolio for UV curing marketed under the flagship brand Sartomer.

This new expansion is scheduled to come on stream in the second half of 2023 and will provide best-in-class regional supply to customers in Asia. In addition to this new production capacity, which will leverage the most recent process and manufacturing standards, the plant aims at carbon neutral growth thanks to an energy efficiency program, green electricity purchasing and the installation of solar panels.

As per MRC, Arkema is further increasing its fluoropolymer production capacities in Changshu, China, by 35% in 2022. The increase in capacity is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2022, the company said in a statement. Financial and overall capacity details of the expansion project were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Arkema has brought on stream new Kynar PVDF capacities in its Calvert-City plant in the United States. With this 20% increase in its US production capacities, Arkema will further support its customers’ strong demand in the region. Through this investment and following the successful start-up of a similar expansion at its Changshu, China plant in 2017, Arkema, which operates fluoropolymer production facilities on the three major continents - Europe, North America, and Asia, further consolidates its world-leading position in PVDF.

Arkema is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers headquartered in Colombes (near Paris, France). Founded in 2004 as a result of the restructuring of the French oil company Total, Arkema, with a turnover of EUR6.5 billion, has operations in 40 countries, 10 research centers around the world, and 85 factories in Europe, North America and Asia.
MRC

BP and partners award first engineering contracts advancing major ‎UK power and carbon capture projects

BP and partners award first engineering contracts advancing major ‎UK power and carbon capture projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP has issued the first front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts covering the Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) project and the Northern Endurance Partnership’s carbon compression infrastructure, said the company.

With up to 860 MW of capacity, NZT Power is the world’s first commercial scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture, and is being developed as a joint venture between BP and Equinor, with BP leading as operator. It will share CO2 transport and storage infrastructure with the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) – a group comprised of BP, Eni, Equinor, National Grid, Shell and TotalEnergies – which will gather and compress CO2 from NZT Power and other regional sources and export it offshore sub-surface storage in the Endurance carbon store.

The infrastructure forms a major component of the East Coast Cluster scheme to decarbonise industrial emissions around the Humber and Teesside. One FEED consortium is led by Technip Energies alongside General Electric, with Shell as a subcontractor for the provision of the licensed Cansolv CO2 capture technology and Balfour Beatty as the nominated construction partner.

Another is led by Aker Solutions, alongside Doosan Babcock and Siemens Energy, with Aker Carbon Capture as a subcontractor for the provision of licensed CO2 capture technology. The two groups will now design and submit development plans for the proposed power station and carbon capture plant, and NEP’s compression and export facilities.

Each will each deliver a comprehensive FEED package, led from their UK offices, over the next 12 months. Following the completion of the FEED process, the two consortia will then submit engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) proposals for the execution phase.

As part of the final investment decision (FID) expected in 2023, a single group will then be selected to take the project forward into construction, BP confirmed.

As per MRC, BP acquired US shale assets from BHP Billiton for USD10.5 billion in the largest deal since the 1999 acquisition of Atlantic Richfield oil company. British oil and gas company BP bought US shale assets owned by mining company BHP Billiton.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

BP is a British oil and gas company, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, headquartered in London. The company is engaged in oil and gas production. BP owns refining and petrochemical facilities, a network of filling stations, and produces oils under the Castrol brand. BP operates in over 80 countries. The total staff is about 86 thousand people.
MRC

Refinery daily output in China rebounds further in November to plug diesel crunch

Refinery daily output in China rebounds further in November to plug diesel crunch

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's daily crude oil throughput rebounded again in November as state refiners ramped up output to plug a diesel shortage and independent refiners also raised production on healthy margins, reported Reuters with reference to data showed on Wednesday.

Processing volumes in November were at 59.64 MM tons, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed, up 2.2% from the same period a year ago. November volumes were equivalent to 14.51 MMbpd, up from 13.75 MMbpd in October.

The year-to-date throughput rose 4.9% from a year earlier to 644.79 MM tons, or about 14.09 MMbpd.

Top refiner Sinopec has said it was processing at full rates in November and aimed to boost diesel production significantly through December to cover a diesel fuel shortfall which the refiner deemed temporary.

Independent plants in Shandong province raised plant utilization from October levels on elevated gasoline and diesel prices, according to Chinese consultancy JLC.

Mega private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp also ramped up processing in November after Beijing's release of fresh import quotas allowed the firm to bring in more crude shipments, said a company source.

China's year-on-year refinery output fell between July and October as Beijing clamped down on independent refiners by imposing crude oil import quotas and increasing scrutiny over tax payments.

Shandong province, a hub for independent oil refiners, has ordered its plants to self-inspect and self-rectify any irregular fuel tax practices, Reuters has reported.

Wednesday's data also showed China's crude oil output rose 2.7% to 16.31 MM tons in November versus a year ago, or by 3.97 MMbpd. That helped boost output in the first 11 months of 2021 by 2.5% from a year earlier.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Amur Gas Chemical Complex LLC agreed and signed loan documents to finance the completion of Amur GCC’s construction. Amur GCC will act as the borrower; SIBUR and Sinopec will be sponsors proportional to their stakes (60/40, respectively) in the joint venture (JV). Upon completion of standard conditions precedent, AGCC will begin to draw on the loan which will total USD USD9.1bn and has a final maturity of 2035. Project costs in excess of USD 9.1bn will be covered by the JV parties pro rata.

We remind that SIBUR and Sinopec closed the deal to create a JV based on Amur GCC in late December 2020. The capacity of the Amur GCC, as the future world's largest complex for the production of base polymers, will be 2.7 mln tons per year: 2.3 ml tons of polyethylene (PE) and 400,000 tons of polypropylene (PP). The complex's products will be represented by a wide range of grades. The construction of the complex is synchronized with the gradual reaching full capacity of Gazprom's Amur GPP. The approximate time frame for completion of construction and commissioning is 2024.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

Chevron Phillips Chemical to build propylene unit in Texas

Chevron Phillips Chemical to build propylene unit in Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical announced today plans to expand its propylene business with a final investment decision for a new C3 splitter unit, said the company.

The unit’s location will be in Baytown, Texas, within the company’s Cedar Bayou facility. Its expected capacity is 1 billion lbs./year with targeted start up in 2023. The company chose S&B Engineers and Constructors to engineer, procure and build the project. Site construction activities will commence in January 2022. At its peak, the project anticipates supporting 350-plus new construction jobs.

The C3 splitter will convert a refinery grade mixture of propylene and propane into a high purity propylene product. Propylene is essential to the production of key building blocks for many household and industrial applications, including polypropylene, propylene oxide and acrylonitrile. These chemicals are also used in the production of plastics for several packaging applications and durable consumer products. Polypropylene is also central to the manufacturing of plastic parts for various industries including the automotive sector.

"With global propylene demand on the rise, this project reinforces Chevron Phillips Chemical’s commitment to expand to meet our customers’ needs and remain a leading propylene supplier," said Justine Smith, senior vice president of petrochemicals.

Chevron Phillips Chemical currently operates C3 splitter units at its Cedar Bayou, Port Arthur and Sweeny, Clemens and Old Ocean facilities in Texas. The new unit will provide additional flexibility and production to meet anticipated demand from the company’s growing customer base, while establishing room for future growth.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2018, Chevron Phillips Chemical, part of Chevron Corp, successfully introduced feedstock and commenced operations of a new ethane cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas. At peak production, the unit will produce 1.5 million metric tons/3.3 billion lbs. per year. This unit is one of the largest and most energy efficient crackers in the world. In September 2017, the company announced the successful commissioning and start-up of two new Marlex polyethylene (PE) units in Old Ocean, Texas, based on the company’s proprietary MarTech technologies. Together, these assets form the bulk of the company’s US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project (USGCPP), which was first announced in 2011.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 15.12.2021

1. Reduced production and stronger demand lead to lower US jet fuel inventories

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On November 26, US jet fuel inventories were at their lowest level since late 2014, according to the EIA's weekly petroleum status report. Refineries produced less jet fuel in October compared with this summer, and since August, jet fuel demand has increased to near pre-pandemic levels. This increased demand, along with reduced production, has caused inventories to decline, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing. High jet fuel inventories in summer 2021 were the result of increased refinery production during a period of high market demand for gasoline and distillate. This high demand encouraged refiners to process more crude oil, and jet fuel is a byproduct of crude oil refining. Hurricanes along the Gulf Coast in August contributed to temporary refinery outages and reduced production, which brought jet fuel inventories to more normal seasonal levels. For the week ending September 3, total jet fuel inventory fell below its previous five-year average.


MRC