Fire broke out at ExxonMobil Baytown complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire erupted on Thursday morning at an Exxon Mobil Corp complex in Baytown, Texas, one of the largest refining and petrochemical facilities in the United States, reported Reuters.

Four people were injured. There were no fatalities and those injured were in a stable condition, while other personnel were accounted for, Exxon said.

Emergency response teams were working to extinguish the blaze more than five hours after it erupted at about 1 a.m. on Thursday, the company said.

The fire occurred in a hydrotreater unit at the oil refinery that had been shut on Wednesday due to a bypass line leak, people familiar with plant operations told Reuters. The injured were contractors who had been repairing the leak.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said initial reports had indicated there had been some type of explosion at the plant. Social media users said on Twitter that a blast shook buildings in the area.

An Exxon official told a news conference the blaze had affected a unit that produces gasoline.

The Baytown plant houses a chemical plant, an olefins plant and the country's fourth biggest oil refinery, with capacity to process 560,500 barrels per day of crude.

The olefins facility, which began operations in 1979, is one of the largest ethylene plants in the world, according to the company's website.

Production was reduced across the Baytown refining and petrochemical complex in August 2019 because of a fire in a propylene recovery unit at the olefins plant. And as many as 37 workers were injured in another fire at the olefins facility in July 2019.

As MRC wrote previously, ExxonMobil said in late August, 2021, a small debris fire near an out-of-service tank was quickly extinguished at its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery. There were no injuries.

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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis (Vienna), a leading producer of polyolefins, has delayed the start-up of a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at its existing production site at Kallo, Belgium, which is the company's biggest investment in Europe, until Q3 2023, citing Covid-19, according to Kemicalinfo with reference to the company's email.

The plant in Kallo in the port of Antwerp was previously targeted to begin operations by the end of next year.

Pandemic-driven restrictions have wreaked havoc on maintenance and construction schedules in the industry. A new nitrogen facility being built by Nederlandse Gasunie NV in Zuidbroek in the Netherlands is also behind plan.

Borealis announced spending of EUR1 billion (USD1.1 billion) for its Kallo plant in 2019. The PDH facility will turn propane into propylene, which is then used in plastics.

As MRC reported earlier, the constriction works of Borealis' new PDH unit in Kallo began in September, 2019. The new PDH plant would have a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tons/year of propylene, making it one of the largest such facilities in the world. Borealis chose Kallo due to its logistical position and its experience in propylene production and handling. Borealis has selected the Honeywell UOP Oleflex technology for the new plant. Borealis already owns a 480,000-metric tons/year PDH plant at Kallo, which will continue to operate.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the producition of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Borealis is owned by OMV AG and Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi state investment company. Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Deer Park refinery sale to the Mexican state-owned company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has been approved by the US government, according to EnergyCapital with reference to president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador' statement this Wednesday.

Firstly, as we have reported previously, the sale was a matter of dispute. Some US Congressman considered selling Shell’s Deer Park refinery to Pemex threatened US national security.

Moreover, the transaction had a value of $596 million, in a combination of debt and cash; plus, the value of hydrocarbon inventory. The transaction would allow Shell to focus its refining footprint further; while also maintaining integration optionality and retaining value through its Chemicals and Trading activities.

On the other hand, the acquisition has a political value for Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to drive the country to energy self-sufficiency by 2023. Indeed, Mexico has a deep dependence on foreign fuel imports. It buys around 70% of its fuel consumption from abroad.

Furthermore, back in late November, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) denied the final approval for the sale. However, on Wednesday morning, the Mexican government said the CFIUS had finally approved the transaction.

In addition, Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero, speaking alongside president Obrador, said that it was excellent news. He also remarked. “The idea is to finalize the purchase during the first weeks of 2022.”

As MRC informed previously, Royal Dutch Shell plc. said in November that its petrochemical complex of several billion dollars in Western Pennsylvania is about 70% complete and in the process to enter service in the early 2020s. The plant's costs are estimated to be USD6-USD10 billion, where ethane will be transformed into plastic feedstock. The facility is equipped to produce 1.5 million metric tons per year (mmty) of ethylene and 1.6 mmty of polyethylene (PE), two important constituents of plastics.

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.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cummins Enze, headquartered in Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, would initially invest USD47 mln (RMB 300 mln) in the establishment of a production facility for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, said the company.

After completion in 2023, the plant’s initial manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts of electrolyzers per year will be gradually increased to one gigawatt per year over the next five years.

Cummins Enze will also offer a range of hydrogen generating system options to fulfill the needs of a diverse range of applications. This will comprise electrolyzers for both small-scale hydrogen production, such as a hydrogen fueling system for on-site hydrogen generation, and large-scale hydrogen generation facilities capable of 100 megawatts or more.

Sinopec is one of China’s leading hydrogen energy suppliers, with yearly hydrogen output reaching 3.5 million tons, accounting for 14% of the country’s total. Sinopec established the ambition of becoming the world’s leading chemical company focused on clean energy last year and designated the entire hydrogen industry chain as the primary business for its new power strategy. Sinopec has stepped up its efforts to convert gray hydrogen to decarbonized hydrogen, with the goal of becoming “China’s largest hydrogen energy firm.” Commercializing renewable hydrogen in China is expected to benefit not only green sectors, but also reduce hydrogen supply bottlenecks, hence accelerating fuel cell car adoption.

Sinopec has a solid industrial foundation and an integrated value chain as a significant industrial resource for hydrogen energy. Sinopec develops the complete service capability of oil, gas, hydrogen, and electricity and seeks consumer-oriented breakthroughs to accelerate the energy revolution of the industry chain. As Sinopec’s inaugural fund, the Enze Fund will also use Sinopec’s supply chain optimization, sales and marketing network to expedite the joint venture’s future commercial growth.

The joint venture’s new factory will be built in Foshan, China, which is a national ecological basis for the hydrogen energy industry. It boasts a mature hydrogen energy industry chain as a pioneer of the hydrogen economy. Additionally, it is one of the first regions identified by China’s central government for support in order to test and build the hydrogen sector.

As per MRC, Sinopec has set up a separate company to work on alternative energy projects. The authorized capital of the company, named Zhongshihua Xiongan Xinnenyuan (Zhongshihua Xiongan Xinnenyuan), amounted to 100 million yuan (USD15.7 mln). The scope of the company's activities will include work on projects in such areas as technologies based on hydrogen energy, the sale of equipment related to the storage and use of hydrogen energy, the promotion and implementation of services in the field of new energy technologies, as well as the sale of chargers for electric vehicles.

Earlier it was reported that SIBUR, the largest petrochemical complex in Russia and Eastern Europe, and the Chinese petrochemical giant - Sinopec - raised project financing for the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) from a syndicate of international, Chinese and Russian banks totaling USD9.1 bn.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemical companies. Business Sinopec Corp. includes oil and gas exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas, oil refining, petrochemical production, production of mineral fertilizers and other chemical products. In terms of refining capacity, Sinopec Corp. ranks second in the world, fourth in terms of ethylene capacity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a EUR900 million (USD1 billion) German scheme to support investments in the production of renewable hydrogen in non-EU countries, which will be then imported and sold in the EU, according to Kemicalinfo.

The scheme, called ‘H2Global’, aims at meeting the EU demand for renewable hydrogen that is expected to significantly increase in the coming years, by supporting the development of the unexploited renewable resource potential outside the EU. It will contribute to the EU environmental objectives, in line with the European Green Deal, without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market.

The Commission assessed the scheme under EU State aid rules, in particular the 2014 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy. The Commission found that the aid is necessary and has an incentive effect, as the projects would not take place in the absence of the public support.

Furthermore, the Commission found that aid is proportionate and limited to the minimum necessary, as the level of aid will be set through competitive auctions.

Finally, it found that the positive effects of the measure, in particular on the environment, outweigh any possible negative effects in terms of distortions to competition. On this basis, the Commission concluded that H2Global is in line with EU State aid rules.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “This €900 million German scheme will support projects leading to substantial reductions in greenhouse emissions, in line the EU’s environmental and climate objectives set out in the Green Deal.

It will contribute to addressing the increasing demand for renewable hydrogen in the Union, by supporting the development of this important energy source in areas of the world where it is currently not exploited with a view to importing it and selling it in the EU. The design of the scheme will enable only the most cost-effective projects to be supported, reducing costs for taxpayers and minimising possible distortions of competition.”

Under the H2Global scheme, a new Hydrogen Intermediary Network Company (to be known as Hint.Co) would buy and sell the imported green hydrogen. It would issue requests for proposals for the production of renewable H2, or derivatives such as green ammonia, green methanol and e-kerosene, with individual projects outside the EU then bidding into tenders, with Hint.Co awarding ten-year hydrogen purchase agreements (HPAs) to the winners. All the bidders would need to contribute to the construction of new renewables projects, as H2 made from existing energy supplies are not allowed under the scheme.

As MRC reported earlier, Sweden’s Nuberg EPC said on Monday that it was awarded Uzbekistan Hydrogen Peroxide JV LLC's technology, engineering and construction contract for the 85 TDP (50% chemical grade H2O2) hydrogen peroxide plant project in Navoi region, Uzbekistan.

We remind that Uzbekistan plans to launch in the fourth quarter of 2023 the production of polymers in a complex with MTO technology (from methanol to olefins). The complex with a capacity of 720,000 tonnes of polymers per year will be located in the center of the free economic zone (FEZ) in Karakul, Bukhara region. The USD2.5 billion project is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2023 and will provide the Uzbek industry with olefinic hydrocarbons. The gas chemical complex is designed for processing local raw materials based on a licensed technological process for converting methanol into olefins, which has no analogues in the CIS region.

Polypropylene (PP) production will be carried out in cooperation with W. R. Grace & Co. (USA), a world leader in this field. The fact that Uzbekistan intends to build a new gas chemical complex (GCC) in the coming years, which will become the basis of the largest technological cluster in the region, became known in 2018.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and 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