TotalEnergies and Plastic Energy formed chemical recycling JV in Spain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TotalEnergies and Plastic Energy have formed a joint venture to build a 33,000 tonne/year chemical recycling plant for plastics in Seville, south Spain, said the company.

Financial details were not disclosed. The facility will be built within Plastic Energy facilities in Seville and expected to start up in 2025.

The plant will process and convert 33,000 tonnes of post-consumer end-of-life plastic waste yearly, that would otherwise be destined for landfill or incineration. The plant is expected to become operational in early 2025, with TACOIL to be used for the manufacturing of high-quality polymers in TotalEnergies’ European-based production units, following a successful processing experimentation in TotalEnergies’ petrochemical platform in Antwerp. With identical properties to virgin ones, the recycled polymers will be suitable for use in food-grade applications, such as flexible and rigid food packaging containers.

Plastic Energy and TotalEnergies are both firmly committed to develop plastics recycling to address the issue of plastic waste, and to build a circular economy in Europe and globally. In line with this commitment, TotalEnergies and Plastic Energy have announced in September 2020 a joint venture to build a plastic waste conversion facility with a capacity of 15,000 tonnes per year at the TotalEnergies Grandpuits zero-crude platform in France. The project is expected to be operational in 2023.

Additionally, Plastic Energy, Freepoint Eco-Systems and TotalEnergies announced a strategic partnership in October 2021 for a similar recycling plant in Texas, U.S.A. This plant, which is a joint venture between Plastic Energy and Freepoint Eco-systems, will have the capacity to recycle 33,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, and is expected to be operational by mid-2024. Under the agreement, TACOIL will be converted by TotalEnergies in its Texas-based production units.

As per MRC, Plastic Energy Ltd has announced plans to partner with Freepoint Eco-Systems LLC and TotalEnergies to build a pyrolysis-based chemical recycling facility in Texas. According to a joint news release on the partnership, the project will process and convert 33,000 tons of postconsumer end-of-life plastic scrap annually. The plant is expected to become operational by 2024. TACOIL will be used to manufacture polymers in TotalEnergies’ Texas-based production unit to help create items such as flexible and rigid food packaging containers.

As MRC informed before, TotalEnergies has recently inaugurated the extension of Synova in Normandy, the French leader in recycled polypropylene production. TotalEnergies is therefore doubling its mechanical recycling production capacity for recycled polymers, to meet growing demand for sustainable polymers from customers, such as Automotive Manufacturer (Auto OEM) and the construction industry.

TotalEnergies is a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables, and electricity. The company rebranded itself from Total to TotalEnergies during Q2 2021. The French firm has announced allocating part of surplus revenues to share buybacks. Its 105,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, clean, reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices were steady on Thursday near two-month highs, with Brent crude trading near USD85 a barrel, buoyed by expectations that a strong economic recovery will boost demand, but rising US inventories and high inflation capped gains, reported Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.3%, to USD84.93 a barrel, by 1445 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 8 cents, or 0.1, to USD82.72 a barrel.

Oil prices rallied more than 50% in 2021 and some analysts expect this trend to continue this year, forecasting that a lack of production capacity and limited investment could lift crude to USD90 or even above USD100 a barrel.

"The main factors driving prices up are ... the generally positive market sentiment as Omicron concerns abate and the expectation of continued dynamic economic development," Commerzbank said.

Cold weather in North America also supported prices.

Rising US fuel inventories last week and high inflation in the world's biggest economy weighed, however.

Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed fuel demand has taken a hit from Omicron, with gasoline stockpiles increasing by 8 million barrels in the week to Jan. 7, compared with analyst expectations for a 2.4 million-barrel rise.

"In reality, the weekly EIA report was less bullish than the headline number, as total crude oil inventories fell 4.8 million barrels but were more than offset by a stock build across refined products," Citi said in a note.

The drop in crude inventories "might have been related to end-of-year tax issues on oil stocks onshore in Texas and Louisiana", the bank added.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also remind that US crude oil production was expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, EIA said in a monthly report earlier last year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a Reliance Industries subsidiary, has acquired 100% shareholding in UK-based firm Faradion Limited for GBP 100 million, reporte Business Standard.

Reliance will spend an additional GBP 25 million to accelerate its roll out, Reliance Industries said in a press release.

Faradion Limited is a leading global battery technology firm that has patents of sodium-ion battery technology. The Sheffield and Oxford-based firm has a wide range of IP portfolios covering several aspects of the sodium-ion technology.

The technology provides next generation, high density, safe, sustainable and low cost energy storage technology solution, the company said.

Reliance will use Faradion’s state-of-the-art technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage giga-factory as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project in Jamnagar, the Mukesh Ambani-led firm said.

On the acquisition, Ambani said, "We welcome Faradion and its experienced team to Reliance family. This will further strengthen and build upon our ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated New Energy ecosystem and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies."

Ambani also said that Faradion's technology will help secure India's energy storage requirements for its fast-growing renewable energy and EV charging market.

As MRC reported earlier, Indian refining giant Reliance Industries is doubling its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling capacity by setting up a recycled polyester staple fiber (PSF) manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. The move is part of RIL's commitment to lead the industry on circular economy, enhance its sustainability quotient and bolster the entire polyester and polymer value chain.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption grew to 737,590 tonnes in the first eleven months in 2021, up by 14% year on year. PET consumption in Russia grew by 25% in November and reached 75,760 tonnes versus 60,520 tonnes a year earlier.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DIC Corp’s Sun Chemical subsidiary has acquired 100% of the shares of Italian adhesives and polymers manufacturer SAPICI for an undisclosed sum, said the Japanese chemicals company.

SAPICI, which stands for Societa Azionaria Per l’Industria Chimica Italiana, has two production sites in Italy: Cernusco sul Naviglio, Milan; and San Cipriano Po, Pavia. Sun Chemical has marketed SAPICI’s lamination adhesives portfolio under the Sun Chemical commercial brand name since 2017.

Access to SAPICI’s production technologies, in particular for ultra low monomer polyisocyanate (ULM), would give DIC a competitive edge in Europe's environment-conscious adhesives industry, it said in a statement.

"Markets for adhesives continues to expand around the world, with those in Europe and the Americas - which together represent half of the overall global market - in particular projected to see further growth as needs for environment-friendly products increase against a backdrop of rising concern for environmental impact and safety," DIC added.

As per MRC, SAPICI and the Chinese Wanhua Chemical Group have signed an agreement on a distribution and tolling cooperation for aliphatic polyisocyanates for the European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) markets. Under the agreement, Sapici will warehouse and distribute Wanhua’s polyisocyanates (HDI trimer and HDI biuret) portfolio throughout the EMEA region. In addition, Wanhua will have access to Sapici’s manufacturing capacities and technical resources.

Societa Azionaria Per l’Industria Chimica Italiana (SAPICI) was founded in Italy in 1936. The company offers very low monomer adhesives (less than 0.1%) and zero migration adhesives for flexible packaging, as well as polyisocyanates and prepolymers for coatings. SAPICI is one of the few companies capable of processing all types of isocyanates: TDI, MDI, HDI, IPDI, H12MDI, XDI.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A debt refinancing operation for Mexican national oil company Pemex that swapped the highly-indebted firm's short-term bonds for a new 10-year bond has been completed, said Reuters, citing the finance ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said the near-term debt management scheme lowers Pemex's overall debt load by USD3.2 B, while reducing "financial pressure" on the company between 2024 and 2030 by USD10.5 B.

The joint operation between the finance ministry and Pemex benefited from a USD3.5 B infusion from the federal government, the statement added, and will result in an annual USD180 MM reduction in the state-owned Pemex's financing costs.

The reduction stems from lowering the gap between the interest rate Pemex pays to service its debt and the government's sovereign debt by 50 basis points, according to the statement. Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, has struggled with 17-years of declining crude production and in 2020 lost its coveted investment-grade rating.

Halfway through his six-year term, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has sought to boost the company's operations and finances while simultaneously canceling oil auctions open to private producers as well as tenders to pick joint venture partners for Pemex, a common tool used to share risks and rewards in the international industry.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist who favors a state-controlled energy industry, also seeks to end Pemex's crude exports in the next few years and instead refine the oil at home in a bid to make Mexico more energy independent.

As per MRC, Mexico's attorney general has requested a prison sentence of up to 39 years for the former chief executive of state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for his role in a corruption scandal. Emilio Lozoya is accused of having requested money from scandal-plagued Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht to partially finance the presidential campaign of former President, Enrique Pena Nieto in exchange for contracts.

As MRC informed before, Pemex Petroquimica, a subsidiary of the Mexican state oil company Pemex, has resumed production of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) on line 2 in Cangrejera, Mexico after an unscheduled renovation. Earlier it was noted that Pemex postponed the restart of the second line with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year for the production of LDPE until August 10. It was originally planned that the launch of this production will begin at the end of July. The line was closed on 10 July.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a Mexican state-owned oil and gas and petrochemical company. Since the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938, Pemex has remained a state-owned company and, by law, has exclusive rights to explore and produce oil in the country. Almost 60% of the company's revenues go to the state budget. Petrochemical products include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride.
MRC