Air Liquide, BASF and Shell oin other petrochemical companies to Implement CCS technology in Houston

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide, BASF and Shell are joining Calpine, Chevron, Dow, ExxonMobil, INEOS, Linde, LyondellBasell, Marathon Petroleum, NRG Energy, Phillips 66 and Valero to collectively evaluate and advance emissions reduction efforts in and around the Houston industrial area, according to SpecialChem.

Three additional companies have announced their support for exploring the implementation of large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in and around the Houston industrial area.

The 14 companies are evaluating how to use safe, proven CCS technology at Houston-area facilities that provide energy and products for modern life, including advanced manufacturing for plastics, packaging, motor fuels and power generation.

Together, these companies and others in the region could capture and safely store up to 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2030 and about 100 million metric tons per year by 2040, helping to significantly reduce emissions in the Houston region. In December 2021, the companies held a series of workshops at the University of Houston to discuss collaboration and activation of this important, large-scale emissions-reduction effort. These efforts have already gained broad support in the Houston region, including from Houston mayor Sylvester Turner, the Harris County commissioners’ court, the greater Houston partnership and the center for Houston’s future.

“Large-scale carbon capture and storage in the Houston region will be a cornerstone for the world’s energy transition, and these companies’ efforts are crucial toward advancing CCS development to achieve broad scale commercial impact,” said Charles McConnell, director of University of Houston’s center for carbon management in energy and former assistant secretary in the U.S. department of energy. “As the energy capital of the world, Houston has the expertise and leadership - including industry, academia and policymakers - to realize a low carbon, reliable and affordable energy future. I look forward to working alongside these 14 companies to make Houston the global leader in CCS.”

ToWide-scale, affordable deployment of CCS in the Houston area will require the support of industry, communities and government. If appropriate policies and regulations are put in place, CCS could help the United States and Houston reach net-zero goals while generating new jobs and protecting existing jobs that are important to Houston’s economy. CCS could also promote long-term economic growth in Southeast Texas and beyond.

As MRC wrote previously, in September 2021, eleven companies expressed interest in supporting the large-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in Houston. Calpine, Chevron, Dow, ExxonMobil, INEOS, Linde, LyondellBasell, Marathon Petroleum, NRG Energy, Phillips 66 and Valero have agreed to begin discussing plans that could lead to capturing and safely storing up to 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2030 and about 100 million metric tons by 2040.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd, part of South Korean Hyosung Corporation, has taken off-stream its new 600,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Southern Vietnam for maintenance turnaround, according to CommoPlast.

Thus, this PDH unit was shut on 4 February, 2021, for equipment repair and is expected to resume operations in early March, 2021.

As MRC informed before, the company started up its new PDH unit in Southern Vietnam in August, 2021. The start-up of this unit enabled the launch of the company's second polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons/year at the same site.

The company already operates No. 1 PP plant in Southern Vietnam with the same production capacity, using external sources of propylene. It was shut down on 9 July, 2021, due to an unspecified technical issue and remained off-line between three to four weeks.

We remind that following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
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1. Linde increased profits and sales up 14% in Q4 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde’s fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted operating profit rose by 14% year on year, driven by higher pricing, strong volumes and productivity initiatives, said the company. Sales revenue was also up by 14% on higher pricing and volumes, mostly from the electronics, chemicals and energy end markets. "The Linde team delivered another quarter of record financial results by growing EPS [earnings per share] 20%, operating cash flow 33% and increasing ROC [return on capital] to 17.7% - all while positioning the company for future growth with a contractually secured project backlog of USD13bn," said CEO Steve Angel. For the full year of 2021, sales increased by 13% to USD30.8bn while adjusted operating profit rose by 24% to USD7.2bn. Angel, who steps down as CEO next month, was optimistic on the company’s outlook. "Looking ahead, the economic outlook remains uncertain. However, I have confidence in our ability to grow EPS double-digit percent from our industry-leading supply network and project backlog," he said.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- French oil major TotalEnergies on Thursday reported a sharp upswing in full-year profit, boosted by a huge rebound in commodity prices, according to CNBC.

The oil and gas giant said full-year 2021 adjusted net income came in at USD18.1 billion, while net income came in at USD16 billion. That compared with adjusted net income of USD4.1 billion and a net loss of USD7.2 billion the previous year.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected full-year 2021 adjusted net profit to come in at USD17.1 billion.

For the final quarter of 2021, TotalEnergies reported adjusted earnings of USD6.8 billion, beating analyst expectations of USD6.1 billion.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement that the firm’s “multi-energy model demonstrated its ability to take full advantage of the very favorable environment, particularly in the LNG and electricity sectors.”

A surge in global gas prices through the final months of 2021, coupled with an oil price rally to seven-year highs, has seen the world’s largest fossil fuel giants rake in bumper revenues.

British oil major BP reported Tuesday that profits soared to an eight-year high of almost USD13 billion, while rival Shell posted annual revenues of USD19.3 billion. US competitors Chevron and Exxon Mobil recorded full-year net profits of USD15.6 billion and USD23 billion, respectively.

It marks a dramatic shift from 2020 when the oil and gas industry endured a dreadful 12 months by virtually every measure.

As MRC reported previously, earlier this month, TotalEnergies and Plastic Energy formed a joint venture to build a 33,000 tonne/year chemical recycling plant for plastics in Seville, south Spain. Financial details were not disclosed. The facility will be built within Plastic Energy facilities in Seville and expected to start up in 2025.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

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) -- On Friday, Yeochun NCC (YNCC) Co., South Korea’s major petrochemical producer, shut down its cracker in Yeosu, South Korea after an explosion at the complex killed four people and injured four, reported The Korea Economic Daily.

The blast hit the No. 3 plant including a naphtha cracker with an annual ethylene capacity of 470,000 tons at around 9:26 am local time in Yeosu, a coastal city about 340 kilometers southwest of Seoul, according to the company and the government.

YNCC said the explosion took place during a test of the factory’s heat exchange system, although investigations by the authorities will figure out the exact cause of the incident.

The labor ministry ordered the company to suspend the plant’s operations and launched a probe.

YNCC, a 50-50 joint venture founded in 1999 between Hanwha Solutions Corp. and DL Chemical Co., formerly known as Daelim Industrial Co., operates a petrochemical complex to produce a total of 2.3 million tons of ethylene. The complex has two more crackers with each capacity of 900,000 tons and 915,000 tons.

As MRC reported earlier, YNCC restarted its No. 2 naphtha cracker in Yeosu with a delay on 17 January, 2021, following a two-and-a-half-month shutdown for expansion. The initial start-up was scheduled on 14 January, 2021. The expanded cracker is now capable of producing 915,000 tons/year of ethylene, up from the previous 580,000 tons/year and 550,000 tons/year of propylene, up from 270,000 tons/year previously. The new ethylene capacity would be supplied to DL Chemical’s new metallocene linear low density polyethylene (mPE) plant at the adjacent location.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

South Korea’s Yeochun NCC (YNCC) pyrolyzes naphtha to produce basic feedstock materials for the petrochemical industry. YNCC, a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and DL Chemical Co, is a key exporter of ethylene and propylene in the country.
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