BP and Shell to shut SAPREF oil refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP PLC and Shell PLC have decided to pause operations at their SAPREF oil refinery, which is the largest in South Africa, according to MarketWatch.

BP, which intends to sell its shareholding in the refinery, said Thursday that the companies are unable to invest in the plant until a decision about its future ownership is made.

The facility accounts for 35% of South Africa's refining capacity and will remain shut for an indefinite period. BP said that a re-start is possible in the future, even in the event of a sale.

"Leading up to the refining pause, we have put contingencies in place to ensure that this decision does not impact our customer-facing businesses in South Africa or our fuel-supply obligations," BP Southern Africa CEO Taelo Mojapelo said.

As MRC wrote earlier, Royal Dutch Shell plc. said in November, 2021, 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.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MR''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.

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.

BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. BP's business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, BP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world"s hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip Energies announced it has signed an agreement with Encina Development Group, LLC to deliver the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) of the fluidized bed catalytic pyrolysis reaction section for Encina’s commercial plastic fluid catalytic cracking (PFCC) unit to produce circular chemicals from plastic waste in North America, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Encina utilizes a proprietary process to convert post-consumer scrap plastic to valuable circular chemical products. The process, called PFCC, converts mixed hard-to-recycle plastics into petrochemical feedstock such as light olefins and BTX aromatics. These circular feedstock chemicals can be seamlessly dropped into the fabrication process of new consumer products, reducing the need for virgin materials, and significantly reducing waste plastics.

This FEED will leverage Technip Energies’ industry credentials and know-how in fluidized design, established in the process technology FCC program. Technip Energies has an extensive portfolio of licensed and engineered FCC units, including more than 60 grassroots and 250 revamps, demonstrating its process and mechanical design experience. The company’s development team is committed to ongoing development initiatives in providing technology and engineering solutions to support the industry and its energy transition targets.

Bhaskar Patel, Senior Vice President Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity, commented: “We are very pleased to be working with Encina on this first-ever commercial PFCC. As the industry explores ways to reduce its environmental footprint, this project brings an important circular economy solution to petrochemicals, recycling plastic wastes to create feedstock."

Carlo Badiola, Senior VP of Engineering and Technology at Encina, stated: “We selected the FEED platform because of Technip Energies’ leading expertise in fluidized bed design and engineering. We will combine both companies’ extensive knowledge of materials processing and our experience with plastics in related monomers and catalysts. Through this collaboration, we are reinforcing our commitment to producing high-quality circular chemicals for our customers."

As per MRC, TechnipFMC has been awarded a large Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contract by Petrobras. The contract covers flexible and rigid pipe, umbilicals, pipeline end terminals, rigid jumpers, umbilical termination assemblies and a mooring system.

As per MRC, TechnipFMC has announced the launch of the placement of 16 million Technip Energies shares, representing ca. 9% of Technip Energies’ issued and outstanding share capital, through a private placement by way of an accelerated bookbuild offering. Upon completion of the Placement, TechnipFMC would retain a direct stake of ca. 22% of Technip Energies’ issued and outstanding share capital.

We remind, SIBUR, the largest petrochemical complex in Russia and Eastern Europe, and Technip Energies, an international engineering company, have entered into an agreement on cooperation in the field of technology for the production of Hexen-1 comonomer used in the production of linear polyethylene (LDPE) and low-pressure polyethylene (HDPE). The HEXSIB technology is a proprietary development of NIOST specialists, one of the main research centers of SIBUR.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has transferred 4% of Saudi Aramco shares worth USD80 billion to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, reported Reuters with reference to the government's statement on Sunday.

The shares will bolster the Public Investment Fund's (PIF) strong financial position and high credit ratings in the medium term, the crown prince said in a statement. The fund is the prince's vehicle of choice to transform the Saudi economy and diversify away from oil revenues.

The state remains the largest shareholder in Saudi Aramco after the transfer process, as it retains more than 94% of the company's shares, the statement said.

The transfer of existing shares would help to boost PIF's assets under management, which are targeted to grow to about 4 trillion riyals (USD1.07 trillion) by the end of 2025, it added.

"It supports the outlook for the PIF raising funds internationally, including bonds, and could potentially support a future Aramco share sale going forward," Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said.

Saudi Aramco said in a statement the transfer was a private transaction between the government and the state fund. "The company is not a party to the transfer and did not enter into any agreements or pay or receive any proceeds from that transfer," it said.

The head of the sovereign wealth fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, said last year that Saudi Aramco may consider selling more shares if market conditions are right, while the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the kingdom could target a stake sale of as much as USD50 billion

Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, completed the world's largest initial public offering in late 2019, raising USD29.4 billion, with the proceeds transferred to the PIF.

As MRC informed before, in June 2020, Aramco finalized its USD69 billion acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the Middle East's biggest petrochemical maker. SABIC reported more than a fivefold year-on-year increase in its Q3 net profit to USD1.49 billion thanks to higher average sales prices.

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.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

1. Chemours Q4 profit climbs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based pigment and fluoroproducts producer Chemours reported a year-on-year increase in Q4 net income because of the benefit of the sale of a business, said the company. The company reported a one-time benefit of USD112m because of the sale of its Mining Solutions business. The following table shows the company's quarterly financial performance. Chemours did not report quarterly cost of sales. For Titanium Technologies, sales volumes rose by 6% year on year despite of ore and logistics constraints. Prices rose 19%. The segment makes titanium dioxide (TiO2). For Thermal & Specialized Solutions, volumes fell 11% because lower demand from automobile original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Automobile producers have lowered production because of a shortage of semiconductor chips.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian researchers have developed an inexpensive, non-toxic coating for almost any fabric that decreases the infectivity of the virus that causes Covid-19 by up to 90%, according to Business Standard.

"When you're walking into a hospital, you want to know that pillow you're putting your head onto is clean," said lead author Taylor Wright, a doctoral student in the department of chemistry at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

"This coating could take a little bit of the worry off frontline workers to have Personal Protection Equipment with antimicrobial properties," Wright said.

Researchers soaked fabric in a solution of a bacteria-killing polymer which contains a molecule that releases sterilizing forms of oxygen when light shines on it.

They then used an ultraviolet (UV) light to turn this solution to a solid, fixing the coating to the fabric.

"This coating has both passive and active antimicrobial properties, killing microbes immediately upon contact, which is then amped-up when sunlight hits the cloth," said senior author Dr. Michael Wolf, Professor of chemistry at UBC.

Both components are safe for human use, and the entire process takes about one hour at room temperature, said Wright. It also makes the fabric hydrophobic, meaning microbes are less likely to stick to the cloth, and doesn't seem to affect the strength of the fabric.

In addition, the coating can be used on almost any fabric, including cotton, polyester, denim, and silk, with applications in hospital fabrics, masks. It can also be used for activewear, with an 'anti-stink' coating applied to areas where people tend to sweat, killing off the bacteria that makes us smell, according to the study published in American Chemical Society Applied Materials & Interfaces journal.

While other such technologies can involve chemical waste, high energy use, or expensive equipment, the UBC method is relatively easy and affordable, Wright noted.

As MRC reported before, in May 2020, Borealis started production of meltblown fabrics for face mask applications on its unique pilot line in Linz, Austria. Borealis managed quickly to convert the way of working from pure development to smaller scale pilot production to regularly produce rolls of fine fibre fabrics for face masks. Recently developed by Borealis, a new proprietary polypropylene (PP) meltblown resin has boosted filtration properties due to its capability for finer fibres. By exploiting a robust network of co-operation partners in the country, Borealis is helping bolster the supply of filtration media to increase face masks production.

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.
MRC