Refiners need to find a way to mitigate CO2 emissions - Phillips 66

Oil refiners will have to develop ways to mitigate carbon emissions in the future, reported Reuters with reference to the chief operating officer of US refiner Phillips 66's statement at CERAWeek on Tuesday.

In remarks at the CERAWeek energy conference, Mark Lashier said renewable fuels will not replace diesel and jet fuels in the transportation fuel mix, requiring the industry to come up with a means of cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

"You're not going to able replace all the diesel and all the jet fuel the world uses with renewables," Lashier said.

Total renewable feedstocks are between 2.5 MM and 3 MMbpd available to refiners with plants to process them, he said.

Phillips 66 is converting a crude oil refinery in Rodeo, California into a renewable fuels refinery that will produce about 50,000 bpd of fuels from sources like animal fats and used cooking oils. The conversion will cost USD850 MM.

As MRC informed earlier, US Refiner Phillips 66 said on 30 September, 2021, it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from its operations by 2030, amid mounting pressure on the industry to join the fight against climate change and cut carbon emissions by mid-century.

We remind that US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,100 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had USD56 billion of assets as of Sept. 30, 2021.
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BASF India Limited will expand the production capacity of its Ultramid polyamide grades to meet increasing market demand. The increased capacity at BASF’s production site in Panoli, Gujarat, will be available in Q4 2022, said the company.

"The additional capacity reaffirms our dedication to being our customers’ supplier of choice for polyamidesand will help us meet the rapidly growing demand for our Ultramid polyamide grades in India. It will accordingly shorten local delivery times and help us to better meet the just-in-time needs of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)," said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF.

Ultramid is used in automotive applications, electrical & electronics sector, industrial products and consumer goods.

In January, 2019, BASF and B2B Cosmetics announced an exclusive, long-term strategic partnership in the field of personalized personal care products, including a strategic investment into B2B Cosmetics by BASF. The French company B2B Cosmetics will contribute a unique personalization system, marketed under the name Emuage technology. BASF will bring in expertise in personal care solutions.

As MRC wrote before, BASF will build a battery recycling prototype plant in Schwarzheide, Germany, at the site of its cathode active materials (CAM) plant.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.

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Solvay is to suspend dividend payments from its Russian joint venture with SIBUR for the production of chlorvinyls, said the company.

Solvay owns a 50% stake in the Rusvinyl joint venture located in Kstovo, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, around 450km west of Moscow. Solvay did not clarify, however, whether it plans to exit the joint venture entirely, and in doing so follow other western companies who announced such a measure last week, like the UK’s energy major BP or its Dutch peer Shell.

The company also said it is to suspend new investments in Russia.

Rusvinyl has the capacity to produce nearly 1.7m tonnes/year of chlorvinyls like chlorine, ethylene dichloride (EDC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).

As it was written earlier, Solvay is suspending operations and new investments in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

As MRC reported earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities.
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Italy's ISAB refinery, owned by Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil, is operating normally even if a series of "difficulties" has complicated things, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"The plant is working regularly at the moment," ISAB Deputy General Manager for Human Resources and External Relations Claudio Geraci told Reuters in a phone conversation. Geraci said there were some commercial issues that were making things more problematic but said these were manageable for the time being.

His comments come as Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompts the U.S. and Europe to impose sweeping sanctions, affecting companies and global payments systems. On Wednesday the European Union excluded seven Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, but stopped short of including those handling energy payments.

"There are complications that make the running of a refinery as big as ours much more complex," Geraci said, without giving details. He said the government in Rome had not asked for any specific information as yet on the situation at the refinery. ISAB is owned by Swiss-based trading and supply group Litasco SA which sells 89% of its output. Litasco is controlled by Lukoil.

Lukoil, majority owned by its head Vagit Alekperov and his deputy Leonid Fedun, called for a fast resolution to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. ISAB, located on the island of Sicily, is Italy's biggest refinery in terms of capacity, accounting for around 22% of overall capacity, according to data from oil industry body Unem.

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic sapped energy demand, ISAB's output totaled 10.6 MMt, 13% of Italy's total.

As per MRC, Lukoil entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% operator interest in the Area 4 offshore project in Mexico through the acquisition of the operator's holding company.

It was also reported that Lukoil plans to invest about USD3 billion in petrochemical projects in the next 6 years, V. Alekperova also told reporters in June. At the same time, the company does not plan to adopt a separate petrochemical strategy, he said then.

Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for the exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Russia - Stavrolen.
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Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe, according to the company's press release as of March 2.

Effective March 1, 2022, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR125 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR125 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR110 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR110 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo reduced its prices for all PS grades on February 1, 2021, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR40 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR40 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, this month's prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's PS increased by Rb6,000/tonne, whereas March prices of Penoplex's material grew by Rb8,000/tonne. During last week, prices pf Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's GPPS rose and were at Rb196,000-205,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
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