Fire erupts at Saudi Aramco petroleum storage in Jeddah after Houthi attack

Yemen's Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi energy facilities on Friday and the Saudi-led coalition said oil giant Aramco's petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah was hit, causing a fire in two storage tanks but no casualties, reported Reuters.

A huge plume of black smoke could be seen rising over the Red Sea city where the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is taking place this weekend, an eyewitness said.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have escalated attacks on the kingdom's oil facilities in recent weeks and ahead of a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The coalition has repeatedly said it is exercising self-restraint in the face of the attacks, but launched a military operation in Yemen early on Saturday saying it aimed to protect global energy sources and ensure supply chains.

A coalition statement on state media on Friday said the fire had been brought under control. Flames could still be seen in live footage aired by Saudi-owned Ekhbariya television channel.

The Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom strongly condemned the "sabotage attacks", reiterating that it would not bear responsibility for any global oil supply disruptions resulting from such attacks, state news agency SPA reported, citing an official in the ministry.

The ministry blamed Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis with ballistic missiles and advanced drones, stressing that the attacks "would lead to impacting the Kingdom's production capacity and its ability to fulfil its obligations to global markets". Teheran denies arming the Houthis.

There was no immediate comment from Aramco.

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 2,487,450 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.

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

German chemicals distributor Bodo Moller Chemie (BD Chemie) is to distribute BASF’s resins and additives in northwest Africa, said the company.

BD Chemie will take on the sales and distribution of resins and performance additives for paints, inks and coatings in the Maghreb region and francophone countries in northwest of Africa.

The distributor’s office and warehouse in Casablanca, Morocco, will serve as a hub into the region, BD Chemie said.

“The region contains a lot of growth potential in paints, inks and coatings. Together, we’re looking forward to better serving our customers with strengthened technical and logistic capabilities,” said Erkin Ataman, head of sales, dispersions and resins for BASF in Turkey and northwest Africa.

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

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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Sinopec Anqing Company, a subsidiary of the Sinopec Group, has successfully commissioned a 300,000 tpy (7,400 bpd) ionikylation unit for the production of high octane alkylate to meet National VI gasoline quality upgrade requirements, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Anqing alkylation unit is the third ionikylation unit in Sinopec’s portfolio and the sixth commercial project using the technology in China. In 2019 and 2020, Sinopec commissioned similar capacity ionikylation units at its Jiujiang and Wuhan refineries, respectively, with the latter installation being a revamp from an HF alkylation unit.

Ionikylation is the leading ionic liquids-based alkylation technology for the production of high octane alkylate that is free from sulfur, benzene, olefins and aromatics. The inherently safe and sustainable process allows a refiner to transition away from using hazardous and corrosive acid catalysts and additives such as HF, H2SO4 and HCl. All ionikylation process equipment is manufactured using carbon steel and the process eliminates the need for costly containment systems for handling hazardous chemicals. Well Resources Inc. is the global licensor of ionikylation.

“As the world moves towards an increasingly sustainable and decarbonized economy, the use of clean-burning transportation fuels will only become more pronounced,” said Warren Chung, President of Well Resources Inc. “Ionikylation will be used to meet evolving fuel standards while allowing operators to ensure that their staff and nearby communities are afforded the highest levels of safety.”

As MRC wrote previously, Sinopec, formally China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, has suspended the discussions to invest up to USD500 million in the new gas chemical plant in Russia. The plan has been to team up with Sibur, Russia's largest petrochemical producer, for a project similar to the USD10 billion Amur Gas Chemical Complex in East Siberia, 40% owned by Sinopec and 60% by Sibur, set to come online in 2024.

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.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

Occidental’s subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) and Timberland firm Weyerhaeuser have a signed a deal to evaluate and potentially develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Louisiana, said the company.

If it moves forward, the project is to be located in Livingston Parish, where OLCV’s subsidiary 1PointFive has been granted exclusive right to develop and operate a CCS unit on more than 30,000 acres of subsurface pore space controlled by Weyerhaeuser. Financial details or potential capacities were not disclosed.

OLCV will use the land to permanently sequester industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) in underground geologic formations not associated with oil and gas production, while Weyerhaeuser would continue to manage the aboveground acreage as a working forest.

“1PointFive and its planned sequestration hubs are expected to be an expanding side of our business that will work with industrial emitters to capture, transport and permanently store CO2,” said Richard Jackson, chairman of the OLCV subsidiary.

As MRC wrote previously, Occidental Petroleum's low-carbon unit said in May 2021 it plans to construct and operate a pilot plant that would use human-made carbon dioxide, instead of hydrocarbon-sourced feedstocks, to produce bio-ethylene. The pilot plant will be jointly developed by Occidental's venture capital arm, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, and bio-engineering startup, Cemvita Factory. It is expected to start functioning in 2022. Bio-ethylene is currently made from bio-ethanol, which is made from sugarcane.

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.

mrchub.com

One year after its initial announcement, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has reaffirmed its ambitious climate targets. In an update for investors and financial analysts on its transformation roadmap BASF confirmed that by 2030 it aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 25% compared with 2018 and is maintaining its goal of net zero emissions globally by 2050, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

On its path to reducing global emissions to 16.4 MMt by 2030, BASF is publishing an annual CO2 emissions forecast for BASF Group as part of its outlook with a corridor of plus or minus 0.5 MMt.

“There is a brutal war raging in Europe with far-reaching consequences for both people and the economy. Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the greatest global challenge of our time - climate change,” said Dr. Martin Brudermuller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “Across BASF, we are working intensively to implement a large number of projects to further reduce our CO2 emissions significantly and achieve our ambitious climate targets. By cooperating with suppliers of raw materials we are also taking steps to reduce our product-related emissions. In this way, we are driving forward our transformation and supporting customers in their efforts to reduce emissions in their product portfolios.”

In 2021, BASF reduced CO2 emissions by around 3% compared with 2020 despite significantly higher production volumes. To a large extent this was due to the increased use of renewable energy. Switching power to renewable energy will be the main driver of emission reduction until 2025. In 2021, renewables accounted for 16% of BASF Group’s global power demand. By 2030, the company projects that 100% of its 2021 global power demand will be obtained from renewable sources.

To cover its demand for renewable energy, BASF is pursuing a make-and-buy strategy. This includes investing in own renewable power assets and purchasing green power from third parties. In 2021, BASF purchased a stake in Vattenfall’s wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ). Once fully operational, it will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm with a total installed capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. The project is expected to become fully operational in 2023.

Furthermore, BASF has signed 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with ENGIE and Orsted for the supply of significant amounts of renewable electricity from wind and solar power in Europe. In the US, BASF has concluded long-term supply contracts for wind and solar power for its Freeport and Pasadena sites. In China, BASF has signed agreements with suppliers for the purchase of renewable power for its new Verbund site in Zhanjiang.

At its Investor Update event, BASF provided an overview of the various measures the company is implementing at different sites to reach its corporate climate targets. Such measures largely depend on the specific local conditions at each site.

Currently, about 50% of the steam demand at the Ludwigshafen site is based on steam generation processes that produce CO2 emissions. A new approach here is to generate steam using electricity. BASF is working with Siemens Energy on a first project in the acetylene plant that uses heat pumps and vapor recompression to upgrade waste heat such that it can be used as steam for the steam grid of the site. The integration of this heat pump project will enable not only the production of around 60 metric t of steam per hour but will also avoid around 160,000 metric tpy of CO2 emissions and reduce the annual consumption of cooling water by more than 20 MM cubic meters. The planned start-up for the use of this technology is in the 2Q of 2024. The project also serves to collect day-to-day operational experience and to simplify the rollout to other sites in the future.

Another project pursued at the Ludwigshafen site is the development of an electrically heated steam cracker furnace. Currently, cracker furnaces are heated with gas and produce about 1 metric t of CO2 per metric ton of olefin. BASF has signed an agreement with SABIC and Linde to develop and pilot electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. The project for a multi-megawatt pilot plant in Ludwigshafen is progressing as planned and is on track to start up in 2023 subject to a positive public funding decision. For the CO2-free production of hydrogen, BASF is developing new processes such as methane pyrolysis.

BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp is the largest chemical production site in Belgium and BASF’s second largest Verbund site after Ludwigshafen. BASF aspires to reduce emissions at the site from 3.8 MM metric t in 2021 to close to net zero by 2030. This could become possible by importing green power from offshore wind parks in combination with the deployment of new, low-emission technologies and a planned large-scale CCS project in the port of Antwerp. If this aspiration is realized, the Antwerp site could become the first petrochemical site to approach net zero in 2030. Given the short time period involved, these efforts constitute a challenge, and support is needed from politics in setting the right framework conditions.

Zhanjiang is to become BASF’s third largest Verbund site. An advanced Verbund concept and the use of renewable energy will play the key role in significantly lowering the site’s CO2 emissions compared to a gas-powered petrochemical site. Replacing fossil-fuel energy by electricity from renewable sources is a main lever.

A few days ago, BASF signed a second framework agreement over 25 years with the State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC) under the new renewable energy trading rules in Guangdong province, China, to purchase the renewable electricity supply for the next phases of the Zhanjiang Verbund site in Guangdong province. This agreement is the largest volume and longest green electricity purchase framework agreement that has been signed in China. Supported by this deal and the partnerships with other energy suppliers, BASF is further accelerating its plan to power the entire Zhanjiang Verbund site with renewable electricity and targets to achieve 100% by 2025 – earlier than originally planned. With the use of renewable electricity, BASF is a frontrunner in the process industry in China.

In February 2022, BASF Schwarzheide GmbH and enviaM established a JV for a solar park which has an expected electricity production of 25 gigawatt hours per year, about 10% of the site’s current annual electricity demand. It will be the first major solar power plant in which BASF is directly involved. The solar power can be used for the production of battery materials for electromobility, which will be produced in Schwarzheide from the end of 2022. The modernization of the site’s own combined gas and steam turbine power plant is almost complete. Once it is started up later in 2022, it will produce 10% more electricity with 16% lower CO2 emissions thanks to higher fuel efficiency.

As MRC reported previously, BASF is to increase its production capacity for plastic additives at its sites in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Lampertheim, Germany. BASF did not disclose, however, current or future capacities for its production of plastic additives hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS).

We remind that BASF is strengthening its global catalyst development and helping customers to bring new products faster to the market. As part of this strategy, BASF is building a new pilot plant center at its Ludwigshafen site. The new Catalyst Development and Solids Processing Center will serve as a global hub for pilot-scale production and process innovations of chemical catalyst.

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.
MRC