Evonik expands capacities for petrochemical specialties

Evonik expands capacities for petrochemical specialties

Evonik has invested a double-digit million-euro sum to increase production capacity for isobutene derivates by more than 50% at its site in Marl, Germany, said the the specialty producer.

The isobutene part of the C4 production network produces specialty chemicals tertiary butanol (TBA), di-isobutene (DiB) and 3,5,5-trimethylhexanal (TMH). The recently completed expansion improves security of supply, flexibility, and quality of products for customers, with applications as intermediate materials for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Works began in June 2020 to expand C4 production to eliminate existing bottlenecks in production and logistics. The conversion work has increased the purity of TMH produced in Marl from around 88% to more than 95%.

Evonik produces two grades of TBA – pure or as an azeotropic mixture – for use in production of organic peroxides for the plastics industry and special solvents and tablet coatings for the pharmaceutical industry.

DiB is a highly branched C8 molecule used as an intermediate to produce UV stabilisers, high performance lubricants and special polymer resins.

TMH is an aldehyde with high isometric purity, used as an intermediate to produce high-performance lubricants (particularly cooling lubricants), lubricant additives, and as specialty products for the cosmetics and fragrance industries.

As MRC reported before, Evonik is investing a three-digit million-euro sum in the construction of a new production plant for bio-based and fully biodegradable rhamnolipids. The decision to build the plant follows a breakthrough in Evonik's research and development. Rhamnolipids are biosurfactants and serve as active ingredients in shower gels and detergents. Demand for environ-mentally friendly surfactants is growing rapidly worldwide.

We remind that in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

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.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR12.2 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR1.91 billion in 2020. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers. About 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: to improve life today and tomorrow.

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bp and Uber to drive delivery growth with global strategic partnership

bp and Uber to drive delivery growth with global strategic partnership

bp and Uber Technologies, Inc. are announcing a new global strategic convenience delivery partnership, extending their existing local arrangements to reach more consumers across the world, said the company.

Together, the partners will offer a huge range of quality convenience products, including fresh and prepared ranges, from select retail locations.

bp is the first convenience retailer to team up with Uber Eats on a global level and aims to have more than 3,000 retail locations available on the delivery platform over the next three years. The partnership supports bp’s goal of growing its access to customers and expanding its delivery footprint, in response to soaring demand for food, groceries and everyday essentials brought to the door.

The new partnership covers retail sites in Australia, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and the west coast of US. Sites in the UK and eastern US will be added to the app for the first time this year, with plans to launch in other European markets from 2023.

With 20,500 bp retail sites across the world and 550 million customers living within 20 minutes of a bp retail site, the partners see enormous opportunities for growth. bp sites offer a range of products tailored to local markets which may include hot and cold drinks, food-for-now options as well as staple groceries, fresh produce and ready meals, plus wine, beer and flowers.

bp will benefit from Uber’s global brand and operations footprint, best-in-class technology for dispatching orders, and more than 4.4 million drivers and couriers on the platform worldwide.

As part of the agreement, Uber Eats and bp will work to introduce delivery options onto bp’s own app, BPme – initially planned to be available in the UK, US and Australia by the end of 2023 – powered by Uber Direct. This new offer will allow bp to directly connect its customers to delivery riders, making Uber Eats the trusted partner in fulfilling these orders. Since 2019, bp has seen a three-fold increase in users of the BPme app, with 16 million active loyalty users worldwide.

bp and Uber already work together in mobility with bp providing electric vehicle charging for Uber’s ride-hail drivers. The companies will explore other areas for future cooperation in convenience, including opportunities to utilize low carbon delivery methods to fulfil orders from bp sites.

As per MRC, Honeywell announced that bp and Honeywell have signed a licensing agreement for Honeywell UOP’s Ecofining technology. bp is undergoing pre-feed engineering for its proposed diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in Western Australia. bp plans to convert hydroprocessing equipment at its former refinery site in Kwinana, Australia, to produce approximately 10kbd diesel and SAF from renewable feeds, integrating with its existing terminal operations.

As MRC informed earlier, bP is seeking to divest the near 20% stake in Russian state-oil company Rosneft it has held since 2013 in the starkest sign yet of the corporate backlash against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

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.

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SABIC to use Amarinth pumps in Yanbu petrochemical refinery

SABIC to use Amarinth pumps in Yanbu petrochemical refinery

Amarinth has delivered an order through Gas Arabian Services for bespoke compact API 610 vertical in-line pumps to be used in the SABIC petrochemical refinery, Yanbu, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Yanbu petrochemical refinery in the Al Madinah province of Saudi Arabia processes 400,000 bpd of crude oil from the Manifa offshore field producing high-quality, ultra-low sulfur-refined products. Two horizontal pumps were originally specified for the hazardous area, but these would not fit within the heavily restricted space. Amarinth therefore proposed using API 610 vertical in-line pumps.

The pumps were required on a tight 30-week delivery schedule and so Amarinth used its renown know-how and agility to leverage its existing range of API 610 vertical in-line pumps and create a bespoke design with a footprint of just 420mm x 420mm. The company used FEA analysis and a suite of design tools to ensure the pumps would operate reliably within the tight design envelope.

As MRC informed previously, in January 2022, ExxonMobil and SABIC announced the successful startup of Gulf Coast Growth Ventures world-scale manufacturing facility in San Patricio County, Texas. The new facility will produce materials used in packaging, agricultural film, construction materials, clothing, and automotive coolants. The operation includes a 1.8 MM metric tpy ethane steam cracker, two polyethylene (PE) units capable of producing up to 1.3 MM metric tpy, and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit with a capacity of 1.1 MM metric tpy.

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 Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

Chevron Singapore launches Caltex carbon offset programme

Chevron Singapore launches Caltex carbon offset programme

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Singapore Pte. Ltd., which markets the Caltex® retail brand in Singapore, has launched the Caltex Carbon Offset Programme, the first voluntary carbon offset programme for its Caltex service stations in Singapore, said the company.

Integrated into CaltexGO, Caltex’s mobile payment app, customers enrolled in the Caltex loyalty programme can choose to opt-in and use their loyalty points earned from their fuel purchase to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the combustion of the fuel purchased when they make payment for their fuel purchases via the CaltexGO app.

Using loyalty points voluntarily contributed by customers enrolled in the Caltex loyalty programme, Caltex and/or its affiliates will purchase verifiable carbon offsets from projects that reduce, remove or avoid portion of GHG emissions from the atmosphere and retire such carbon offsets on a monthly basis, so as to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of relevant fuel purchased.

When customers fuel up at Caltex service stations and pay via the CaltexGO app, a fuel purchase of 50 litres will generate 100 loyalty points. The customer may opt in to contribute their loyalty points earned from their fuel purchase towards the purchase of carbon offsets and offset a portion of the GHG emissions from the combustion of their fuel purchased. These carbon offsets are verified by an independent third-party, the Verified Carbon Standard Program.

For the launch, Chevron Singapore has chosen to purchase carbon offsets from identified nature-based projects from the Verra registry. More details of the projects can be found in Annex A.

"Chevron Singapore is committed to protecting the environment and we believe our customers are too. By integrating the option to participate in the Caltex Carbon Offset Programme in CaltexGO, we kept it simple, allowing our customers to enjoy the seamless experience they are familiar with,” said Fish. “We will continue to test and evaluate our programme to provide lower carbon options for our customers in the future."

As MRC wrote earlier, in August 2021, Chevron and other partners said they are investing in a startup to build modular waste-to-green hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuel facilities in northern California with tentative plans to eventually grow worldwide. The USD20 million investment in Wyoming-based Raven SR is focused on technology to develop combustion-free, green hydrogen for transportation that is cleaner than so-called blue hydrogen derived from natural gas.

We remind that Chevron Phillips Chemical, a joint venture of Phillips 66 and Chevron, will make a final investment decision on a new cracker in far southeast Texas in 2022, followed by an FID in 2023 on an USD8 billion joint venture petrochemical complex along the US Gulf Coast in 2023.

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.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
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BASF Venture Capital invests in Oceanworks, a sustainable plastic sourcing platform

BASF Venture Capital invests in Oceanworks, a sustainable plastic sourcing platform

BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture company of BASF Group, announced a strategic investment in Oceanworks, a sustainable plastic solutions provider that brings traceability and transparency through digitalization to recycled plastics, said the company.

Oceanworks is based in the U.S. and offers a powerful platform for brands looking to reliably secure high-quality sources of ocean, ocean-bound, and averted PCR plastic (Post-consumer recycled products are made from recycled plastic and discarded materials.). For BVC this investment underlines BASF’s commitment to developing sustainable solutions to raise the transformation towards a circular economy to a new level.

Plastics are an integral part of everyday life. But too much plastic too often ends up in the sea after its intended use. The responsible handling of plastic waste is therefore critical. One aspect of this is recycling: more and more companies aim for higher recycled content rates in their products and need new trusted sources of recycled plastics.

Oceanworks, with its global marketplace for recycled plastic materials and products offers a sophisticated solution. The young company makes it easy for buyers to source recycled plastics likely to add to the 11 million tons of plastic flowing into the ocean each year. Digitized blockchain-based traceability, material quality assurance, global logistics and marketing support are part of Oceanworks’ offer for its customers and their partners.

BASF Venture Capital’s investment comes as a part of Oceanworks Series Seed financing, enabling the company to accelerate the development of its sourcing engine and track-and-trace verification for recycled ocean plastic. The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the investment.

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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