Canada to offer substantial carbon capture incentives to companies that invest in CCT

Canada will offer a substantial incentive to companies that invest in carbon capture technologies (CCT) and will set aside as much as USD3 B over eight years to accelerate critical mineral exploration, extraction and processing as it seeks to cut carbon emissions, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In this year's budget, Canada is introducing a 60% tax credit for equipment used to capture carbon from the air, and 50% for all other capture equipment, plus a 37.5% credit for transportation and storage equipment.

CSS facilities are expected to be a key part of global efforts to contain emissions from fossil fuels. Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and has a set a goal of generating net-zero emissions by 2050.

"For the oil and gas sector this tax credit, combined with the fact they are generating massive revenues right now, is more than enough to reduce the risk associated with going ahead with CCS projects," said Chris Severson-Baker, Alberta regional director at the Pembina Institute, a clean energy think-tank.

The tax credit is projected to cost the government USD2.1 B over five years. The incentive is below the 75% level the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers requested last year, and one industry group said it would look for additional funding from programs like the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Emissions Reduction Alberta.

As MRC reported earlier, 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 MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.
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(India's HDFC Bank and some foreign banks have stopped offering trade credit for oil imports to Nayara Energy, a Russian-backed refiner, and some suppliers are seeking payment upfront to avoid potential problems resulting from western sanctions against Moscow, reported Reuters with reference to four banking and industry sources.

Nayara has not been sanctioned as part of the international response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but Russian energy giant Rosneft, which owns 49% of the Indian refiner, has been.

To avoid the need for credit to fund overseas trade, the Mumbai-headquartered company is selling more of its refined fuels in India, two of the sources said.

All of the sources declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Nayara did not respond to a request for comment. Rosneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nayara imports crude oil worth about USD1 B every month on average for its 400,000 bpd Vadinar refinery in India's Gujarat state, the two sources told Reuters.

India's HDFC Bank and international banks such as Citibank, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have stopped opening and confirming Letters of Credit (LCs), which are a standard form of payment guarantee in the oil trade, for Nayara, four sources said.

Citigroup, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ declined to comment on Monday, while HDFC did not respond to requests for comment.

Kesani Enterprises Co Ltd, a consortium led by Trafigura Group and Russia's UCP Investment Group, is the other major stakeholder in Nayara, also with a 49.13% stake.

Kesani has pledged all of its shares in Nayara to Russian bank VTB, from which it took a loan to fund its acquisition of the Indian refiner in 2017, a fundraising document Nayara issued in August last year showed.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2021, Rosneft backed Nayara Energy, earlier known as Essar Oil, has chalked out massive expansion plans for India which include setting up of a greenfield petrochemical complex and ramping up its existing refining capacity from 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 46 mtpa at Vadinar near Jamnagar in Gujarat. The total envisaged investment for expansion, of which a major part is towards building a new petrochemical complex, is about Rs.1.5 lakh crore, they said. The expansion plans also include increasing its retail presence and additional investment at the captive port of Vadinar.

We remind that Nayara Energy hopes to operate its 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in western India at close to 100% capacity in 2021 as fuel demand is picking up, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Chief Executive Alois Virag's statement at APPEC 2021 conference. Nayara, part owned by Russian oil major Rosneft, cut rates at its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat state last year.
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Dangote's 650,000-bpd oil refinery being built in Nigeria is due to begin production by the 4Q of 2022, reported Reuters with reference to Group Executive, Devakumar Edwin.

"75% hydraulic testing ... as well as 70% of electrical cable fitting have been completed preparatory to the completion of the refinery in the fourth quarter of this year," Edwin said during a site tour with Nigeria's Information Minister Lai Mohammed.

The refinery, being built at a cost of USD19 B in Lagos, has 4.74 B liters storage capacity, Edwin said. He added that 75% of products will be moved by sea within Nigeria.

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote said in January he expected his oil refinery project to begin production by the end of the 3Q and reach full capacity by early 2023.

The project has been delayed by several years and the cost has shot to USD19 B from Dangote's earlier estimates of USD12 B to USD14 B.

Dangote, who built his fortune in the cement industry, first announced the intention to build a refinery in 2013, with the project expected to be finished in 2016.

The billionaire then moved the site to Lekki in Lagos, upgraded the size and said production would start in early 2020.

Despite being Africa's biggest oil producer and exporter, Nigeria depends almost entirely on fuel imports after allowing its significant refining capacity of 445,000 bpd to become dilapidated over several decades.

As MRC wrote previously, in August, 2021, gunmen killed a police officer and six employees of a Nigerian oil and gas services contractor during an attack on buses transporting workers to a Shell project site in the southeastern state of Imo. Attacks on oil and gas facilities have long been a problem in Nigeria, where the multi-billion dollar industry sits alongside impoverished communities that have seen little benefit from it. In this case, the motive was unclear.

We remind that Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

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.
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MRC -- Dow Inc., the world's petrochemical major, has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to take a minority stake in the Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH (HEH) and is working with HEH's current members to advance Germany's capabilities to import supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), bio-liquified natural gas and synthetic natural gas through the construction of an import terminal, as per the company's press release.

The HEH consortium, which now includes Dow, Fluxys, Partners Group and Buss Group, is planning to build, own, and operate an import terminal for liquified gases on Dow's Stade, Germany industrial park. This zero-carbon emission terminal is to be built by 2026 and will be co-located with Dow's facilities in Stade. Dow is contributing the land for the construction of the terminal as well as infrastructure services, off-gas heat, site services and mutual harbor use rights.

With a projected regasification capacity of 13.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year, the import terminal supports the Joint Statement between the European Commission and the United States on European Energy Security by satisfying up to 15% of Germany's current natural gas demand. The agreement would also allow the United States to meet nearly 25% of its goal to export 50 bcm of natural gas annually to Europe by 2030. Additionally, the terminal will repurpose off-gas heat at the Dow site for the carbon emissions-free regasification of the liquefied gas back to its gaseous state.

While Germany is retiring nuclear and coal fired power generation, its dependency on natural gas is expected to increase as a transition fuel until sufficient renewable energy comes available longer term. Today, Germany receives approximately half of its natural gas through pipeline imports from Russia and the country currently has no LNG regasification and import facilities.

The project is subject to final investment decision, which is expected by 2023.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Dow and Plastogaz SA announced a strategic investment which will help simplify the process of converting plastic waste to feedstock and provide another carbon-efficient option to keep plastic waste out of landfills and the environment. The collaboration marks another milestone in Dow’s ongoing mission to protect the climate and close the loop on plastic waste.

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, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Dow combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people.
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The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) has announced the winners of the 2021 Annual Safety Awards, part of the refining and petrochemical industries’ ongoing mission to enhance and recognize outstanding workplace safety, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The awards, considered the industries’ premier awards, are part of a comprehensive program developed by the AFPM Safety and Health Committee to promote safe operations in the refining and petrochemical industries. They also recognize facilities that have outstanding occupational and process safety performance.

“The US refining and petrochemical industries continued to deliver on their commitment to the health and safety of our workforce, our communities and the environment last year. The AFPM Safety Awards proudly honor the sites that have risen to the top, sites that never fail to focus on safety and continuously look for ways to improve, benefiting not only our employees and facilities, but also supporting community safety and improving environmental protection,” said Chet Thompson.

The refining and petrochemical industries’ commitment to safety is reflected in their records, where they have ranked in the top tenth percentile of more than 500 manufacturing industries tracked by the government over the last decade.

The highest honor, the Distinguished Safety Award, is awarded to the top sites with outstanding safety performance, program innovation and safety leadership. This honor was awarded to four facilities this year for achieving a sustained, exemplary level of safety performance, they are: LyondellBasell Industries – Morris Site; Marathon Petroleum Company – St. Paul Park Refinery?; Monroe Energy LLC – Trainer Refinery? and Phillips 66 – Sweeny Refinery.

The Elite Gold Award, which recognizes facilities with safety performances in the top five percentile and that have demonstrated superior and consistent safety performance, program innovation and leadership, has been given to ten facilities this year: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company – Borger Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Plastics Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Polyolefins; LyondellBasell Industries – Bayport Complex; LyondellBasell Industries – Clinton Site; LyondellBasell Industries – Tuscola Plant; Marathon Petroleum Corporation – Anacortes Refinery; Marathon Petroleum Corporation – Louisiana Refining Division; Phillips 66 – Billings Refinery and Valero Energy Corporation – St. Charles Refinery.

The Elite Silver Award recognizes those sites that have attained top industry safety performance for the application year and demonstrated excellent program innovation and leadership over time. The Elite Silver Award recognizes the top ten percentile of industry safety and this year was awarded to 11 facilities: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company – Drilling Specialties Conroe Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baytown Chemical Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baytown Olefins Plant; Exxon Mobil Refining & Supply – Billings Refinery; Exxon Mobil Refining & Supply – Joliet Refinery; Flint Hills Resources, LLC – Houston Chemical; LyondellBasell Industries - Louisiana Integrated PolyEthylene JV LLC (LKO); Phillips 66 – Bayway Refinery; Valero Energy Corporation – Texas City Refinery; Valero Energy Corporation – Three Rivers Refinery and Valero Energy Corporation – Wilmington Asphalt Plant.

The AFPM Innovation Awards, introduced in 2020, recognize refineries, petrochemical facilities, and their contractors that have unique and innovative programs or practices that effectively improve the site’s safety performance for either occupational or process safety. Seven sites received the award this year and they are Exxon Mobil Corporation – Beaumont Refinery?; Flint Hills Resources LLC – Pine Bend Refinery?; LyondellBasell Industries – Morris Site?; Marathon Petroleum Company – Refining? (corporate); Marathon Petroleum Company – Michigan Refining Division?; Placid Refining Company, LLC? and Valero Energy Corporation – Three Rivers Refinery.

As MRC reported earlier, LyondellBasell Industries will turn down new business opportunities with Russian state-owned entities, and plans to discontinue existing business with those entities as well, said Plasticsnews.
Houston-based LyondellBasell also is donating 200,000 euros (USD220,000) to relief efforts in Ukraine. "We are closely monitoring the Russia-Ukraine situation as it continues to evolve," officials said in a statement sent to Plastics News. "LyondellBasell condemns the unprovoked attacks on Ukraine, and we are taking action to support the humanitarian efforts as a result of this conflict.
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