Exxon studies carbon capture project in Australia

Exxon studies carbon capture project in Australia

ExxonMobil Corp said on Thursday it has begun design studies for its carbon capture storage (CCS) hub in southeast Australia, similar to its project in Houston, Texas, to reduce emissions from industries in the Gippsland Basin, reported Reuters.

The CCS hub would use existing infrastructure to store carbon dioxide in the depleted Bream field off the coast of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, the US energy major said.

CCS traps emissions and buries them underground but is not at the commercialisation stage yet.

Exxon said it is in discussions with local emissions-intensive industries which may be interested in availing the hub to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations.

The largest US oil producer is also planning on a hydrogen production plant and a CCS project at its Baytown refinery near Houston, Texas, in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint while earning a profit.

The carbon capture infrastructure for the Australian project would have the capacity to store up to two million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and could be operational by 2025 if technical and business feasibility is confirmed, Exxon said.

As MRC reported earlier, last month, ExxonMobil announced that construction of the new linear alpha olefins (LAO) manufacturing unit at its Baytown, Texas, integrated petrochemical complex is progressing and targeting commercial start up in mid-2023. When fully operational, the new facility will have the capacity to produce approximately 350,000 metric tons of LAO annually.

We remind that in February, 2022, ExxonMobil and SABIC successful started up 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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

Technip Energies and Alterra Energy to develop sustainable plastics projects

Technip Energies and Alterra Energy to develop sustainable plastics projects

Technip Energies and Alterra Energy have signed a global joint development and collaboration agreement to integrate Alterra’s commercially available liquefaction process technology with Technip Energies’ pyrolysis oil purification technology to maximize adoption of recycled feedstock and improve circular economy solutions for the global petrochemical industry, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Alterra provides an innovative, patented, thermochemical liquefaction, converting hard-torecycle plastic into pyrolysis based oil (PyOil).

Technip Energies brings extensive knowledge of ethylene furnace and steam cracker design, preparation and purification of heavy feedstocks for refining and petrochemical facilities, all of which is combined in their Pure.rOil purification technology ensuring safe, reliable and an optimized integration with individual crackers.

The combination of both companies’ solutions ensures Alterra’s recycled PyOil is drop-in ready feedstock to further accelerate the replacement of hydrocarbon-based oil with recycled feedstock in the production of new plastic-based materials.

Bhaskar Patel, SVP Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity at Technip Energies said, “Technip Energies’ Pure.rOil, combined with Alterra’s experience and innovative advanced recycling solution, is helping create new pathways toward solving the plastic waste problem. This partnership with Alterra further strengthens our growing presence in the field of plastics recycling and circularity."

Frederic Schmuck, CEO of Alterra Energy said, “Our partnership with Technip Energies allows us to offer a more holistic value proposition to our customers by ensuring that our recycled product can be utilized as a direct feed in the majority of existing chemical and petrochemical assets for the production of new plastics, thus closing the plastic recycling loop. To meet the growing demand for recycled content, Alterra will continue to forge partnerships and collaborations with innovative companies like Technip Energies to create a recycling ecosystem that’s as efficient and effective as possible."

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 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.
mrchub.com

Sasol joins German consortium project to turn CO2 from cement industry into aviation fuel

Sasol joins German consortium project to turn CO2 from cement industry into aviation fuel

Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa) has joined Concrete Chemicals project, an innovative consortium of Sasol’s new business unit Sasol ecoFT, global cement producer Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. (Monterrey, Mexico) and German renewable energy company ENERTRAG, according to Chemical Engineering.

The international consortium sets course for climate-neutral cement production by converting CO2 into sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with use of hydrogen, thus presenting an opportunity for CO2 reduction in both sectors.

The three partners will combine their technical know-how in Germany: Sasol ecoFT will contribute its innovative Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce synthetic and sustainable aviation fuels and ENERTRAG will produce green hydrogen exclusively with energy from regional wind and solar plants. CEMEX will provide another raw material for SAF production by capturing CO2 generated during cement production.

To implement the project, the consortium is preparing European level funding applications.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at its Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC

ADNOC to acquire two new-build LNG vessels built in China

ADNOC to acquire two new-build LNG vessels built in China

UAE’s ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S), the shipping and maritime logistics arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a ship building contract for the construction of two 175,000 cubic metre LNG vessels, said the company.

The vessels will be built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in China and join ADNOC L&S’ fleet in 2025. The new-build LNG vessels are significantly larger than the current ADNOC L&S fleet of LNG vessels, which have a capacity of 137,000 cubic metres each, according to news agency WAM.

Each of the new build vessels will carry enough LNG to power 45,000 homes for a year. The acquisition of the larger, more energy-efficient vessels allows ADNOC L&S to meet growing demand while improving the environmental footprint of its fleet.

The new vessels’ engine technology will slash emissions (CO2, NOX and SOX ), which along with an innovative air lubrication system further reduces fuel consumption by at least 10 per cent. These vessels will also feature partial reliquefication systems, which reduce emissions and conserve the cargo.

Jiangnan Shipyard was previously commissioned by ADNOC L&S in 2020 to build five Very Large Gas Carriers for AW Shipping, ANDOC L&S’ Joint Venture company with China’s Wanhua Chemical Group.

Over the past 24 months, ADNOC L&S acquired 16 deep-sea vessels, including eight Very Large Crude Carriers in 2021, adding 16 million barrels of capacity, six product tankers, which expanded the product tanker fleet capacity to over 1 million metric tonnes, in addition to five Very Large Gas Carriers for AW Shipping.

ADNOC L&S’ trading fleet transports crude oil, refined products, dry bulk, containerised cargo, LPG, and LNG to global markets through its owned chartered vessels.

As per MRC, The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has activated business continuity plans to ensure continued supply of products to its local and international customers following an incident on its Mussafah fuel depot. The company in an earlier statement that the incident at the fuel depot occurred at around 10:000 hours (06:00 GMT) on 17 January. The incident resulted in the outbreak of a fire and three workers were killed as a result, it said.

As per MRC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed of a strategic partnership with Borealis AG that confirms a USD6.2 B (AED22 B) investment agreement between the companies to build the fourth Borouge facility - Borouge 4 - at the polyolefin manufacturing complex in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will produce 1.4 MM tons of polyethylene (PE) per year.

mrchub.com

Sika posts 20% jump in Q1 2022 sales

Sika posts 20% jump in Q1 2022 sales

Swiss construction chemicals maker Sika AG reported a 20% jump in its first-quarter sales, as the broader construction industry benefited from an upturn in projects after the pandemic, as per the company's press release.

The company, whose chemical additives strengthen and waterproof concrete, said sales came in at 2.39 billion Swiss francs (USD2.57 billion) for the three months ended March 31, compared with 2.1 billion francs in the year-ago period. Sales in local currencies rose 21.9%.

Sika confirmed its annual sales forecast of crossing 10 billion francs for the first time in 2022, driven by a more than 10% sales jump in local currencies.

Sika, whose products are also used by car makers as adhesives, has forecast annual sales growth of 6%-8% in the years up to 2023 and an operating profit margin of 15%-18% from 2021.

After a series of acquisitions, Sika aims to increase its share of the construction chemicals market to 12% by 2025 from around 10% now.

As MRC reported previously, Sika has recently closed the transaction related to the divestment of the European industrial coatings business. The deal, which includes Sika's European industrial coatings business with the main location and manufacturing facility in Vaihingen, Germany, was announced on 19 August last year.

We remind that earlier this year, Sika acquired Canada’s Sable Marco Inc, which manufactures cementitious products and mortars, for an undisclosed amount. Sable Marco is headquartered in Pont Rouge, near Quebec City, and generates annual sales of Swiss francs (Swfr) 20m (USD22m). The acquisition “should open up new opportunities for Sika in the eastern region of Canada and clearly improve Sika’s access to the retail distribution channel,” the company said.

We also remind that Sika commissioned a manufacturing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which produces epoxy resins aimed at flooring solutions. Sika has decided to invest in the expansion of its manufacturing facilities at the Dubai site in order to increase flexibility in production, shorten delivery times, optimize cost structures, and reduce inventories.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories.
MRC