Enterprise and OLCV sign letter of intent for Texas Gulf Coast CO2 transportation and sequestration project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Enterprise Products Operating LLC, a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD), and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental (OXY), have announced they have executed a letter of intent to work toward a potential carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation and sequestration solution for the Texas Gulf Coast, according to BusinessWire.

The joint project would initially be focused on providing services to emitters in the industrial corridors from the greater Houston to Beaumont/Port Arthur areas. The initiative would combine Enterprise’s leadership position in the midstream energy sector with OLCV’s extensive experience in subsurface characterization and CO2 sequestration.

“We believe that our low-carbon strategy enhances Oxy’s business value and creates a path to net zero for ourselves while providing organizations everywhere with the tools they need to achieve net-zero or net-negative emissions.”

Enterprise would develop the CO2 aggregation and transportation network utilizing a combination of new and existing pipelines along its expansive Gulf Coast footprint. OLCV, through its 1PointFive business unit, is developing sequestration hubs on the Gulf Coast and across the US, some of which are expected to be anchored by direct air capture (“DAC”) facilities. The hubs will provide access to high quality pore space and efficient transportation infrastructure, bringing more options to emitters looking to explore viable carbon management strategies. Enterprise and OLCV have begun exploring the commercialization of the potential joint service offering with customers.

“For many years, Enterprise and Oxy have successfully collaborated in developing traditional oil and gas projects,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, co-chief executive officer of Enterprise’s general partner. “We are excited to evolve that relationship with OLCV to provide reliable and cost-efficient CO2 transportation and sequestration services to advance a low-carbon economy for the energy capital of the world.”

As MRC wrote before, last year, Enterprise Products Partners reported flaring at its propane dehydration, or PDH, unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas. According to the filing made public Aug. 10, the 750,000 mt/year PDH unit was shut down following a leak on Aug. 9. Sources confirmed on Aug. 10 that the unit was offline, but did not give an estimated timeframe of when the unit is expected to come back online.

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

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.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals.

Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) is a subsidiary of Occidental (Oxy), an international energy company with assets primarily in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa. OLCV is focused on advancing cutting-edge, low-carbon technologies and business solutions that enhance Oxy’s business while reducing emissions. OLCV also invests in the development of low-carbon fuels and products, as well as sequestration services to support carbon capture projects globally. Visit Carbon Innovation on oxy.com for more information.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A unit of Indonesia's biggest coal miner PT Bumi Resources and U.S. firm Air Products and Chemicals Inc will jointly invest in a methanol facility, said Reuters.

Bumi's Kaltim Prima Coal will build the facility in Bengalon, East Kalimantan, with an annual capacity to produce 1.8 MM tons of methanol, director Dileep Srivastava told Reuters. He added the joint venture company will invest "around USD2-B all in". Indonesia's investment minister, Bahlil Lahadalia, said the two companies aim to break ground in May, while Srivastava said the facility is expected to come online by 2025 or 2026.

Air Products did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In 2020, the company announced it had signed a definitive agreement with Bumi's parent Bakrie Group and PT Ithaca Resources for a USD2-B "world-scale coal-to-methanol production facility".

Bumi said in 2020 it was looking into investing USD1-B in a coal gasification project, to comply with the Indonesian government's ambition of processing its natural resources domestically.

As MRC reported previously, earlier this month, Air Products announced that it had acquired Air Liquide’s industrial gases business in the UAE, including liquid bulk, packaged gases and specialty gases; and Air Liquide’s majority share in MECD, which owns and operates a liquid CO2 production facility in Bahrain.

And in March, 2022, Italian oil and gas company Eni and Air Liquide entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at assessing decarbonization solutions in the Mediterranean region of Europe, focusing on hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The two companies join forces to enable CO2 capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage.

We remind that Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality 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.
mrchub.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cepsa reported a net income at current cost of supply of EUR58 MM (USD61.97 MM) in the first quarter, up by 9.4% year on year, pushed by high crude prices and stronger refining margins, reported Reuters.

Along with sharply higher crude prices, the value of refined products like gasoline and petrochemicals have been soaring globally, fueled by a strong post-pandemic recovery and most recently by the conflict in Ukraine.

Cepsa's refining margin expanded to USD2.5 a barrel in the first quarter from USD1.9 a barrel a year earlier, the company said, despite higher prices for natural gas, which is a primary feedstock for refineries,

Core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at current cost of supply for the first quarter came in at 605 MM euros, an 86.7% increase compared with the same period last year.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2020, driven by a shared vision of sustainability and strong collaboration, DSM, SABIC, Cepsa, Fibrant, and Viscofan together created a multi-barrier casing for meat products made via advanced recycling of post-consumer plastics.

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.

Cepsa is a Spanish petrochemical company. Full name Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A. The company is headquartered in Madrid. Refining is one of the main activities of CEPSA. The production of asphalt and other road surfaces is another of the company's core activities; nine CEPSA factories are engaged in the production of these products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As announced on March 3, 2022, BASF has not conducted new business in Russia and Belarus, in light of the war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by the Russian government, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

BASF strongly condemns the Russian attack on Ukraine and the violence against the civilian population. The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has now decided to also wind down the company’s remaining business activities in Russia and Belarus by the beginning of July 2022. Exempt from this decision is business to support food production, as the war risks triggering a global food crisis.

This decision is driven by the recent developments of the war and in international law, including the fifth E.U. sanctions package. Currently, 684 employees work for BASF in Russia and in Belarus. The company has decided to continue to support its employees in both countries until end of 2022.

Detailed plans for an orderly cessation of BASF’s business in Russia and Belarus are currently being developed. In 2021, Russia and Belarus accounted for around 1 % of BASF Group’s total sales.

As per MRC, BASF and Henkel jointly commit to replacing fossil carbon feedstock with renewable feedstock for most products in Henkel’s European Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses over the next four years following a successful pilot with Henkel’s cleaning and detergent brand Love Nature in 2021.

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.
mrchub.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products announced that it is teaming up with World Energy to build a new USD2 B major expansion project at World Energy’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and distribution hub in Paramount, California, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The L.A. county facility is the world’s first commercial scale and North America’s only SAF production facility and its total fuel capacity will be expanded to 340 MM gallons annually.

The long-term, take-or-pay agreement with World Energy includes Air Products’ construction and ownership of a new hydrogen plant to be operated by Air Products and renewable fuels manufacturing facilities to be operated by World Energy. The project is scheduled to be onstream in 2025 and continues Air Products’ leadership in driving the energy transition through world-scale projects.

As part of the agreement, Air Products has extended its Southern California hydrogen pipeline network to supply hydrogen to the existing World Energy facility and to further increase supply reliability for all of Air Products’ hydrogen pipeline network customers in Southern California. The expanded pipeline network will also enable Air Products to provide low-or-zero-carbon hydrogen in the future. Air Products and World Energy will collaborate on innovations to transition to green hydrogen inputs, further reducing the carbon intensity of the fuels it produces.

The SAF produced by World Energy is a 100 % sustainable fuel made entirely of renewable resources and contains no fossil-based feedstock. It is not co-processed with fossil fuel in traditional oil refineries, and its carbon attributes comply with all state and US federal regulations for advanced biofuels. Its lifecycle carbon emissions are currently up to 80 % lower than conventional jet fuel. It is currently approved at a 50/50 blend level with conventional jet fuel for commercial use. World Energy is collaborating with other industry leaders to gain approval for pure 100 % renewable SAF use in regular commercial aviation to enable a future of carbon net-zero fossil-free flight. SAF allows aviation to be powered by the sun’s energy, captured by organic materials, and converted into high-energy-density liquid fuels.

As MRC reported previously, earlier this month, Air Products announced that it had acquired Air Liquide’s industrial gases business in the UAE, including liquid bulk, packaged gases and specialty gases; and Air Liquide’s majority share in MECD, which owns and operates a liquid CO2 production facility in Bahrain.

And in March, 2022, Italian oil and gas company Eni and Air Liquide entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at assessing decarbonization solutions in the Mediterranean region of Europe, focusing on hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The two companies join forces to enable CO2 capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage.

We remind that Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality 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.
MRC