bp to invest up to GBP18 B in UK energy system by 2030

bp intends to invest up to ?18 B in the UK’s energy system by the end of 2030, demonstrating bp’s firm commitment to the UK, and helping the country to deliver on its bold ambitions to boost energy security and reach net zero, said the company.

As one of the largest oil and gas producers in the UK, bp intends to continue investing in North Sea oil and gas, while driving down operational emissions. bp is also in action on a range of lower carbon energy investments in the UK, which are expected to bring jobs and develop new skills and capabilities.

Bernard Looney, chief executive officer, bp, said: “We’re backing Britain. It’s been our home for over 110 years, and we’ve been investing in North Sea oil and gas for more than 50 years. We’re fully committed to the UK’s energy transition – providing reliable home-grown energy and, at the same time, focusing on the drive to net zero. And we have ambitious plans to do more and to go faster. Our plans go beyond just infrastructure - they see us supporting the economy, skills development and job opportunities in the communities where we operate. We are all in."

These projected investment figures are in addition to bp’s significant operating spend in the UK. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, an estimated 0.5% of UK GDP was supported by bp’s activities*. bp also anticipates paying up to ?1 billion in taxes for its 2022 North Sea profits, on top of around ?0.25 billion that it has paid annually in other taxes in the UK in recent years.

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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Germany would be able to weather an EU embargo on Russian oil imports by the end of this year even though a stoppage could result in shortages, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday, appearing to throw his weight behind a ban, said Reuters.

Two European Union diplomats said at the weekend that the bloc is leaning toward a ban by the end of the year as part of a sixth package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. EU energy ministers will discuss the proposed oil ban in Brussels later on Monday.

"We have managed to reach a situation where Germany is able to bear an oil embargo," Habeck, of the ecologist Greens, told a news conference. "This means it won't be without consequences." Finance Minister Christian Lindner went even further, telling a German broadcaster that the German economy would even be able to stomach an immediate ban.

"With coal and oil, it is possible to forgo Russian imports now," Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) told WELT. "It can't be ruled out that fuel prices could rise." Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is under pressure to reduce Germany's dependence on Russian fossil fuels and he has been accused of lacking leadership after his initial resistance to supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons.

Germany last month cut the share of Russian oil to 25% of total imports from 35% before the invasion. Habeck said the main challenge for Germany was to find alternative oil deliveries to a refinery in Schwedt operated by Russian state company Rosneft which supplies east German regions as well as the Berlin metropolitan area. Those areas could face supply shortages in the event of an EU embargo if Germany can't secure alternative oil imports by the end of the year, Habeck said.

"We still have no solution for the refinery in Schwedt," said Habeck. "We can't guarantee that supplies will be continuous. There will for sure be price hikes and there will be some outages. But that doesn't mean we will slide into an oil crisis." An advisor to Scholz told the Financial Times in remarks published on Sunday that Germany backed the planned EU embargo on Russia oil but wanted a few more months to secure alternatives.

Joerg Kukies told the newspaper that the goal was to ensure Schwedt is supplied with non-Russian oil brought by tankers to Rostock on the Baltic Sea. To allow this, the port of Rostock would have to be deepened and work done on the pipeline linking it to Schwedt, he said.

As per MRC, Rosneft failed to sell oil in a jumbo tender after demanding prepayment in roubles, meaning the country's top oil company will need to find ways to divert more crude to buyers in Asia via private deals. The failure of the tender highlights a growing struggle by the Kremlin oil major to sell oil due to sweeping Western sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
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DuPont’s Q1 sales rose 8.5% year on year - despite unprecedented global supply chain challenges and cost inflation exacerbated by the Ukraine war, said the company.

Pricing actions fully offset higher inflationary costs from raw materials, logistics and energy during the quarter, it said. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 2% to USD818m, but the operating EBITDA margin fell to 25.0% from 26.6% in Q1 2021.

DuPont’s Mobility & Material business, which was sold to Celanese in February, is classified as a discontinued operation.

DuPont increased its estimated full-year 2022 net sales range for continuing operations to USD13.3-USD13.7bn, reflecting assumptions for cost inflation related to raw materials, logistics and energy, which the company expects to offset with price, it said.

As MRC reported earlier, DuPont is to invest around USD5 m at facilities in Germany and Switzerland to increase capacity for automotive adhesives. The investment will expand capacity to support growing demand for advanced mobility solutions for vehicle electrification. New equipment has been delivered and installed that will increase manufacturing capacity as well as accelerate delivery of product samples to customers.

We remind that DuPont is also investing USD400 million in the production capacity of Tyvek nonwoven fabric made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) at its site in Luxembourg. A new building and a third work line at the production site will be constructed. The launch of new facilities was scheduled for 2021.

The DuPont Corporation, founded in the USA in 1802, operates in more than 70 countries. The company produces specialty chemicals, offers goods and services for agriculture, food production, electronics, communications, security and protection, construction, transport and light industry. In Russia, DuPont has 100% control over the DuPont Khimprom plant since 2005, and in 2006 established a joint venture between DuPont - Russian Paints and Russian Paints.
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Versalis confirms the transformation of its activities at Porto Marghera and the implementation of new industrial initiatives in the area, said the company.

These initiatives complement Eni's plans in the petrochemical and biorefinery field for a total of more than EUR500 million in investments, and aim to accelerate the energy transition and the development of chemistry from the circular economy. This implementation will see more than 600,000 tonnes/year of CO2 emissions being cut.

In Porto Marghera, Versalis is building the first plant for advanced post-consumer plastics mechanical recycling, following the acquisition of Ecoplastic's technology and facilities in 2021. Plants will be installed to produce styrenic polymers from recycled raw material, already sorted and pre-treated. The total capacity of this first phase will be about 20,000 tonnes/year: the new products, which will expand the Versalis Revive polymer portfolio and consolidate European leadership in recycled styrenic polymers, will be destined for applied sectors in which the requirements of sustainability and circularity are essential, such as packaging and construction.

Versalis will also build the first plant in Italy in Porto Marghera for the production of isopropyl alcohol, which today is fully imported from abroad and used in numerous market sectors. The capacity of the new plant, 30,000 tonnes/year, is in line with domestic market demand and is considered a strategic step for Versalis in specialising its portfolio with higher value products. A hydrogen production plant will also be built to serve the isopropyl alcohol plant.

As part of this programme, the process of shutting down the cracking and aromatics plants will begin on 9th May, and is estimated to last for six days. The relevant authorities will be kept informed and updated on the progress. The supply of ethylene and propylene to the industrial sites in Mantua and Ferrara will be guaranteed through the logistics hub that currently manages the flow of ships for the supply of incoming raw materials and the various outgoing products. Investments to strengthen the hub, aimed at maximising its reliability and flexibility through optimizing the new set-up, have been underway for some time and partially implemented.

Versalis confirms that the transformation plan will be implemented with the utmost attention to employment balances.

As per MRC, Versalis S.p.A. (San Donato Milanese), Eni’s chemical company, has agreed to license its proprietary continuous mass technology to Shandong Eco Chemical Co. Ltd, a Chinese company part of Shandong Haike Holding Ltd. The license will be granted for a 210,000-ton/yr acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) unit to be built in Dongying, Shandong province (China).

As per MRC, Versalis S.p.A. (San Donato Milanese), the chemical company of Italian energy major Eni, has licensed to Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. a Low-Density Polyethylene/Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (LDPE/EVA) swing unit to be built as part of a new Gas-to-Chemical Complex based on MTO-Methanol to Olefins technology to be located in the Karakul area in the Bukhara region of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
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Pemex reported a USD6.17 B first-quarter net profit, reversing a nearly USD2 B loss in the year-ago period, driven by foreign exchange gains, growing output and higher crude prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Total financial debt at Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, edged down slightly to USD108.1 B from USD109 B at the end of 2021. Pemex attributed the improvement to strong Mexican government support and the company's own debt management operations.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pumped billions of dollars into Petroleos Mexicanos, as the company is formally known, in an effort to prioritize its health and achieve energy self-sufficiency during his term. The Mexican oil giant said it had received 45.4 B pesos (USD2.3 B) from the government to repay debt during the first three months of the year, as well as 16 B pesos (USD804 MM) to build its Olmeca refinery expected to come online by the end of this year.

Reuters reported late last week that the Olmeca refinery, a top priority for Lopez Obrador, is running some USD5 B over budget. Pemex's revenue surged 59.6% in the first three months of 2022, boosted by a jump in sales and a recovery in oil prices. Crude oil prices jumped more than 36% from around USD56 per barrel to nearly USD89 per barrel during the first quarter, pushed up in large part by Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

The Mexican peso gained 3.13% against the dollar during the January-March period. Crude oil and condensate production totaled 1.755 MMbpd, up 2.3% from last year's first quarter, according to the company's filing with the Mexican stock exchange, powered by 355,000 bpd in output from new priority fields.

Separate figures posted on its website show that Pemex has also significantly revised upward its previously reported fourth-quarter losses to around 194 B pesos from the 124 B pesos that it posted in February, a difference of more than USD3 B in additional red ink.

In April, Mexico's finance minister reiterated that the government was ready to make Pemex debt repayments whenever necessary, as higher oil prices have greatly improved cash flow.

As MRC informed previously, Mexico will reduce refining output at state oil company Pemex while it modernizes its oil refineries, according to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's statement earlier this month.

We remind that n late January, 2022, Pemex signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas. Pemex and Shell in May, 2021, announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd. Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 years.

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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