INERATEC and Clariant partnership to support the scale-up of sustainable fuel production

Clariant continues to join forces with Ineratec in the challenge for a greener future, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Since 2017, Clariant’s tailor-made catalysts have supported Ineratec’s power-to-liquid technology for producing sustainable fuels from lab-scale to industrial pilot-scale. Now it will be used in the company’s first globally pioneering pilot plant in Frankfurt Hochst. This new pioneer plant has up to 10 times higher production capacity and the several thousand tons per year will be a main driver for the broad availability of sustainable, CO2-neutral fuels and chemicals.

"The collaboration with Clariant during our scale-up phase was one crucial part for the successful deployment at industrial scale”, CEO Tim Boeltken states. Marvin Estenfelder, Head of R&D at Clariant Catalysts, commented, “we are very pleased to collaborate with such an innovative company as Ineratec to jointly tackle the challenge of fighting climate change. The successful scale-up is a major step towards accelerating pioneering work in sustainable fuel production to gradually drive the decarbonization of the transport sector."

The collaboration focuses on the first reaction step within the power-to-liquid process, the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction to produce syngas from CO2 and renewable hydrogen. Due to the cutting-edge reactor technology Ineratec has developed for this step, the catalyst must provide specific characteristics to be applicable within the micro-structured system.

The tailored catalyst from Clariant allows reaching the optimal desired syngas composition for the subsequent synthesis reactions. In two industrial pilot plants, located in Germany, Clariant?s ShiftMax 100 RE reverse water-gas shift catalysts have already been used and proven to meet the expected syngas yield and composition. For Ineratec’s new larger pioneering plant, the technology will again rely on Clariant’s ShiftMax 100 RE catalyst to produce renewable syngas via reverse water-gas shift – an essential step in the conversion of CO2. The promoted nickel catalyst shows an unprecedented high resistance against coking and low methane by-product formation. Furthermore, ShiftMax 100 RE offers high CO2 conversion over a long lifetime, high poison resistance, and superior strength.

As per MRC, Clariant (CLN.S) and its main shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corp (2010.SE) are to end a so-called "governance agreement" defining their relationship, stirring speculation SABIC could launch a full takeover bid for the Swiss chemicals firm.

We remind that in October 2020, Clariant announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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Worley has been awarded a contract by Heartwell Renewables LLC, a joint venture between The Love’s Family of Companies and Cargill, for a greenfield renewable fuels plant in Hastings, Nebraska, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new plant will produce an estimated 80 MMgal/yr [around 303 MMl/yr (millions of liters/yr)] of renewable diesel per year from feedstocks such as vegetable oils and tallow. This renewable diesel has the potential to reduce at least 50% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional petroleum-based diesel. It can also be used as a drop-in fuel in diesel-powered vehicles without any engine modifications.

Under the contract, Worley will provide detailed and field engineering services. Worley’s services will be executed in Houston, Texas with support from its Global Integrated Delivery (GID) team in India. The team will use a full suite of digital tools during project delivery.

As per MRC, Worley has announced that its strategic partnership with Avantium Renewable Polymers is now progressing to the next phase. Worley previously announced the partnership on 29 January 2021. Following the recent positive final investment decision (FID), Worley and Avantium have signed a technology cooperation agreement and Worley will now deliver engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to develop the Avantium flagship facility in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.

As per MRC, Worley has bagged a front-end engineering and design (FEED) services contract from Trinseo for its first-of-a-kind chemical recycling plant in Belgium. Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics and latex binders. The plant will use gasification technology to depolymerise post-consumer polystyrene waste into pure styrene. It’s a first-of-its-kind project on an industrial scale.
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Chevron Corp Chief Executive Michael Wirth on Wednesday told shareholders the U.S. oil producer plans to focus on lowering the carbon intensity of its operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We aim to lead in lower carbon intensity oil, products, and natural gas, and to advance new products and solutions that reduce the carbon emissions of major industries," Wirth said in a statement.

He added that Chevron is doing its part to grow domestic supply, with U.S. oil and gas production up 10% over the first quarter of last year.

As per MRC, Chevron and ExxonMobil have signed separate agreements with state energy company PT Pertamina to explore lower carbon business opportunities in Indonesia. Chevron signed an MoU through its subsidiary, Chevron New Ventures Pte. Ltd, and is looking at potential businesses in new geothermal technology, carbon offsets through nature-based solutions, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), Pertamina said.

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.
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Shell Overseas Investments B.V. and B.V. Dordtsche Petroleum Maatschappij, subsidiaries of Shell plc, have completed the sale of Shell Neft LLC, Shell’s retail stations and lubricants business in Russia, to PJSC LUKOIL, said the company.

This follows the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. The sale agreement was announced on May 12, 2022. All people currently working for Shell Neft, more than 350 in total, will remain employed by Shell Neft, which is now owned by LUKOIL.

The transaction is part of Shell’s wider withdrawal from all Russian hydrocarbons which is being conducted in a phased manner, in line with its announcement in early March. The sale has been carried out in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

As per MRC, Shell withdrew from the authorized capital of the Gydan Energy joint venture with Gazprom Neft on the Gydan Peninsula. How specified in the document, on May 19, Gazprom Neft became the only participant in Gydan Energy with a 100% share. Previously, the partners each owned 50% in the authorized capital of the enterprise. Shell and Gazprom Neft set up a joint venture in November 2021 in the Yenisei project on the Gydan, which includes two license blocks, Leskinsky and Pukhutsyakhsky.

In addition, Shell in its reporting for the first quarter of 2022 recognized the cost of leaving Russian assets at USD 3.9 billion after taxes. Earlier, she informed that the losses could amount to USD 4-5 billion.

Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas concern engaged in the extraction, processing and marketing of hydrocarbons in more than 70 countries.
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ExxonMobil Corp shareholders on Wednesday backed the energy company's energy transition strategy, voting against most proposals related to accelerating carbon emission cuts, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Major oil producers in the U.S. and Europe faced less hostile investor votes tied to climate change this year compared to a year ago as energy security and rising fuel prices overshadowed environmental concerns.

In a preliminary voting session with more than 80% of Exxon's investors, shareholders voted against a resolution filed by activist group Follow This, urging faster action to battle climate change.

Only 28% of the participants backed the proposal for setting and publishing medium and long-term targets to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from Exxon's operations and products as well as reducing hydrocarbon sales.

A proposal calling for a report on low carbon business planning was not approved, with only 10.5% votes in favor. Investors also gave a no vote for a report on plastic production, with 37% voting for it. Shareholders approved a proposal for the company to create a report on scenario analysis for climate change.

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.
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