Shell to appoint Elise Nowee as president, catalyst and technology

Elise H. Nowee has been named President Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SC&T) effective July 1, 2022, said the company.

She will succeed Andy Gosse who has served in the role since 2018. Nowee will be based in the Netherlands and report to Yuri Sebregts, Executive Vice President Technology for Shell.

"Elise has global experience leading teams and businesses during challenging times and volatile markets. She has a long track record of growing a variety of businesses across Shell while also strengthening business operational excellence using an End-to-End approach.,” says Sebregts. “Her insights and knowledge will be valuable as SC&T continues the journey supporting the needs of customers and the industry through the energy transition."

SC&T is at the forefront of developing new services and technologies for the energy and petrochemical industries. This includes advanced catalysts for refining and petrochemicals, as well as licensing and technical services to support these technologies and solutions. SC&T is committed to enabling the industry to provide more and cleaner energy solutions for today and the future.

Since joining Shell nearly 30 years ago as a chemical engineer in the Pernis Refinery in the Netherlands, Nowee has held leadership positions in regional and global teams in manufacturing, commercial, sales, economic optimisation, oil-chemical integration, Joint-Ventures and supply chain management. Currently she serves as General Manager for the Lubricants Supply Chain organisation in Europe, Middle East and Africa, an organisation that produces 4,500 types of lubricants that are supplied to customers in more than 75 countries. Before this, Nowee held the position of Regional Base Chemicals and Global Base Oils Manager.

As per MRC, 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.
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.

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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DuPont announced completion of the previously-announced sale of its Biomaterials business unit, effective May 31, 2022, to the Huafon Group for a purchase price of approximately USD240 mln, said the company.

The results of operations of the Biomaterials business unit were previously reported in Corporate & Other. For full year 2021, the Biomaterials business unit recorded net sales of approximately USD200 million.

DuPont is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety.

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.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Ruian, China, the Huafon Group has been innovating to provide new material solutions globally in multiple industries by promoting sustainability, safety, technology and quality. Huafon Group is one of the largest manufacturers of polyurethane (PU) materials in the world with broad product portfolio in adipic acid, polyester polyols, spandex filament, microfiber material, TPU, polyamide etc. Huafon Group has more than 14,000 employees and owns multiple subsidiary companies globally in chemical, metals, finance, logistics, information technology and trade.
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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 MM gallons (around 303 MM liters) of renewable diesel per year from feedstocks such as vegetable oils and tallow.

This renewable diesel has the potential to reduce at least 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional petroleum-based diesel. It’s also compatible with diesel engines and can be used directly in engines designed to run on conventional diesel fuel with no blending required.

Under the contract, we’ll be providing detailed and field engineering services. Our services will be carried out by our team in Houston, Texas with support from our Global Integrated Delivery office in India.

“To help decarbonize road transportation, North America will be increasing its renewable diesel capacity significantly by 2025. We look forward to working with Heartwell on this important project that will contribute to the ambition of supplying more sustainable fuels to the market,” said Christy Tyer, Senior Vice President, Americas Central at Worley.

As per MRC, Worley announced it will be working with Phillips 66 Limited to integrate Shell’s carbon capture technology – CANSOLV – into the refinery and design the infrastructure required to export the CO2 into the proposed transport and storage network.

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.
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KBR, Inc.is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement to invest an additional USD100 million in Mura Technology (“Mura”) bringing KBR’s aggregate investment in Mura to 18.5%, said the company.

This investment provides Mura incremental capital to accelerate development of its plastics recycling projects and enables KBR to participate more fully in this sustainability-focused, high growth sector. Funding is expected in two tranches with the first payment in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and the remainder in 2023.

"Building on our strong partnership of collaboration and innovation, we are very excited to announce our expanded investment in Mura,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. “With a strategic approach to commercializing and scaling its proprietary, differentiated plastics recycling solution, Mura is very well positioned for profitable growth and value creation as the plastics circular economy develops and matures."

Mura’s mission is to commercialize its differentiated plastics recycling solution to enable a plastic-neutral, sustainable future by providing an end-to-end process to convert mixed waste plastic back to high quality chemical feedstocks. Targeting 1,000,000 tonnes of annual recycling capacity in operation or development by 2025, Mura licenses its technology through KBR to a global client base and is also developing its own portfolio of global sites.

In early 2021, KBR entered into an alliance to become Mura’s exclusive licensing partner, broadening the addressable market and customer access for this highly differentiated plastics recycling technology. Together, KBR and Mura have won numerous license awards and feasibility studies. This alliance has also produced advances in process technology innovation such as closed loop power, water recycling, modularization and digital operating solutions. Through this partnership, KBR may also expand its engagement on Mura’s own projects to provide advanced engineering, program management and integration expertise.

A circular economy, in which plastics are reused, remade, and recycled, could slash CO2 emissions by almost 40% across the globe. Mura’s plastics recycling solution will play a central role in a global circular economy by providing an innovative new way to recycle all forms of end-of-life plastic, many of which would otherwise be incinerated, sent to landfill, or leak into the environment as plastic pollution, helping to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic and cut carbon emissions.

As per MRC, KBR has won a seven-year contract to provide maintenance services to the SATORP refinery and petrochemicals complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Under contract, with Saudi Aramco TOTAL Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), includes an option for a three-year extension. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide preventive, predictive, corrective, and shutdown maintenance services at the refinery, with a focus on continuous improvement and sustainable asset performance, it said. Financial terms were not disclosed.

As MRC reported earlier, KBR and ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing will collaborate to bring significant advancements to propane dehydrogenation (PDH) technology. Under the collaboration, ExxonMobil's new proprietary catalyst technology will be combined with KBR's proprietary K-PRO PDH technology to convert propane into propylene. Enabled by the superior performance of ExxonMobil's new catalyst, the combined technology solution could offer financial savings compared to PDH technologies currently available.

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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Worley has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) services contract by Alfanar for a low-carbon fuels project in Teesside, United Kingdom, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project, known as Lighthouse Green Fuels, will convert residual solid waste into SAF and green naphtha. The project will process approximately 1 MM tons of residual solid waste every year – such as municipal solid waste, refuse-derived fuel or solid recovered fuel – into approximately 3,200 bbl/day of SAF and green naphtha. These fuels have the potential to produce 80 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to current fossil fuels.

The plant is expected to enter commercial operations in 2027, following the scheduled start-up of the first Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) carbon cluster in Teesside.

Under the contract, Worley will provide FEED services to develop the existing early front-end engineering package and integrate the licensor scope to provide a greater level of definition to the project. The services will be led by Worley’s offices in the UK with support from specialists around the world and Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery team.

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.
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