Slovak refiner says sanctions plan will halt exports, threaten operations

Slovakia's sole oil refiner Slovnaft, a unit of Hungary's MOL, said that planned sanctions on Russian oil would in their current form ban oil product exports after 8 months from Slovnaft to its key markets in central Europe such as the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A forced reduction in output at the 124,000 bpd refinery will cut refining below the technological minimum, making it also impossible to supply the domestic market, the refiner said in an emailed comment.

We remind, Linde Engineering announced it has been selected by Slovnaft, a member of the MOL Group, a leading integrated Central Eastern European oil and gas corporation, to conduct a complex large-scale revamp of a polypropylene (PP3) plant in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Slovnaft is a crude oil refining enterprise located in Bratislava, Slovakia. The maximum annual refining capacity is 6 million tons of crude oil, which is primarily supplied via the "Druzhba" pipeline. The dominating place in the production portfolio belongs to motor fuel (about 4.5 million tons/year), chemicals (200 thousand tons/year) and primary plastic materials (400 thousand tons/year).
mrchub.com

The TPC Group announced Wednesday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it's a voluntary move that should strengthen its finances and make them more competitive, said the company.

This bankruptcy filing comes two-and-a-half years after explosions rocked the company's Port Neches plant damaging hundreds of homes and businesses.

TPC has entered into a restructuring support agreement with lenders and equity sponsors that provides for capital to fund operations, including: USD450 million in connection with two rights offerings and USD350 million in exit notes; a USD323 million delayed draw debtor-in-possession financing facility that includes up to USD85 million of new money to support the operations and help fund the restructuring; a USD200 million asset-based revolving debtor-in-possession facility.

TPC expects the restructuring to remove over USD950 million of the approximately USD1.3 billion of secured funded debt currently on its balance sheet.

In February, TPC announced that it had entered into a forbearance agreement with its lenders after failing to make interest payments.

As per MRC, The Polyolefins Company (TPC) has decided not to shut its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Jurong Island, Singapore in mid-July 2021 for maintenance. The turnaround at this plant with a capacity of 260,000 mt/year of LDPE was initially expected to last for 45 days. TPC last conducted maintenance at its LDPE plant in Jurong Island in July 2018.
mrchub.com

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.
mrchub.com

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.
mrchub.com

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.
mrchub.com