Wood signs global engineering & project support master services agreement with Chevron

Wood signs global engineering & project support master services agreement with Chevron

Wood, the global consulting and engineering company, has entered into a 10-year global master services agreement for engineering and project related services with Chevron, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement can be used by all of Chevron’s business units and covers both offshore and onshore assets within the upstream, midstream and downstream markets.

The deal enables the formation of a global strategic relationship, strengthening the overall quality of engineering and providing predictable outcomes for project delivery worldwide. To further enhance predictable performance, Wood will work with Chevron’s digital enablement specialists to collaborate, optimize, and pursue efficiencies.

Jennifer Richmond, Executive President of Strategy & Development at Wood, said: “With Chevron, we share the same strategic sentiment, growth mindset and alignment on key sustainability and performance goals. Our strong market proposition enables us to provide solutions right across the energy spectrum on a global scale, and our commitment to digitalization and adoption of best-in-industry practices ensures we are continuously seeking performance and project efficiencies."

Jim Shaughnessy, President of Conventional Energy at Wood, added: “Transparency, ingenuity, collaboration, and predictable performance have all been key to building our more than 20-year relationship with Chevron."

As per MRC, Chevron Corporation completed its previously announced acquisition of Renewable Energy Group, Inc. following approval by REG stockholders.

As per MRC, QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPChem) have awarded the early site works contract for the Ras Laffan Petrochemical Project (RLPP) to Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC). The contract award marks the commencement of execution of the RLPP. CCC has secured a lump-sum contract to prepare the site for the new facility within Ras Laffan Industrial City. Early works on the project will begin in June, at the conclusion of which the EPC contract for the project is expected to be awarded.
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BP beefs up hydrogen team in bet on fuel's future

BP beefs up hydrogen team in bet on fuel's future

BP is beefing up its hydrogen management team as the energy company prepares to accelerate investments in the low-carbon fuel which it believes will play a key role in the world's shift away from fossil fuels, said Reuters.

The revamp of the hydrogen team is the first clear sign of changes Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, a former head of RWE Renewables, has made since becoming BP's head of natural gas and renewables in March. It also comes as BP announces it has agreed to buy a 40.5% stake and become operator of an Australian renewable energy project that could become one of the world's biggest producers of green hydrogen.

BP's new hydrogen organisation will be led by Felipe Arbelaez, a veteran BP executive who has helped shape its renewables strategy since Chief Executive Bernard Looney took office in 2020, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. The business will include six regional team leaders as well as two separate teams dedicated to technical developments and integration of hydrogen in BP's operations, the memo said.

As per MRC, British energy giant BP has agreed to sell its remaining 50% stake in the Sunrise oil sands project in northern Alberta, Canada, to Cenovus Energy. The deal’s total consideration includes a USD466.9m (CD600m) cash payment and a conditional payment with a USD466.9m (CD600m) maximum aggregate value that expires after a two-year period. As part of the deal, Cenovus will sell its 35% stake in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, in Eastern Canada, to BP.
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OMV Schwechat oil refinery at 20% capacity after accident

OMV Schwechat oil refinery at 20% capacity after accident

OMV's 200,000 bpd Schwechat oil refinery is running at 20% capacity with repairs to fix a crude distillation unit set to take several weeks at least, OMV Chief Executive Alfred Stern told Reuters.

On June 3, two people were injured when a part at a crude oil distillation unit exploded at the refinery towards the end of a planned turnaround that has put a stop to output at the site since April 19. It was the biggest incident at a refinery OMV has had to deal with and requires dozens of people to fix the 40-meter high unit at the refinery next to Vienna Airport, Stern said.

OMV will learn over the next couple of weeks how long repairs might take, but was expecting the outage to last at least "several weeks", he added. "The main distillation unit is a big part (of the refinery), we also have a smaller one. The rest of the refinery has resumed operations but at a significantly smaller capacity - at around 20% of the overall production capacity," Stern said in an interview.

The outage happened while global refinery margins and prices at petrol pumps across the world are at record levels on the back of soaring post-pandemic demand and shrinking refining capacity. On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden even demanded oil companies explain why they aren't putting more gasoline on the market. OMV has been using its own stockpiles and public reserves to cover the shortfall to its customers.

But it will also have to buy additional refined products such as diesel and jet fuel from European countries like Germany or Romania, and the Middle East, for example Abu Dhabi, via the ports of Trieste or Koper, Stern added. The additional cost to OMV will be buffered partially by its insurance coverage.

Stern said some airlines are now filling up before they return to Austria "to reduce demand and relax the situation", whereas before the accident they would have waited until they arrive at Vienna Airport. Stern said he expected OMV's refinery margins to be higher than last year - alongside refinery margins across the globe amid high demand and tight fuel supply - high energy costs and more expensive crude oil were eating into some of those profits.

As per MRC, OMV reported utilization of 83% at its European refineries in H1, 2021, down by 3% on the year yet "relatively resilient in light of the COVID-19 impact". It expects the utilization rates at its European refineries to remain at the 2020 level this year. Last year its refineries reported 86% utilization. The company's refineries in Europe ran at 85% utilization in Q2, up from 81% in the year-ago quarter.

As MRC wrote before, OMV is investing EUR40 million (USD48 million) to expand and modernize a steam cracker and associated units at its refining and petrochemicals complex at Burghausen, Germany. The upgrade will increase the site’s ethylene and propylene production capacity by 50,000 metric tons/year. Following a planned turnaround of the refinery, the revamped cracker and petchem units are expected to start operations in the third quarter of 2022. Initial groundwork is already underway ahead of the upgrade.

OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 20,000 employees in 2019, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies.
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Clariant Q1 sales, earnings up sharply

Clariant Q1 sales, earnings up sharply

Clariant’s first-quarter sales and earnings jumped, year on year, because of 16% higher selling prices and 14% higher volumes, said the company.

Sales came in at Swiss francs (Swfr) 1.26bn (USD1.26bn), up 25% year on year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Swfr220m. The company delayed the publication of its Q1 results following an investigation into its accounting, now concluded.

The company's 16% increase in selling prices “in part addressed continued cost” inflation as energy and raw materials prices remained high during the first quarter. “Catalysis sales decreased by a slight 1% in local currency [Swiss francs], despite significantly higher Specialty Catalysts sales, which could not entirely counterbalance the weakness in parts of Petrochemicals and Syngas,” said Clariant. “Natural Resources sales increased by a resounding 31% in local currency with growth attributable to all three Business Units, especially Additives."

For the second quarter, the company said sales would decline, compared to the first quarter, due to seasonal impacts in key sectors such aviation and refinery. Year on year, however, sales are still expected to rise.

It added that in 2022, economic growth would be likely impacted by geopolitical conflicts, its suspension of business with Russia, and the resurgence of COVID-19 in China. “Clariant expects the high inflationary environment with regard to raw material, energy, and logistics cost as well as supply chain challenges to persist in the second half of 2022,” it concluded.

Chemicals equity analysts at Baader Bank said Clariant’s Q1 results were more positive than expected, with the company managing to keep its selling margins high while other companies in the petrochemicals space had suffered more from high raw material prices.

Lummus Technology announced it and its catalyst partner Clariant have been awarded a major contract by Fujian Meide to supply CATOFIN technology and catalysts for a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Fuzhou, China. Already operating one PDH unit at its Fuzhou petrochemical complex, Fujian Meide is now building one of the largest PDH units in the world and has selected the CATOFIN process and catalysts for the project's second phase. The new unit will produce 900,000 mtons of propylene annually and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.
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Biden blasts oil refiners for record high gasoline prices, profits

Biden blasts oil refiners for record high gasoline prices, profits

U.S. President Joe Biden demanded oil refining companies explain why they are not putting more gasoline on the market, sharply escalating his rhetoric against industry as he faces pressure over rising prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Biden wrote to executives from Marathon Petroleum Corp , Valero Energy Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp and complained they had cut back on oil refining to pad their profits, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters. The letter is also being sent to Phillips 66, Chevron Corp, BP and Shell, a White House official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

"At a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable," Biden wrote, adding the lack of refining was driving gas prices up faster than oil prices. U.S. energy companies are enjoying bumper profits as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has added to a supply squeeze which has driven crude oil prices above $100 a barrel, and as fuel demand has remained robust, despite record high gasoline prices.

U.S. refining capacity peaked in April 2020 at just under 19 MMbpd, as refiners shut several unprofitable facilities during the coronavirus pandemic. As of March, refining capacity was 17.9 MMbpd, but there have been other closures announced since. U.S. refiners are running at near-peak levels to process fuel - currently at 94% of capacity - and say there is little they can do to satisfy Biden's demands.

“Our refineries are running full out,” Bruce Niemeyer, corporate vice president of strategy and sustainability at Chevron, told Reuters on the sidelines of a New York energy transition conference on Tuesday, before Biden’s letter was made public.

Biden said the industry's lack of action is blunting the administration's attempts to offset the impact of oil-rich Russia's invasion of Ukraine, such as releases from the nation's oil reserves and adding more cheaper ethanol to gasoline. On Friday, the president accused the U.S. oil industry, and Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N in particular, of capitalizing on a supply shortage to fatten profits after a report showed.

As per MRC, The White House is considering waiving U.S. gasoline environmental rules aimed at reducing summertime smog, hoping the waiver will combat rising pump prices, according to three sources involved in the discussions. The Biden administration is considering waiving U.S. gasoline environmental rules aimed at reducing summertime smog, hoping the waiver will combat rising pump prices, according to three sources involved in the discussions.
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