SK Capital announces Asim Bhatia as Director, Business Development

SK Capital Partners, LP, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, specialty chemicals, and pharmaceuticals sectors, announced the hiring of Asim Bhatia as Director, Business Development, said the company.

Mr. Bhatia will be based in New York and brings nearly 25 years of strategic corporate development, M&A, investment banking, and corporate banking experience to SK Capital.

In this role, Mr. Bhatia will coordinate and lead the firm’s efforts to identify and develop new investment opportunities. Prior to joining SK Capital, Mr. Bhatia was a Senior Director of Corporate M&A at DuPont de Nemours, Inc., where he led both the acquisitions and divestitures of several businesses during his tenure. Prior to DuPont, Mr. Bhatia held similar roles at Honeywell and Eastman Chemical, and was previously an investment banker.

"We are delighted to welcome Asim to the SK Capital team. His experience managing M&A for several of the most respected corporates in our sectors is a highly valuable skill set. We believe a dedicated effort to developing and managing the large pipeline of opportunities across our industries of focus will serve to enhance our investment practice,” said Mario Toukan, Managing Director of SK Capital.

As per MRC, Neste, Covestro and South Korean petrochemical company SK geo centric are cooperating to enable the production of a major polyurethane raw material based on renewable raw materials via mass balance. The cooperation will see Neste provide SK geo centric with renewable Neste RE, an ISCC certified feedstock for polymers and chemicals made from 100% renewable raw materials such as waste and residue oil and fats. SK geo centric will process this feedstock into benzene at the company’s facilities in South Korea and supply it to Covestro to use as raw material for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) at its site in Shanghai, China.

SK Capital is a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, specialty chemicals, and pharmaceuticals sectors. The firm seeks to build strong and growing businesses that create substantial long-term economic value. SK Capital aims to utilize its industry, operating, and investment experience to identify opportunities to transform businesses into higher performing organizations with improved strategic positioning, growth, and profitability, as well as lower operating risk. SK Capital’s portfolio of businesses generates revenues of approximately $15 billion annually, employs more than 20,000 people globally, and operates 191 plants in 32 countries.
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Borealis is investing around EUR200 mln to upgrade and expand its XLPE and semicon assets at existing production locations in Europe, said the company.

This ambitious initiative will serve the W&C market by safeguarding the reliable supply of high-quality insulation and semiconductive materials in the long term, and particularly those required to support global offshore wind and interconnector projects.

Investment focus lies on production of XLPE compounds in Stenungsund, Sweden; and on semicon compounds in Antwerp, Belgium. The products and services originating at these new centres of manufacturing excellence are subject to stringent process and quality controls.

The Baystar joint venture with TotalEnergies is bringing the Borstar 3G technology to American PE markets. Construction commenced in 2020 on the 625,000 metric ton-per-year Borstar PE unit in Texas. Once the facility comes on stream in 2022, the increased production capacity will enable Borealis, as exclusive supplier of Baystar-produced PE to W&C customers, to better fulfil growing demand for fibre optic and power cable jacketing in North, Central, and South America.

An investment study to evaluate capacity expansion at the Borealis Compounds Inc. production facility in New Jersey is nearing completion. Once the project is deemed feasible, Borealis plans to invest a significant sum to expand the XLPE facility so as to serve the steadily growing demand for medium voltage power cables in the Americas. XLPE production capacity at this facility is set to increase by 10 kta to reach a total capacity of 42 kta by the year 2024.

As per MRC, Borealis (Vienna, Austria) has announced several deals for its certified renewable feedstock range for use in polypropylene (PP) and polyethene (PE) packaging and pipeline products. Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals and fertilizers, has announced that Nupi Industrie Italiane (NUPI) has selected the ™ polypropylene (PP) for the next generation of their PP-RCT (Polypropylene Random Crystalline Structure Temperature) piping solutions for domestic plumbing, heating as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems designed to perform under higher stress conditions and temperatures.

Borealis is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions and a European front-runner in polyolefins recycling. In Europe, we are a market leader in base chemicals and fertilizers. We leverage our polymer expertise and decades of experience to offer value adding, innovative and circular material solutions for key industries such as consumer products, energy, healthcare, infrastructure and mobility.
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The head of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) said the country's subsidies for gasoline had helped restore demand close to pre-pandemic levels in May and June, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The government adopted the temporary subsidy program in January to ease the blow from high crude prices because of tight global supplies, exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict. "The subsidies are having a great effect and consumers are benefiting greatly," PAJ President Tsutomu Sugimori told a news conference, while giving the details on demand.

The subsidy - over 40 yen a liter as of this week - has kept current gasoline prices at around 174 yen a liter, below a peak they reached in 2008. Sugimori said he did not know what price level would cause a drop in gasoline demand, but consumers would be clearly discouraged from buying gasoline if retail prices rose above 200 yen (USD1.5) a liter.

Sugimori, also chairman of Japan's biggest oil refiner Eneos Holdings, said the nation's refinery capacity would continue to decline as demand was falling about 2% a year due to the ageing and shrinking population. Eneos plans to shut down its 81-year-old Wakayama refinery in October 2023 as part of a long-term restructuring.

Last week, oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan said it would terminate Yamaguchi refinery in western Japan of its affiliate Seibu Oil by March 2024, cutting its group capacity by 13%.

Asked about demand for fuel oil used to generate electricity in the summer, when tight power supply is predicted, Sugimori said Eneos received 83% higher demand in April-September against a year earlier, but it could only provide 56% higher supply. "Despite a surge in coal prices, coal is still cheaper than oil (as power generation fuel). But oil is still economically superior to LNG," he said.

As per MRC, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. and JERA Co., Inc. have today concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) stipulating that they will jointly consider establishing a hydrogen supply chain based in the Ise Bay area. On the back of demand for decarbonisation, hydrogen—which emits no CO2when burned—is expected to be used in large quantities at power plants and in industrial areas as a next-generation replacement for fossil fuels. It is essential, therefore, to develop large-scale receiving and supply bases near areas where hydrogen will be in demand.
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Neptune Energy, ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Netherlands, Ltd., Rosewood Exploration Ltd., and EBN Capital B.V. announced the signing of a Cooperation Agreement to progress the L10 large-scale offshore carbon capture and storage project in the Dutch North Sea, said the company.

The agreement brings together the technical and commercial capabilities necessary to create a robust carbon storage offering for industrial customers in the Dutch sector. It intends to take the L10 carbon capture and storage development to the concept select stage in 2022 and to have the project FEED-ready by the end of the year, followed by the submission of a storage licence application.

Exploratory discussions with industrial emitters from various sectors are continuing, ahead of the upcoming round for applications for SDE++ funding from Dutch authorities.

Neptune Energy’s Managing Director in the Netherlands, Lex de Groot, said: “CCS is crucial for achieving the Dutch climate goals for 2030. This Cooperation Agreement is a significant step in the development of the Neptune-operated L10 project which supports our strategy to go beyond net zero and store more carbon than is emitted from our operations, scope 1, and sold products, scope 3, by 2030.

“After the successful feasibility study, we can now combine our knowledge in the field of CCS with these parties. This next important step will enable us to jointly develop one of the largest CCS facilities in the North Sea. The reuse of our existing infrastructure means that, together, we can help achieve the climate goals, but also ensure this part of the energy transition becomes cleaner, cheaper and faster."

EBN’s Program Manager CCUS, Berte Simons, said: “We’re pleased to co-operate with our joint venture partners in this carbon capture and storage project where we can re-use existing infrastructure. With our subsurface knowledge and experience on storage we’ll be able to contribute extensively to the development of this project. The offshore storage of CO2 is pivotal in meeting climate goals and EBN is determined to contribute to a carbon-neutral energy system."

"ExxonMobil welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with industry and the government in support of the L10 carbon capture and storage project,” said Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. “Carbon capture and storage is a proven, ready-to-deploy technology that can help reduce emissions in some of the highest-emitting sectors and advance society’s net-zero goals."

This stage of the L10 carbon capture and storage project has the potential to store 4-5 million tonnes of CO2 annually for industrial customers within depleted gas fields around the Neptune-operated L10-A, B and E areas. It represents the first stage in the potential development of the greater L10 area as a large-volume CO2 storage reservoir.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil expects to add approximately 20,000 bpd of light, heavy and extra-heavy lubricant base stocks when upgrades at its Singapore integrated refining and petrochemical complex are complete in 2025.
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GTC Vorro Technology (GTC Vorro), a turn-key provider of environmental services and process technologies to oil & gas, refining and petrochemical companies, has expanded with the launch of its technology licensing division, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company’s commercial portfolio in the gas production, refining and petrochemical process industries is now served via two divisions, Environmental Services and Technology Licensing. Along with providing full-service sulfur removal and H2S management, the newly expanded company offering will include process technology licensing in the refining and petrochemical sectors. Areas of application include gasoline conversion to petrochemicals, non-traditional feedstocks into fuels and petrochemicals, and specialty products from steam cracker pygas such as hydrocarbon resins.

Pinti Wang, president of GTC Vorro, said, "Our continued growth will come through transfer of innovative technologies and services to the downstream refining and petrochemical areas based on trends in energy usage, environmental awareness, and consumer consumption patterns."

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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