Advanced Petrochemical to invest USD1.6 B in three Saudi plants

Advanced Petrochemical Company, based in Saudi Arabia, said that one of its subsidiary, Advanced Polyolefins Industry Company has signed several agreements worth USD1.6 B to fund the construction of plants at Jubail Industrial City II, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project includes a development of a propane dehydrogenation plant with a total annual capacity of 843,000 tons in addition to a polypropylene (800,000 tons) and a isopropanol facility (70,000 tons), per Trade Arabia.

The consortium members taking part in the funding include Alinma, Al Rajhi, Arab National Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, Bank Albilad, Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank and Saudi National Bank, according to the report.

The total credit facilities consist of a SR4.7 B base facility, SR438 MM standby facility, SR600 MM bridge Murabaha facility and SR356 MM VAT Murabaha facility, the article states.

As MRC wrote previously, in April, 2021, Advanced Petrochemical Co. announced that it had resumed operations at two plants in Jubail, Saudi Arabia after the completion of a scheduled turnaround. Thus, operations at the company's polypropylene (PP) plant began on 28 March, 2021, whereas operations at its propane degydranation (PDH) unit restarted on 11 April, 202. Both plants were shut for repairs on 11 March, 2021. The maintenance works were implemented in line with the occupational safety and health standards, despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Clariant has been awarded a major contract by Wanhua Chemical Group to supply catalysts for its new maleic anhydride plant, which will be one of the largest in the world, said the company.

Designed to produce 200 kilotons of maleic anhydride annually, the plant will rely on Clariant’s SynDane catalyst for the production process. The facility will be located in Yantai city, Shandong province, and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.

Also based in Yantai, Wanhua is one of the largest chemical producers in China and is among the top 30 chemical producers globally by 2020 sales. The Wanhua plant will be the first to use a new maleic anhydride production technology.

Compared to the conventional technology, this improves production efficiency and reduces power consumption. The technology licensor Conser estimates a reduction in energy consumption of 2.5 to 3.0 MW per hour of production at the Wanhua plant.

Assuming 8,000 hours of production per year, Wanhua’s annual energy savings will amount to 20,000 to 24,000 MWh. Jace Wang, Head of Business Unit Catalysts at Clariant in China, commented, “Sustainability is a vital aspect of our company strategy, and we are proud to support Wanhua in this ambitious and important project with our innovative catalysts."

Clariant’s SynDane is suitable for the new production technology. This was previously confirmed in successful performance testing with MAN DWE. Moreover, SynDane further intensifies the production and energy efficiencies of the new process, providing its exceptionally low pressure drop. The catalyst’s special structure and chemical composition also increase the selectivity towards maleic anhydride and thus maximize product yield.

China is in the process of gradually eliminating the use of non-degradable plastics, which is expected to boost demand for biodegradable plastic. Maleic anhydride is an important base material for polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and polybutylene succinate (PBS) biodegradable plastics. PBAT plastic offers similar properties to low-density polyethylene plastic. However, when buried in soil, it is completely decomposed by naturally occurring micro-organisms, leaving no toxic residues.

PBS is another biodegradable plastic with a high degree of biodegradability. A second catalyst was selected for the existing nitric acid plant in Ningbo: EnviCat N2O-S, is designed for highly effective purification of offgas containing nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful climate gas.

Wanhua can expect up to 95% of N2O emissions, to be converted into harmless oxygen and nitrogen. This is particularly important for the producer, as nitrous oxide is 300 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide. To help minimize the damaging effects of this greenhouse gas, Clariant launched a major campaign offering a free load of its EnviCat N2O-S to 10 nitric acid producers worldwide, who will be able to reduce their N2O emissions by more than 4 million tons of CO2 equivalents annually when using the catalyst2 .

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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Austria said it plans to release fuel from its national reserves for a second time since an accident at the country's biggest refinery in June prolonged an outage that is set to continue at least for another month, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

On June 3, two people were injured at OMV's Schwechat refinery when a part at a crude oil distillation unit exploded towards the end of a planned turnaround that has halted output at the site since April 19. Having released petrol and diesel from the national reserves on June 4, the energy ministry said in a statement it now planned to release roughly the same amount of diesel again as well as a smaller amount of intermediate products from which finished petroleum products will be produced.

"Comprehensive security of supply for our country should thus be ensured, bridging the duration of the maintenance work in Schwechat," the statement said. The plan must be approved by the main committee of the lower house of parliament, which is meeting on Monday evening. Under the plan, 100,000 tons of diesel and 45,000 tons of intermediate products will be released. On June 4, the amounts released were 112,000 tons of diesel and 56,000 tons of petrol.

While there have not been obvious signs of fuel shortages - like long lines at petrol stations - there have been reports of retailers briefly running out of diesel or limiting the amount customers can buy. Earlier on Monday, the opposition Social Democrats accused the government of dithering in addressing a national fuel shortage and urged it to tap the reserves.

The ministry said the reserves of crude oil and various products generally amount to 90 days' average national consumption, and the level was now at 67.5 days' worth before the second release, which would remove another 5.8 days' worth.

As per MRC, Austria is following through on a "use it or lose it" threat to eject Russia's Gazprom from its large Haidach gas storage facility for systematically failing to fill its portion of the capacity there, said Reuters.
The country’s industry regulator, E-control, started the process for assuming control over the underground Haidach site using a law which entered into force this month that allows Austria to seize critical storage spaces if operators fail to fill them to at least 10% of capacity.
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Britain launched an in-depth study of the gasoline market to investigate a widening gap between crude oil and fuel prices, as well as the difference between pump prices in rural and urban areas, said Reuters.

Forecourt prices in Britain have risen to record highs since the start of the war in Ukraine, taking the cost to fill an average family car above 100 pounds (USD119). The government in May asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the market as a matter of urgency on concerns that a cut in fuel duty had not been passed on to motorists.

The CMA said the main reasons motorists were paying more were the rising price of crude oil and a widening margin between crude and wholesale petrol and diesel, called the refining spread. It said the fuel duty cut appeared to have been implemented, with the largest fuel retailers doing so immediately and others more gradually.

"While there is no escaping the global pressures pushing up fuel prices, the growing gap between the oil price, and the wholesale price of petrol and diesel, is a cause for concern," said Sarah Cardell, CMA general counsel. "We now need to get to the bottom of whether there are legitimate reasons for this and, if not, what action can be taken to address it." An in-depth study allows the CMA to use compulsory information-gathering powers to investigate entire markets.

As per MRC, Hungary's cap on fuel prices should be lifted because it will lead to shortages "sooner or later". Zsolt Hernadi, in an interview on ATV late on Sunday, said Hungary was facing an "extremely dangerous" situation as the fuel price cap was driving up consumption. "This raises the question of how long this can be done," Hernadi said. MOL, which owns the largest network of service stations in Hungary, has previously called for the cap to be phased out. The limit was introduced last November and set the retail price for both 95-octane gasoline and diesel at 480 forints (USD1.20) a liter.
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd. (MHIENG), part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group, awarded a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study of a CO2 capture plant applied to natural gas fired gas turbines for a repowered combined cycle (GTCC) power plant in Alberta, Canada from Capital Power Corporation, a power generation company based in Canada, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

MHIENG has achieved the world’s top share of the market with its CO2 capture technology and has received high praise for its performance and expertise in this area. The objective of this FEED study is to implement the CO2 capture plant at the repowered Genesee Generating Station Units 1 & 2, owned by Capital Power in Alberta. MHIENG’s “Advanced KM CDR Process” will be deployed at these stations. The total expected amount of captured CO2 will be approximately 3 MMtpy. The captured CO2 will be transported and sequestered underground. For the execution of the FEED study, MHIENG partnered with Kiewit Energy Group Inc., a major North American construction and engineering company and both companies will work together with Capital Power for realization of the Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) project.

Capital Power is moving forward with repowering, deploying the GTCC system with MHI gas turbine toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the company’s fuel conversion from coal to natural gas. Operation with this system is scheduled in 2023 and 2024 at Generating Station 1 and 2 respectively. The entire MHI Group will collaborate together to support customer’s decarbonization strategy through the overall optimization between power generation facilities and CO2 capture system.

"We are excited to collaborate with MHI Group and Kiewit to advance our Genesee CCS Project,” said Steve Owens, SVP, Construction and Engineering for Capital Power. “The Project is expected to capture 95% of the CO2 emitted from our repowered, best-in-class Genesee 1 and 2 natural gas units. Undertaking this FEED study is a significant step forward in decarbonizing our Genesee Generating Station as we work to power a sustainable future for people and planet."

“The Genesee CCS Project highlights Capital Power’s commitment to the energy transition, and we are excited to be a part of this important work,” said Rob Medley, Vice President at Kiewit. “The Project will have a tremendous impact on the decarbonization of the facility and advance the CCS industry as a whole."

"We are proud to collaborate with Capital Power and Kiewit on this world leading project,” said Kenji Terasawa, President & CEO, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering. “We recognize Canada as highly proactive in pursuing environmental protection and is a promising market for decarbonization, and as an innovative solution provider, MHI Group is taking action to achieve a carbon neutral society by introducing our carbon capture technology. To realize this goal, we will work diligently with our partners to bring this project to fruition."

Canada, like other global markets including the U.K., Europe and the U.S., is actively promoting the deployment of Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), including through policy and institutional frameworks. Business discussions regarding CO2 capture project have become increasingly active. In May 2022, MHIENG established a branch office in Canada for decarbonization business, enabling it to provide with swift response to customer needs. With our new organization, MHIENG will respond quickly to local market trends for CCUS business using its strong expertise and expand its business in Canada.

MHI Group is currently strengthening its position in the Energy Transition, and the development of a CO2 solutions ecosystem is a core component of that initiative. CCUS is garnering attention as an effective means for realizing a carbon neutral society. MHIENG, as a leading company in decarbonization and key to the group’s strategy regarding Energy Transition, will continue to help achieve wide-scale greenhouse gas emission reduction by introducing its high-performance CO2 capture technology globally. It will also press ahead in developing new solutions to contribute to global environment protection.

As MRC reported earlier, in February 2022, MCC and its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Chemical Methacrylates (MCM announced plans to design and build a pilot plant to further validate the technology. Three possible pathways to creating sustainable MMA, including the molecular recycling of acrylic resin; substituting conventional materials with drop-in plant-derived raw materials in the existing MMA monomer manufacturing process; and the direct production of MMA monomers from plant-derived raw materials by fermentation were explored. The promising results using the drop-in route have now led to the decision to commence with the design process for a new pilot plant using this technology.
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