Pemex to upgrade its six refineries after completing 340,000 bpd new plant construction

Octavio Romero, director of Mexican state oil Pemex, said the company will work in the second half of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrad?s term on improving its six refineries after completing during the first half of the six-year period the construction of a new 340,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery with a USD10-B investment, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Romero made the comments on July 6 as he inaugurated a three-day Mexican Petroleum Congress in Villahermosa, state of Tabasco, about 500 miles southeast of Mexico City. Separately, Lopez Obrador and Mexican Secretary of Energy, Rocio Nahle, participated on July 1 in a ceremony to celebrate the end of construction of the 340,000 bpd Olmeca refinery in Dos Bocas, also in Tabasco.

That July 1 date marked four years since Lopez Obrador?s electoral victory that led to his inauguration as president in December 2018 and exactly three years since the start of construction. The Mexican Secretary of Energy reported on July 1 in a press release the inauguration of the “first stage in the construction of the Olmeca refinery."

The head of Mexico?s Energy Secretary, Rocio Nahle, said that the plant was “the promise number 71” of Lopez Obrador before his election. The refinery will run on 22 to 24 API crude oil that will help it produce 170,000 barrels of gasoline and 120,000 barrels of ultra-low sulfur diesel, she said.

Construction involved 17 plants of chemical processing that include the combined plant, the coker, the diesel hydrotreater, the naphtha hydrotreater, the reformer, the catalytic and alkylation plants, units for the isomerization of butane and pentane and to treat residual gas. There are also plants to process hydrogen, bitter waters, aminas regeneration, cogeneration and the plant to process water and effluents, she said.

The work completed included also 90 storage tanks of which 56 are vertical to store liquids and 34 spherical for gases, with capacity to store up to 15 MM barrels and also includes the co-generation for the refinery to produce its own electricity with 280 MW capacity.

We remind that n late January, 2022, Pemex signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas. Pemex and Shell in May, 2021, announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd. Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 years.
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Technip Energies has been awarded a significant contract by Neste for the expansion of their renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as part of the existing Partnership Agreement between Technip Energies and Neste, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract covers Engineering, Procurement services and Construction management (EPsCm) for the expansion of Neste’s existing renewables refinery in Rotterdam which will increase Neste’s overall renewable product capacity by 1.3 MMtpy.

This contract follows the Front-End Engineering and Design delivered by Technip Energies in 2021. The production process is based on Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL state-of-the-art technology, which allows the conversion of renewable waste and residue raw materials like used cooking oil and animal fat waste into renewable fuels.

Bhaskar Patel, SVP Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity of Technip Energies, stated: “We are pleased to be entrusted once again by Neste for the expansion of their renewable products production platform in Rotterdam. This award relies on our long-term collaboration, illustrated by the successful delivery of two world-scale renewable products refineries in Rotterdam and Singapore and the ongoing expansion project of Neste’s renewable products refinery in Singapore. We are committed to make this project a success as we share a common vision of accelerating the transition towards a sustainable future, using technological advancement as a key lever."

As per MRC, Technip Energies and National Petroleum Construction Company create joint venture to accelerate energy transition. On the sidelines of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Paris, H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs witnessed the signing of an agreement to establish a new joint company between National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), a subsidiary of National Marine Dredging Company and Technip Energies.
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Japan's chemical exports rose by 19.6% year on year to yen (Y) 1,058bn in June, supporting the overall increase in shipments abroad, as per official data of Ministry of Finance of Japan.

The country's exports of organic chemicals rose by 22.8% year on year to Y196bn in June, while shipments of plastic materials were up by 13.9% at Y283bn. On a volume basis, exports of plastic materials fell by 4.2% year on year to 474,344 tonnes.

Japan's overall exports rose by 19.4% year on year to Y8,628bn in June, while imports were up by 46.1% at Y10,012bn. This resulted in a trade deficit of close to Y1,400bn, the 11th straight month of shortfalls.

Exports to China, Japan's largest trade partner, rose by 8.3% year on year while shipments to the US were up by 15.7%.

As per MRC, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has formed an agreement to acquire the pellicle business of Asahi Kasei Corporation. According to Mitsui Chemical’s Long-Term Business plan VISION 2030, it is aiming with creating and growing a "unique" ICT Solutions business to grow products that will let it create and grow operations here into our third pillar of earnings under the business portfolio transformation.

We remind, Neste and ITOCHU are celebrating the first delivery of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Etihad Airways, one of the airlines of the United Arab Emirates, in Japan. The delivery of Neste MY SAF to Etihad marks the first time in Japan that SAF will be supplied to an overseas airline at an airport in Japan.
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Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar) has started commercial operations at its 1m tonne/year ethane cracker at Port Arthur in Texas, parent firms Borealis and TotalEnergies said.

The almost USD2bn project was built on the site of TotalEnergies’ refinery in Port Arthur. The ethylene produced by the cracker will be used as feedstock to supply Baystar’s existing polyethylene (PE) units, as well as a new PE unit currently under construction in Bayport, Texas. Baystar’s Bayport site has 400,000 tonnes/year of PE capacity.

Baystar is currently constructing a 625,000 tonne/year PE unit in Bayport which uses Borealis’ proprietary Borstar technology. “The start-up of the new ethane cracker is an important milestone for Baystar becoming a fully integrated polyethylene company. The focus is on growing the polymers market in North America and leveraging the power of partnerships, " Borealis said in a statement.

As per MRC, TotalEnergies signed with Sonatrach, Occidental and Eni an extension of its Production Sharing Contract for a period of 25 years for onshore Blocks 404a and 208 in the Berkine basin, in Eastern Algeria. This contract, signed under the new Algerian Hydrocarbon Law published in 2019, will allow to develop additional liquids hydrocarbon resources, while reducing these fields carbon intensity through a dedicated carbon reduction program. The opportunity to develop and valorize associated gas resources will be studied by the partners, thus increasing export potential towards Europe.
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Cepsa Quimica has supplied consumer goods major Unilever with the first linear alkylbenzene (LAB) surfactant to be both renewable and biodegradable, said the company.

The LAB is made using green carbon derived from biomass instead of conventional fossil fuels and has been created using the Mass Balance approach for use in cleaning in laundry applications. Through Mass Balance, black carbon sources are blended and co-processed with green carbon from plant-based feedstocks of certified origin to make linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS).

Renewable LAB surfactant has identical properties and performance compared to traditional material, and lowers the carbon footprint of the final products.

We remind, Cepsa will invest up to EUR5 billion in Andalucia to produce green energy. It represents 60% of the total amount (EUR8 billion) that the company will invest to lead the generation of sustainable energy in Spain and Portugal and to be a benchmark in the energy transition. The investment will place Andalusia at the forefront of Europe in the latest technologies for the generation of green hydrogen and biofuels.

Cepsa is a Spanish petrochemical company. Full name Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A. The company is headquartered in Madrid. Refining is one of the main activities of CEPSA. The production of asphalt and other road surfaces is another of the company's core activities; nine CEPSA factories are engaged in the production of these products.
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