PetroChina Urumqi plans refinery upgrading

PetroChina Urumqi plans refinery upgrading

PetroChina Urumqi Petrochemical is planning to revamp and upgrade its refining facilities by adding some new refining as well as petrochemical units, said Reuters.

A 450,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP), a 300,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM), a 200,000 tonne/year polystyrene (PS), and a 1.2m tonne/year purified phthalate acid (PTA) unit will be installed as the petrochemical part.

The refining part will mainly include a new 1.2m tonne/year solvent deasphalting (SDA), a 2.2m tonne/year fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), and a 1m tonne/year gas fractionation units.

The company is seeking environment approval for proceeding the project.

Urumqi Petrochemical currently runs 8.5m tonnes/year of refining and 1m tonnes/year of para-xylene capacities.

We remind, PetroChina has completed construction of two crude distillation units (CDUs) of its integrated refining and petrochemical complex at Jieyang in Guangdong province. The CDUs each can process 10m tonnes/year, or 200,000 bbl/day, of crude oil. Construction work of the complex, which houses a 400,000 bbl/day refinery, a 1.2m tonne/year cracker and a 2.6m tonne/year aromatics facility, has 98% completed.

PetroChina Urumqi Petrochemical Company Urumqi Complex is an active petrochemical complex located in Xinjiang, China. The complex started commercial operations in 1984 and currently has an active annual capacity of 3.8mtpa. Its capacity is expected to remain the same as 3.8mtpa in 2030. The plants in this complex are operated by Urumqi Petrochemical.
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Shell smashes record again with USD11.5 bln profit

Shell smashes record again with USD11.5 bln profit

Shell posted record results, with a USD11.5 billion second-quarter profit smashing the mark it set only three months ago, lifted by strong gas trading and a tripling of refining profit, said the company.

Higher feedstock and utility costs and higher turnaround activities hit Shell’s chemicals earnings in the second quarter. Shell reported an loss attributable to shareholders for the business of USD158m.

Chemicals sales volumes in the quarter were down 8% year on year. Shell said the chemicals margin decrease after tax was USD160m from the prior year’s second quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for chemicals in the latest quarter were USD2m.

Shell's combined chemicals and products business posted a 66.8% year-on-year increase in EBITDA because of higher realised margins, the energy major said. The dislocation in refined products markets, particularly middle distillates, pushed margins higher. Trading results were strong because demand outpaced supply below what Shell called “exceptional” results in Q1 2022.

We remind, Shell withdrew from the authorized capital of the Gydan Energy joint venture with Gazprom Neft on the Gydan Peninsula. On May 19, Gazprom Neft became the only participant in Gydan Energy with a 100% share. Previously, the partners each owned 50% in the authorized capital of the enterprise. Shell and Gazprom Neft set up a joint venture in November 2021 in the Yenisei project on the Gydan, which includes two license blocks, Leskinsky and Pukhutsyakhsky.

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.
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BASF expands capacity for automotive refinish coatings in Jiangmen, China

BASF expands capacity for automotive refinish coatings in Jiangmen, China

BASF Coatings (Guangdong) Co. (BCG) has expanded the production capacity of automotive refinish coatings at its coatings site in Jiangmen to 30,000 tonnes/year, BASF said in a news release.

The investment is a response to China’s rising demand of the material.

"The new capacity will bring additional supply reliability to fulfill the growing demand in China’s automotive market. It demonstrates our commitment to enhance local production and respond faster to the growing needs of Chinese customers. It also reinforces BASF’s position as one of the leading and reliable suppliers to customers in China," said Jeffrey Lou, President, BASF Greater China.

We remind, BASF gave final approval for the construction of its Zhanjiang chemical complex, the company said, with the focus now on building a steam cracker and several plants for producing petrochemicals and intermediates.
The site, which will be the company's third-largest globally once complete, is due to be fully operational by 2030.
The company will focus on building the core of the site, which will include a steam cracker and several other petrochemicals and intermediates, BASF said.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Ineos and Sinopec sign three significant petrochemical deals with an aggregate value of USD7bn

Ineos and Sinopec sign three significant petrochemical deals with an aggregate value of USD7bn

Ineos and Sinopec have today signed three back-to-back deals worth a combined value of USD7bn, said the company.

These landmark agreements are expected to generate a combined turnover of around USD10bn from 7 million tonnes of capacity. The three agreements will significantly reshape Ineos’ petrochemicals production and technology in China.

Firstly, Ineos has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited, a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec). SECCO currently has a production capacity of 4.2 million tonnes of petrochemicals - including ethylene, propylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile, butadiene, benzene and toluene. It is a 200-hectare facility, located inside the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park.

Secondly, INEOS has agreed to establish a new 50:50 joint venture with Sinopec with the intent to build production capacity of up to 1.2 million tonnes of ABS, to meet rapidly growing demand in China. The 600ktpa ABS plant in Ningbo, which is currently under construction by Ineos Styrolution and is planned to be operational by the end of 2023, will become part of the joint venture. INEOS and Sinopec also plan to work together on two additional 300ktpa ABS plants, which will also be built by the joint venture based on Ineos’ world-leading Terluran® ABS technology. One of these 300kt plants will be located in Tianjin, the location of the third unit is yet to be decided.

The third agreement will see INEOS and Sinopec also establish a 50:50 joint venture to build a new 500ktpa HDPE plant in Tianjin. In addition to the Tianjin plant Ineos and Sinopec shall build at least two additional 500ktpa HDPE plants in the future to produce Ineos pipe grade under license. The Tianjin plant is expected to be onstream by the end of 2023.

INEOS already has joint ventures in operation with SINOPEC following the acquisition of the Acetyls and Aromatics business from BP in January 2021, and both companies know each other well through two decades of commercial interfaces at various levels. They see a natural fit to working more closely in the future. Through this close relationship Sinopec gains access to some of the best downstream technology in the world from INEOS and INEOS achieves a substantial presence in China, the fastest growing market in the world.

Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman and CEO Ineos said “These agreements significantly reshape INEOS’ petrochemical production and technology in China. We are pleased to make these major investments with SINOPEC in areas that provide the best growth opportunities for both companies. Both parties recognise the potential for closer collaboration across a number of other areas as we look ahead.”

China is a key growth region for INEOS and the agreements significantly extend its petrochemicals business with a focus on products where it has some of the leading proprietary technologies. The transactions are all subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. Each transaction is currently anticipated to complete before the end of the year and will be financed through a combination of internal cash resources and external financing.

In 2021, INEOS completes the acquisition of BP’s global Aromatics & Acetyls business. INEOS Acetyls
The acquisition consists of 15 sites across the world (5 in the Americas, 2 in Europe and 8 in Asia) as well as 10 leading joint ventures.
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SK expects massive US investment will also create jobs in Korea

SK expects massive US investment will also create jobs in Korea

SSK Group announced an additional USD22 billion investment in the U.S. market, emphasizing that its plan will create decent jobs in both Korea and the U.S., said Koreantimes.

The second-largest conglomerate in Korea said Wednesday that the money will be used mainly to support the U.S. semiconductor, green energy and bioscience industries. Considering its previous announcement of investing $7 billion to build electric vehicle battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky, SK Group will invest nearly USD30 billion in total in the world's largest economy.

In particular, USD15 billion will be invested in semiconductor R&D and construction of an advanced packaging and testing facility for the U.S. chip industry, while USD5 billion will be used for green energy sectors, including the construction of small modular reactors. The group will invest USD2 billion in cell and genetic therapies.

"Our countries fought side-by-side during the terrible conflict, and now we have worked side-by-side to build the technologies and infrastructures that will power the 21st century economy around the world," SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won told U.S. President Joe Biden at a teleconference at the White House, Tuesday (local time). "Our cooperation will make the supply chain in both our countries more resilient in critical technologies." Biden viewed SK Group's announcement as "historic," expecting its planned investments to increase its U.S. workforce to 20,000 workers from 4,000 by 2025.

"Today's announcement is also proof that America is back to working with our allies," the U.S. president said. "By uniting our skills and innovation, we will be able to manufacture the technologies that create the critical changes that are needed… for both our countries." Apologizing for not being able to meet with the chairman after having been diagnosed with COVID-19, Biden added jokingly that he will force Chey to have lunch with him in the Oval Office next time he visits.

Following their meeting, SK Group said in a statement that its 179 trillion won (USD136 billion) investment in the Korean market will also be made as planned by 2026, denying speculation that its planned investment in the U.S. will benefit American jobseekers only. Chey also told Biden that SK's commitment to growth and investment in Korea is "enduring."

SK Group noted that its investments in the semiconductor R&D will improve the technologies of SK hynix and the Korean chip industry. The conglomerate was also confident that its large-scale investment in the green energy sector will allow its subcontractors to enter the U.S. market, creating more jobs in both countries.

As per MRC, 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. 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.
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