Gazprom halts gas supplies to Latvia

Gazprom halts gas supplies to Latvia

Gazprom stopped supplying Latvia with gas, the Russian gas giant announced on Saturday citing a violation of the conditions for gas withdrawal, said Ceenergynew.

The move comes as a response to the announcement of Latvian energy firm Latvijas Gaze, which said it was buying gas from Russia, but not from Gazprom. During the last month, approximately one terawatt-hour of natural gas was delivered to Latvia from Russia and the payment was made in euros rather than in roubles as required by Gazprom.

"Latvijas Gaze is currently buying gas, but not from Gazprom,” said the company’s head, Aigars Kalvitis, adding that Latvijas Gaze had another supplier in Russia but he did not reveal the supplier’s name.

Latvia’s parliament has passed a ban on natural gas imports from Russia as of January 1, 2023 and amended its energy law to further support the diversification of natural gas supply routes and the provision of strategic reserves.

In recent months, Latvia and the other Baltic countries have been working to secure alternative gas supplies to phase out their dependence on Russian gas. Natural gas consumption of all Baltic states combined was approximately 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2021 (Lithuania – 2.3 bcm, Latvia – 1.2 bcm, Estonia – 0.5 bcm).

Gazprom has already halted or reduced deliveries to 12 EU countries. Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark were cut off from Russian gas supplies as they refused to comply with Gazprom’s demands to pay for deliveries in rubles. As a response, EU energy ministers reached an agreement on mandatory, bloc-wide gas rationing in case of winter supply shortages.

We remind, Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of 'extraordinary' circumstances. The July 14 letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was retroactively declaring force majeure on supplies dating from June 14. The news comes as Nord Stream 1, the key pipeline delivering Russian gas to Germany and beyond, is undergoing annual maintenance meant to conclude on Thursday. The letter added to Europe's fears that Moscow could keep the pipeline mothballed in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, heightening an energy crisis that risks tipping the region into recession.
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PKN Orlen will soon start a feasibility study for a petrochemical complex in Gdansk

PKN Orlen together with its partners - Saudi Aramco and its subsidiary SABIC - will soon start a feasibility study for the construction of a petrochemical complex in Gdansk based on a steam cracker, announced President Daniel Obajtek, as per Stooq.

"We will soon start a feasibility study and I expect that concrete decisions will be taken soon regarding the construction of the petrochemical complex in Gdansk," Obajtek told journalists. As he emphasized, this type of complex implemented in other parts of the world is an investment of several billion dollars.

"Even after the merger with PGNiG, we will still be far from some of our competitors, so it is normal that we will be interested in further acquisitions," added the president. He made a reservation that the takeover of Energa, Grupa Lotos and PGNiG on the Polish market completes the plan related to the creation of a multi-energy concern.

"We are becoming much more attractive from the perspective of global players, we can already see today that they offer a change in the perspective of cooperation towards joint projects" - added Robert Sleszynski, PKN Orlen's Executive Director for Equity Investments.

We remind, PKN ORLEN has confirmed it is discussing with Aramco and SABIC the possibility of collaborating in investments in various petrochemical business segments. An existing triparty MoU will be extended to evaluate a potential joint development of a large-scale mixed feed steam cracker and downstream derivatives integrated with the Gdansk refinery. Moreover, PKN ORLEN and Aramco continue to explore areas of cooperation in the field of research and development.

The PKN Orlen Group manages six refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, and is also active in Poland and Canada. Its consolidated sales revenues reached PLN 131.5 billion in 2021. The company has been listed on the WSE since 1999.
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Indorama Ventures and Capchem evaluate proposed carbonate solvents plant

Indorama Ventures and Capchem evaluate proposed carbonate solvents plant

Indorama Ventures, a global sustainable chemical company, has entered into a non-binding agreement with Capchem Technology USA to study the opportunity to build and operate a world-class lithium-ion battery solvents plant at one of IVL’s petrochemical facilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The proposed plant will supply the lithium-ion batteries industry in North America, which is boosted by significant growth in the development of electric vehicles (EV). The proposed facility will produce ethylene carbonate and its chemical derivatives, which are essential components of the electrolytes solutions used in lithium-ion batteries. IVL’s Integrated Oxides and Derivatives (IOD) segment and Capchem USA, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Capchem Technology Co., Ltd., will study the proposal to develop and operate the plant. Capchem is a global leading company in lithium-ion battery chemicals. A new plant would significantly benefit the North American lithium-ion battery market, which currently depends on imports from Asia amid potential for accelerated growth in the EV industry.

Entering the lithium-ion battery market as a competitive new player reinforces IOD’s transition towards downstream specialty products, increasing IVL’s opportunities in attractive end-market applications. Under its Vision 2030 ambition, IVL is building on its global integrated petrochemicals model through investing in adjacent businesses that offer High Value Add (HVA) products which contribute to a more sustainable world.

The study will assess the opportunity to build a plant using Capchem’s established technology to produce ultra-pure ethylene carbonate, di-methyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, di-ethyl carbonate and derivatized electrolyte solutions. The study also includes an option to build a second module to meet expected growing market demand. The key raw materials for the proposed new plant, namely purified ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide, will be supplied from IVL’s integrated supply network as part the company’s strategy to enhance end-market exposure, technologies, and downstream portfolio breadth. The sequestered carbon dioxide used in the process has a positive sustainability impact.

Alastair Port, Executive President, Integrated Oxides and Derivatives (IOD), IVL, said, “IVL is constantly looking for ways to enhance our sustainability programs towards our vision of creating a more sustainable world. This mutual study with Capchem USA not only helps us to achieve that, but also supports the adoption of zero-emission electric mobility. Given our proven operational excellence, highly skilled workforce, world-class infrastructure, and access to captive raw materials, we believe we are well-placed to successfully implement the technology, which will help to reduce North American EV manufacturers’ reliance on imports."

As per MRC, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical company, today completed the acquisition of the wool spinning businesses in Italy and Poland of Tollegno 1900 S.p.A. (Tollegno 1900), a leading Italian manufacturer of fabrics and yarns.
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Pemex says one dead, one missing after incident at Madero refinery

Pemex says one dead, one missing after incident at Madero refinery

Mexican national oil company Pemex said one person was dead and another missing on Friday after an "incident" caused by a storm at the Madero refinery in the state of Tamaulipas, said Reuters.

Lightning caused a truck on site to burst into flames, Pemex said in a statement, causing an oil well to also catch on fire.

Around 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, the body of an employee of contractor Amarelo Power was found, Pemex said, while an employee of contractor GMG was missing.

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.

As MRC informed previously, Mexico will reduce refining output at state oil company Pemex while it modernizes its oil refineries.
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Nextchem awarded FEED contract for an advanced mechanical recycling plant of municipal waste in Europe

Nextchem awarded FEED contract for an advanced mechanical recycling plant of municipal waste in Europe

Maire Tecnimont announced that its subsidiary NextChem has been awarded a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract by a market leader in plastics and chemicals for an advanced mechanical recycling plant of municipal plastic waste in Europe, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The aim of the project is to establish an advanced mechanical recycling plant for polyolefins, which shall manufacture products containing up to 100% post-consumer recycled materials (PCR). The waste processing capacity of the plant will be up to 75,000 tpy.

NextChem will be responsible for the Front-End Engineering Design, also assisting the client in the development of the execution phase. Completion of the FEED is expected by mid-2023. Once completed, the plant will be one of the largest advanced mechanical recycling facilities worldwide.

Alessandro Bernini, Chief Executive Officer of Maire Tecnimont Group and NextChem, commented “Enabling leading producers to include in their product portfolio partially or completely recycled polymers is one of the most effective ways to give plastics a sustainable life cycle, reducing both consumption of fossil sources and the carbon footprint. This new recycling plant will also integrate NextChem’s knowhow and technology solutions, in order to convert waste sources into new second-life products. We are proud to enable this solution thanks to our technological know-how”.

As per MRC, NextChem, Maire Tecnimont's energy transition technology company, has completed the construction of the first demonstration plant in Italy for the chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester from textiles, as part of the European Union’s DEMETO project. The plant is located in Chieti, in the Abruzzo Technology Park.
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