Binh Son refinery to undergo major maintenance next year

Vietnam’s Binh Son refinery will undergo major maintenance next year, its owner Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical said, as per Reuters.

The 130,000-barrel-per-day refinery has been in operation for 13 years and its equipment is facing risks of aging and erosion, the company said in a statement. It did not give an estimate for how long the maintenance might take.

We remind, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will this year roll out a USD1.2 B plan to upgrade and expand its Dung Quat refinery, raising its processing capacity to 7.6 MMt of crude oil a year from 6.5 MMt. The upgrade and expansion work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025, the company said in a statement, adding that 60% of the funds needed for the plan will come from loans.

We remind that NSRP resumed operations at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam on 17 October, 2021, after an unscheduled maintenance. The 400,000 mt year of PP plant was unexpectedly shut on 7 October, 2021, due to a technical glitch.
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Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (APD) on Thursday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of USD582.1 million, said the company.

The Allentown, Pennsylvania-based company said it had net income of USD2.62 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of USD2.61 per share.

The seller of gases for industrial, medical and other uses posted revenue of USD3.19 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected USD3.06 billion. For the current quarter ending in September, Air Products and Chemicals expects its per-share earnings to range from USD2.68 to USD2.88. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of USD2.74.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of USD10.20 to USD10.40 per share. Air Products and Chemicals shares have fallen 19% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has decreased 13%. The stock has dropped 15% in the last 12 months.

As per MRC, Air Liquide invested and will operate its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022. Located in Huai’an City, in the Jiangsu Province, the unit will have a production capacity of 75 GWh per year. This project demonstrates a circular economy and low-carbon approach, in line with the Group’s Sustainable Objectives and strategic plan, ADVANCE.
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BASF has announced it will produce more N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-2-Pyrrolidone (HEP) and N-Octyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NOP) at its Geismar, Louisiana, Verbund site, said the company.

The production is anticipated to be on-stream in the second half of 2022 and will ensure a global supply of HEP and NOP. "Our customers want to continue to grow in the ink, automotive and agricultural markets and will need increasing quantities for the foreseeable future,” said Erika Peterman, Senior Vice President, Chemical Intermediates, North America. “We can accompany these growth plans thanks to our double-digit-million-dollar investment by BASF in Geismar."

“It became clear that our facility in Geismar would make a perfect fit for increased production of HEP and NOP in the region,” explained Stefanie Demming, Vice President, Operations & Technology, Chemical Intermediates, North America. “We are pleased to take on a global supply role in North America."

N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-2-Pyrrolidone (HEP) is a versatile chemical intermediate. It proves essential as (co)-solvent for the production of crop protection agents, electronic, coating and inkjet formulations. N-Octyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NOP) is a versatile chemical intermediate used particularly as a solvent and low-foaming surfactant. Among other things, NOP is used as a solvent in the production of crop protection active ingredients, it is also used as a wetting agent in dishwashing detergents as well as various automotive applications.

As per MRC, BASF gave final approval for the construction of its Zhanjiang chemical complex. 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. The company plans to invest up to EUR10bn by 2030 to build the new site, it said. By then, the site should be fully operational. It will be BASF’s third largest Verbund site, after Ludwishafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the US affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,700 employees in North America and had sales of USD25.9 billion in 2021.
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Cepsa, a leading international company committed to sustainable mobility and energy, and Ohmium International, a company specialized in the design, manufacture, and deployment of PEM electrolyzers, have announced an agreement to develop highly efficient green hydrogen projects in the Iberian Peninsula, said the company.

The companies will collaborate to develop and build initially small scale projects aiming to develop a green hydrogen platform using Ohmium’s advanced modular PEM electrolyzers, with the possibility of providing Cepsa up to 300 MW of installed hydrogen production capacity. Under the agreement, the two companies will also work together on green hydrogen research and development initiatives.

The inclusion of bold goals for green hydrogen production in Cepsa’s Positive Motion plan is an explicit acknowledgement that green hydrogen is an ideal way to decarbonize multiple industries, including complex sectors such as heavy transport, aviation, and maritime traffic. Replacing “gray” hydrogen with cost effective renewable hydrogen – no-carbon hydrogen made from water electrolysis using renewable energy sources – will be critical to meet the world’s carbon targets. Further, green hydrogen can directly improve local and regional energy security and independence. Whereas conflicts can disrupt global energy supply chains, green hydrogen can be cost effectively produced locally where the appropriate renewable energy resources are available.

As per MRC, Cepsa reported a net income at current cost of supply of EUR58 MM (USD61.97 MM) in the first quarter, up by 9.4% year on year, pushed by high crude prices and stronger refining margins. Along with sharply higher crude prices, the value of refined products like gasoline and petrochemicals have been soaring globally, fueled by a strong post-pandemic recovery and most recently by the conflict in Ukraine.

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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U.S. midstream energy company Enterprise Products Partners LP on Wednesday said its natural gas pipeline volumes reached a record level in the second quarter of 2022, said Reuters.

Enterprise’s total natural gas transportation volumes increased 19% to 16.8 trillion British thermal units per day (TBtus/d) in the second quarter from 14.2 TBtus/d in the same period of 2021.

Enterprise also reported a record total gross operating margin of USD2.4 billion and record distributable cash flow of USD2 billion.

As per MRC, Enterprise Product Partners and Occidental Petroleum plan to forge a carbon dioxide sequestration and transportation system that could sell carbon management services to emitters along the Texas Gulf Coast, they said in a statement. They plan to combine the pipeline company’s transportation network with carbon sequestration hubs under development by Oxy, an oil producer expanding into the carbon management business. The idea is to focus initially on capturing emissions along the industrial corridor from Houston to Beaumont and Port Arthur.
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