SCG Chemicals with AJ Plast to produce BOPET in Vietnam

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siam Cement Group (SCG) will invest on a USD22.7m project to produce biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) in Vietnam, said the company.

AJ Plast (Vietnam) Co Ltd, a 45:55 joint venture between SCG subsidiary SCG Chemicals and Thailand-listed flexible packaging producer AJ Plast, will carry out the project, SCG said in a bourse filing on 22 August.

The BOPET project is expected to start commercial production in the first half of 2024, SCG said in a statement. The two companies have an ongoing Thai baht (Bt) 700m (USD19m) biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BOPP) project in Vietnam slated for commercialisation in the first half of 2023.

“The BOPP and BOPET projects reaffirm SCGC ongoing strategic investment and commitment in Vietnam, particularly value-added product designed to meet the growing consumer demand by providing raw material to serve the flexible packaging sector,” SCG said.

The Thai conglomerate is in the process of completing Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex in the southeastern Ba Ria-Vung Tao province. Called Long Son Petrochemical complex, the USD5.4bn project is now 96% complete, with full start-up expected by the second quarter of next year.

We remind, SCG Packaging has entered the packaging materials recycling business in the Netherlands, via the 100% acquisition of Peute Recycling BV for EUR78.2m. The purchase was done through SCGP Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of SCGP, the Thai firm said in a statement on 18 July. Based in Dordrecht, Peute is the largest independent packaging materials recycling and trading company of paper and plastic in the Netherlands, SCG Packaging said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Terra Drone Corporation have completed a pilot project for the RFCC Cyclone & CO Boiler Internal Visual Inspection using drones for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Refining, a subsidiary of ADNOC that handles downstream processes, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The pilot project this time was carried out to prove that drones can be used for internal visual inspections at RFCC facilities, especially in reactors, cyclones, and boilers. This project was carried out at an oil & gas processing facility, precisely at Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) in Al-Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In the process, four teams were provided to carry out 24-hour operations to accommodate the short time available due to the shutdown process. There are some parts that have never been visually inspected before because of the difficulty of accessing them.

By using drones, these parts can be easily reached thereby providing valuable information for facility owners. In addition, because the drone is versatile, it can complete a visual inspection in a very short time, saving facility owners a lot of time preparing for follow-up actions.

This work has never been done in any other area in the region before. Therefore, thorough planning & coordination with facility owners & inspection engineers were carried out prior to inspection activities. In addition, drone inspections were carried out while the facility is shut down. Therefore, careful scheduling is required to ensure inspections can be carried out on time.

To complete this work, our team used the Flyability Elios 2 for internal inspections & the DJI M300 RTK for external inspections (flare stack). The Flyability Elios 2 was chosen because it proved capable of extensive operation during scheduled operations.

As per MRC, TotalEnergies announced an expansion of its strategic alliance with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which would examine new areas including the supply of diesel from the United Arab Emirates to France.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A U.S. court upheld a tribunal's USD8.75 B award to U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips over the expropriation of its Venezuelan oil assets, granting a default judgment in the case, said Reuters.

The decision gives the U.S. company new authority to collect on a 2019 award by a World Bank tribunal. The award includes interest that adds at least USD1 B to the amount owed to Conoco.

The World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes awarded Conoco USD8.75 billion over the 2007 expropriation of three of its oil projects in the country. Conoco had sought up to USD30 B for the takeover.

Venezuela's government rejected the court's decision in a statement issued by the president's office on Monday evening, saying the country would continue to take legal action to "preserve its patrimony." "This unfair decision has been forged by violating... Venezuela's right to defense," the statement said.

It added that the decision was in "complicity with Venezuelan extremists, including (opposition leader) Juan Guaido." Guaido didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Venezuela seized Conoco assets during late President Hugo Chavez's nationalizations of oil, electricity and steel industries.

The country was bound by the terms of the ICSID Convention and Conoco had properly notified the country of its lawsuit through the U.S. Department of State, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols said in his decision. ConocoPhillips said it plans "to pursue all available legal avenues to obtain a full and fair recovery," but did not comment on planned actions.

Conoco previously has used legal seizures of Venezuelan oil assets to enforce its claims. Its share price rose less than 1% to USD105.24 on a day in which the broader market fell sharply.

Venezuela's main foreign asset is U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum, an oil refiner that split from its parent in 2019 and has been operating under legal protections from creditors issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.

We remind, ConocoPhillips submitted a plan to develop an oil discovery in the Norwegian North Sea for 10.5 B Norwegian crowns (USD1.10 B), the first of an expected rush of new petroleum projects to be launched in Norway this year. Known as Eldfisk North, the development is part of the wider Ekofisk area, where ConocoPhillips has pumped hydrocarbons for more than 50 years.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology announced two major technology awards from Fujian Eversun New Material Co., Ltd. Fujian Eversun selected Lummus' CATOFIN technology for a new 900,000 tpy propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and Lummus' Novolen technology for a new 800,000 tpy polypropylene unit at its complex in Fujian Province, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Lummus' scope includes the license for the CATOFIN and Novolen technologies, basic design engineering, training, services and catalyst supply. At 900, 000 tpy, the CATOFIN unit will be the world's largest PDH unit alongside another unit in China that Lummus also licensed.

"CATOFIN and Novolen have very strong market positions due to their high reliability, lower capital and operating expenses, exceptional environmental performance and simple processes," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "In addition to these competitive and cost advantages, Fujian Eversun will benefit from Lummus' unique integrated technology offering providing a single-point performance guarantee during the entire life cycle of both units, from the feed in to product output to ongoing operations."

CATOFIN is an industry-leading method for light paraffin dehydrogenation that delivers excellent annual production output compared to alternative technologies. The process operates at thermodynamically advantaged reactor pressure and temperature to maximize conversion of propane to propylene, while reducing investment and operating costs.

Lummus Novolen Technology GmbH has added capacity of more than 7,300,000 tpy since 2020, making it the most licensed polypropylene technology in the world during this time period. Novolen also offers an expanded line polypropylene reactor, related engineering, technical support and advisory services, and catalysts for the production of high-performance polypropylene grades.

As per MRC, Lummus Technology announced the launch of a major enhancement to its leading ethane feed steam cracker that is capable of achieving zero CO2 emissions from an ethylene plant. Lummus developed this next generation design as part of its comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all of its technology offerings. The cracker, which is the industry's first, is now available for commercial use to decarbonize a process in petrochemical manufacturing that is very carbon intensive. It can be incorporated into both new and existing ethane crackers, and at sites and facilities of different sizes.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, a global leader in the chemicals industry, has announced that its SABIC SK Nexlene Company (SSNC) joint venture with SK Geo Centric (formerly SK Global Chemicals) in South Korea will expand the capacity of their plant in Ulsan for production of advanced material solutions using NEXLENE technology, said the company.

The plant, operated by Korea Nexlene Company (KNC), supports the production of SABIC’s broad portfolio of COHERE™ metallocene polyolefin plastomers (POP), SUPEER™ metallocene linear low density polyethylenes (mLLDPE) and FORTIFY™ polyolefin elastomers (POE).

The capacity expansion will become operational in the second quarter of 2024 to meet a growing demand for NEXLENE based polyolefin solutions in several differentiated high-end market segments. Target applications include encapsulant film for use in photovoltaics, enabling energy transition, as well as innovations in new mobility, lighter weight & resilient footwear applications and enhanced packaging solutions to reduce food wastage.

Sami Al-Osaimi, Vice President of PE & Sales, SABIC, and Board Chairman for SSNC said, “We have identified a strong trend towards customized and high-performance polyolefins, especially metallocene polyethylene materials, in several important new technology markets.” He added, “Our COHERE POP, SUPEER mLLDPE and FORTIFY POE polymers are ideally positioned to meet the needs of our global customers for enhanced toughness, flexibility, elasticity, heat-sealing properties, and optical properties, amongst others. The KNC plant capacity increase will provide the operational efficiency to boost the growth of these NEXLENE based materials. At the same time, it will give us a significant competitive edge to strengthen the market penetration of our brands."

The innovative NEXLENE technology combines a bimodal solution process with a proprietary metallocene catalyst to yield state-of-the-art ethylene copolymers with tailored molecular weight distribution and modality.

As per MRC, SABIC is looking at building a plant in Port Arthur, Texas, with process units for polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene (PE) using SK Global Chemical’s Nexlene technology. Sabic filed a Chapter 313 application with the state of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for tax breaks from the local school district. According to the application, Sabic will build a 400,000 tonne/year PP unit, a 400,000 tonne/year HDPE C4/C6 bimodal unit and a 400,000 tonne/year PE unit using the Nexlene technology.

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