Crude oil production in Texas’s Eagle Ford region has been increasing since February 2022

Crude oil production in Texas’s Eagle Ford region has been increasing since February 2022

According to our latest Drilling Productivity Report, the EIA estimates that crude oil production in the Eagle Ford region in southern Texas will average 1.2 MMbpd during September 2022, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Despite recent increases, less crude oil is being produced in the Eagle Ford region than before the pandemic—1.4 MMbpd in April 2020—and much less than the all-time high of 1.7 MMbpd in March 2015.

Because prices increased, we estimate that economically recoverable oil resources (the amount of recoverable oil that producers believe can be profitably produced) in the Eagle Ford formation, increased to 8.4 billion barrels in the first half of 2022, an increase from 0.5 B barrels in 2020. Between 2020 and the first half of 2022, crude oil prices more than doubled, according to our analysis, incentivizing future development in previously marginal areas.

This analysis of the Eagle Ford formation focuses on proved reserves and economically recoverable resources. Proved reserves are volumes of crude oil and natural gas that data demonstrate with reasonable certainty can be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs, considering existing economic and operating conditions. In contrast, economically recoverable resources vary considerably depending on price and cost assumptions. Economically recoverable resources represent a less certain estimate of future crude oil and natural gas volumes and production.

If prices are too low to provide a return on the investment of developing the well, producers will not invest in drilling the well. The Eagle Ford formation produces both crude oil and natural gas, so profitability is not only based on past crude oil or natural gas production rates but also on producers’ forecasts of future prices for natural gas and crude oil.

We remind, UK imported no crude oil or refined products from Russia in June for the first time on record, according to UK trade data, following phased sanctions on imports of Russian oil over the invasion of Ukraine. As a result of the UK's phase-out of Russian oil and gas imports, there were no flows of refined oil, crude, gas or coal, coke and briquettes from Russia in June, the Office for National Statistics said. The UK government said early March the country would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 and end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas "as soon as possible" thereafter.
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Tosoh to expand chloroprene rubber capacity under new business plan

Tosoh to expand chloroprene rubber capacity under new business plan

Tosoh Corp. has unveiled a Yen200 billion (EUR1.47 billion) investment plan to expand production capacity and improving earnings during the 2023-2025 period, said European-rubber-journal.

Under the medium-term business plan, Tosah will increase output of a range of products, including polychloroprene rubber, flame retardants and other additives in rubber production. Tosoh manufactures chloroprene rubber at its site in Nanyo, Japan.

In 2019, the Japanese supplier started a two-year debottlenecking project to raise capacity of the plant by 3 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) to 37ktpa. The chemical group's business plan announcement, issued 10 Aug, did not provide details on the size of the capacity expansions.

Under the medium-term programme, Tosoh aims to increase its operating income to Yen150 billion by 2025, from the Yen144 billion forecast for 2022. The company also expects sales to increase from an estimated Yen890 billion this year to Yen1,160 billion by 2025.

As MRC informed earlier, Tosoh Corporation, a major Japanese petrochemical producer, has announced it will permanently stop producing and selling toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and TDI-related products from its Nanyo complex in Japan, effective April 2023. Despite the continuous implementation of measures to improve profitability, the environment surrounding this business has become increasingly severe in recent years, and there are no prospects for improvement, the company stated. Tosoh currently produce 25,000 t/y of TDI at the site.

As MRC reported earlier, Tosoh resumed normal production at its caustic soda plant in Nanyo City (Nanyo, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan) with the capacity of 1.188 million tons of caustic soda and 1.06 million tons of chlorine per year on June 24, 2021. The company experienced some technical issues when restarting after a scheduled repair. Since June 12, the caustic and chlorine production capacity utilisation was reduced by about 30%.

Founded in 1935, Japan's Tosoh Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is an international chemicals and specialty materials company. The main activity of the company is the production of chlor-alkali and petrochemical products, which include ethylene, propylene, polypropylene, polyethylene and synthetic rubbers. The Tosoh Group globally includes over 130 companies with manufacturing facilities and offices in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, UK, Greece, Switzerland and the USA.
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Sulzer and BASF sign MoU to develop collaboration on enhancing renewable fuels

Sulzer and BASF sign MoU to develop collaboration on enhancing renewable fuels

Sulzer Chemtech (GTC Technology) and BASF have signed a MoU with the goal of advancing technologies for renewable fuels and chemically recycled plastics that will further expand the partners’ portfolio of sustainable solutions, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The companies enter a strategic partnership to reduce the carbon intensity of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. They will also drive the development of innovative, cost-effective chemical processing solutions to improve the conversion of plastic waste into new plastics.

The collaboration combines complementary areas of expertise, integrating Sulzer Chemtech’s capabilities in licensed processing technologies and mass transfer equipment with BASF’s cutting-edge high-performance adsorbents and catalysts.

Sulzer Chemtech, an established licensor and engineering partner for process technologies like hydrotreating for renewable fuels and chemical recycling of plastics as well as purifying the resulting products by liquid-liquid extraction technologies, is leading efforts to harness greener resources that can help global producers achieve their net-zero ambitions. BASF Process Catalysts is driving multiple initiatives aimed at turning plastic waste into a secondary raw material, for example with its newly developed PuriCycle portfolio, as well as providing adsorbent and catalytic materials to produce clean and renewable fuels.

"Global plastic pollution and sustainable mobility are challenges that we can solve by joining forces with partners”, said Detlef Ruff, Senior Vice President, Process Catalysts at BASF. “This is why we at BASF are involved in key strategic collaborations aimed at protecting our planet's resources and transforming the way we do business. We are excited to work with Sulzer Chemtech and use our combined strengths to address plastic pollution and drive the adoption of more sustainable fuels."

Torsten Wintergerste, President at Sulzer Chemtech, concludes: “Our process technology development team is continuously looking at new ways to support more sustainable, circular practices. The MoU with BASF allows us to broaden the scope of our portfolio and will lead to improved value offerings in both renewable fuels and the plastics recycling value chain. We look forward to working together to deliver advanced technologies that help our customers accelerate their path to net zero carbon emissions."

We remind, BASF Coatings (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. (BCG) has expanded the production capacity of automotive refinish coatings at its coatings site in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province in South China. With the completion of the expansion in July 2022, BASF’s annual production capacity of automotive refinish coatings will be increased to 30,000 metric tons. This is in line with the company’s pledge to maintain customer proximity, as well as to strengthen BASF’s position as a leading and innovative coatings supplier to the automotive industry in China and the rest of Asia.
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Most of BP Whiting refinery units shut following fire - sources

Most of BP Whiting refinery units shut following fire - sources

МОСКВА (MRC) -- Most of the units at bp Plc’s 435,000 barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana, refinery were out of production on Thursday following a Wednesday night fire, said sources familiar with plant operations, said Reuters.

The company has said some units were shut by the electrical fire and those units would be restarting. The timing of the restart had not been determined by midday Thursday, the sources said.

The fire affected utilities to multiple units at the refinery, and bp has called in most of the refinery’s employees to work on repairs and restarts, the sources said.

The incident at the Whiting refinery, the largest in the Midwest and bp’s largest anywhere in the world, drove up motor fuel prices in the Chicago market.

Chicago CBOB gasoline gained 30.5 cents per gallon, trading 3 cents above the futures benchmark on the New York Mercantile Exchange, market participants said.

Chicago ultra-low sulfur diesel gained 17 cents, trading 20 cents above diesel futures.

We remind, Oil major BP is considering selling oil assets in Mexico to shift its focus to renewable energy sources in the country Bloomberg News. The oil company, in partnership with France’s TotalEnergies, Equinor, Hokchi Energy and Qatar Petroleum, signed three exploration contracts six years ago. The oil major has divested itself of its stake and is in the process of returning the blocks it secured to Mexico’s regulator, the National Hydrocarbons Commission, according to a company spokesman.

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Clariant placed a green bond in the amount of CHF 175 mln

Clariant placed a green bond in the amount of CHF 175 mln

Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, yesterday successfully priced its first green bond. The CHF 175 million green bond has a coupon of 2.717 % and a 2027 maturity date, said the company.

"The green bond issuance under our Green Financing Framework exactly fits our focus on sustainability as part of our purpose-led growth strategy. We view this green financing option as a key contribution to sustainability across the Group, allowing sustainability driven bond investors to participate in the sustainability leadership of our company. Its Swiss franc denomination also underlines our commitment to the Swiss market and fits perfectly in our maturity profile,” said Bill Collins, Chief Financial Officer of Clariant.

An amount equal to the net proceeds from the bond issuance will be allocated to the financing and/or refinancing of investments in Eligible Assets as established by Clariant within its Green Financing Framework. Eligible Assets promote the transition towards a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable society, as determined by Clariant. Proceeds will be allocated to capital expenditures, acquisitions, joint ventures and research and development within the Eligible Asset Categories of this Framework (circular economy adopted products, production technologies and processes and/or certified eco-efficient products, renewable energy and energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control).

This transaction emphasizes Clariant’s sustainability leadership and represents clear progress in the implementation of its 2030 roadmap to achieve its science-based climate targets. The financing and/or refinancing of Eligible Asset with the green bond proceeds will contribute to achieving our ambitious targets. Between 2019 and 2030, Clariant targets a 40 % absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and a 14 % absolute reduction in scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services. These science-based targets are accompanied by intensity reduction targets for the key environmental parameters in its operations.

ISS ESG, a leading ESG data and rating provider, gave a second-party opinion confirming the alignment of the framework with Green Bond Principles and Green Loan Principles and the sustainability quality of the eligibility criteria. S&P Global Ratings has granted Clariant’s Green Bond a BBB- rating.

UBS Investment Bank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) acted as joint lead managers for this green bond issue. The application for admission to trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange will be submitted. The Green Bond is expected to settle on 26 September 2022.

We remind, Clariant has been awarded a major contract by Wanhua Chemical Group to supply catalysts for its new maleic anhydride plant, which will be one of the largest in the world. Designed to produce 200 kilotons of maleic anhydride annually, the plant will rely on Clariant’s SynDane catalyst for the production process. The facility will be located in Yantai city, Shandong province, and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.
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