Trinseo appoints Han Hendriks as first CTO

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, announced that it has appointed Han Hendriks to the newly created role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective Oct. 1, 2022, said the company.

As CTO, Hendriks will be a member of Trinseo’s executive leadership team and will be based in The Netherlands. In this role, he will drive the development of differentiated technology and innovation, allowing Trinseo to meet unfilled and unrecognized customer needs and develop sustainable solutions across Trinseo’s innovation pillars.

"We are delighted to have Han join us during this critical moment in our company’s transformational journey to become a specialty material solutions provider,” said Frank Bozich, Trinseo President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we continue our journey, and as part of an effort to define a path forward, Han’s experience in setting a vision and strategy for technology and developing transformational technologies will help us achieve our goals."

Prior to joining Trinseo, Hendriks was Chief Technology Officer at Yanfeng, one of the world's leading automotive suppliers, headquartered in Shanghai with eight R&D centers globally. He was responsible at the group level for the company’s technology and “smart cabin” vision and strategy, as well as portfolio management. He also led the design and development of new products from research and initial idea to market launch including technical sales and marketing, technology M&A and partnerships, and the initiation and global upscaling of Yanfeng’s new business incubators. Prior to Yanfeng, Hendriks enjoyed a 16-year career at Johnson Controls, holding multiple roles of increasing responsibility. Earlier in his career, he worked for companies such as Fluke (Danaher) and Oce (Canon).

Hendriks holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architectural Design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht and an MBA from the University of Westminster, London, and he successfully completed a post-graduate Industrial Design program at the Universita Internazionale Dell 'Arte in Florence.

As per MRC, Trinseo and GMP Group plan to collaborate on a polystyrene (PS) recycling plant in the Netherlands.
The plant - with a minimum capacity of 25,000 tonnes/year and expected to start up in 2024 - will purify PS waste and deliver high-quality recycled PS pellets via a “ Super Clean recycling process,” they said in a statement. It would be built and operated by GMP.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately $4.8 billion in net sales in 2021 and has 26 manufacturing sites and one recycling facility around the world and approximately 3,400 employees.
mrchub.com

Arkema finalized the acquisition of Polimeros Especiales, strengthening the Group’s offering in solvent-free solutions and its position in this fast growing region, said the company.

Polimeros Especiales is a well-established Mexican company producing high-performance waterborne resins for a broad range of applications in markets such as architectural and decorative paints, textiles, pressure sensitive adhesives and construction. It is a key manufacturer of emulsions in the region, achieving sales of around US$40 million in 2021 and employing 230 people.

As part of Arkema’s Coating Solutions segment, Polimeros Especiales will strengthen the Group’s position in high-growth markets, drive the development of further sustainable innovations together with Arkema’s other key solvent-free technologies, and reinforce its presence in the Americas market.

We remind, Arkema has set itself an ambitious target, based on an SBT (Science Based Target) approach, to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its scope 3 emissions by 46% by 2030 relative to 2019.

Also, Nippon Shokubai and Arkema are joining forces to launch feasibility studies and establish a joint venture for the construction of an industrial plant for the production of LiFSI (Lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide) ultrapure electrolyte salts, a key component of battery cells for electric mobility.

mrchub.com

Argentina's state oil company YPF and its Malaysian counterpart, Petronas, inked a deal on Thursday to build a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and a pipeline to transport the fuel, as demand for the fossil fuel spikes globally, said Reuters.

An agreement could be announced as soon as the end of the week, likely ahead of the Gastech conference in Milan that begins on 5 September. Confirmation from YPF and PETRONAS could not be reached before publication.

YPF operated a brief run at LNG exports between 2019 and 2020, with its Tango FLNG project that was installed in Bahia Blanca. The project’s operations were short-lived, however. Six LNG cargoes were exported, before payments were terminated and Exmar took back the vessel.

Tango FLNG has since been acquired by Italy’s Eni for its exports in the Republic of Congo. Eni’s project could start production as soon as the second half of 2023. Sources said that YPF could consider a bridging venture using floating LNG again while pursuing an onshore liquefaction project, which could be planned as a sizeable project.

One source said as much as 25mtpa was under consideration, but that this sounded overambitious. Argentina has been a net importer of LNG, particularly during the country’s southern hemisphere winter.

YPF would look to export during the country’s summer season, which runs during the northern hemisphere winters in Europe and Asia, coinciding with peak LNG demand. Argentina has imported about 1.8m tonnes of LNG from January to August 2022, according to ICIS LNG Edge. Argentina imported 2.1mtpa in 2021.

We remind, YPF said it would maintain its USD2.7 billion 2021 investment plan despite only partially resolving a recent debt crisis, with USD1.3 billion of the spending for shale oil and gas production at Vaca Muerta, reported Reuters.
The investment represents an 73% increase versus 2020, when the firm suffered a severe blow from the drop in international oil prices and lower demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As MRC informed earlier, Argentina's state-backed energy company YPF plans to ramp up it investment 73% this year, with the brunt of the increased spending going toward rebuilding oil and natural gas production after a 10% slump in 2020, according to a company source's statement Jan. 26, 2021.
mrchub.com

Topsoe has made a final investment decision (FID) to build what will be “the world’s largest” solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) electrolyzer plant, said the company.

The plant at Herning in Denmark’s Jutland region will have an initial capacity of 500 MW per year, with an option to expand to 5 GW.

With the Danish kroner (DKK) 2bn (USD267m) project, Topsoe would take power-to-x technology and electrolysis to produce green fuels to a “commercially competitive position, ultimately making the case for decarbonisation unarguable,” Topsoe said.

“We already have 500 MW of pre-sold capacity and are in discussions with other potential offtake partners as well, who find our electrolyzer technology attractive, and look forward to being able to make more announcements in due course,” said Sundus Cordelia Ramli, chief commercial officer (CCO) of Topsoe’s Power-to-X division.

Construction will start during H2 2022. Timelines for completion and startup were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Topsoe’s technologies are set to reduce its customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by 12 MMt in 2022 alone. These reductions will not be one-offs but ongoing for the years to come. The key driver is Topsoe’s renewable fuels solutions, producing low-carbon fuels from waste and biomass.
mrc.ru

Imperial Oil Ltd. says it and ExxonMobil Canada have closed the USD1.9-billion sale of their oil and gas-producing assets in the Montney and Duvernay areas to Whitecap Resources Inc., said Jwnenergy.

The two companies each owned 50 per cent of XTO Energy Canada, which held the assets, while Imperial itself is majority owned by ExxonMobil.

Imperial says the assets sold include almost 230,000 net hectares in the Montney shale and about 29,000 net hectares in the Duvernay shale, plus additional holdings in other areas of Alberta.

Whitecap says the acquisition will add the equivalent of about 32,000 barrels per day of production (including condensate and natural gas liquids) and over 2,000 drilling locations in the two fossil fuel plays.

Calgary-based Whitecap says the deal also includes a gas processing facility, and that integration of the acquired assets is already well underway.

Imperial said in January it would look to sell XTO Energy Canada as part of its strategy to focus on key oilsands assets.

As per MRC, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) is in the process of transitioning its 30% stake in a Russian oil development "to another party," according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Exxon Mobil announced in March its withdrawal from the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project due to the situation around Ukraine. In the same month, the company announced the recall of its American employees employed in oil and gas projects in Russia.

mrchub.com