India future crude oil supplies will mostly come from Gulf

India's minister of petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said most of his country's crude oil supplies in the near future will come from the Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as it seeks a secure and affordable energy base, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Indian refiners have been snapping up relatively cheap Russian oil, shunned by Western companies and countries since sanctions were imposed against Moscow for what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. India's imports from Russian oil rose by 4.7 times, or more than 400,000 barrels per day, in April-May, but fell in July.

Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer rose in July by more than 25% after Saudi Arabia lowered the official selling price in June and July compared with May. Saudi Arabia stayed at the No. 3 spot among India's suppliers.

"As far as India is concerned, I see for the foreseeable future much of our crude oil supplies will be coming from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, among others," Puri told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan. Although oil imports from Russia declined by 7.3% in July from the June levels, Moscow remained the country's second biggest oil supplier after Iraq.

Puri said that by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2022, India's purchases from Russia represented only 0.2%, but rose later as the global situation became "problematic". "We started to buy a little more, but we still buy a fraction of what Europe buys from Russia. A democratically elected government like what we have in India will make sure that the consumers are provided with energy (not only) on a secure basis, but also on an affordable base," he said.

Asked if future purchases of Russian oil would rise or decline, Puri said he wouldn't rule out anything. "When prices are high, the logistical factors are applied. We have a duty to our consumers."

European countries and the United States have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. New Delhi has called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, but it has not explicitly condemned the invasion.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government values good relations with Washington and the West, Indian officials say domestic needs come first and argue that Russia has been a better friend than the United States in energy cooperation.

Puri said the rise in global energy prices is not directly linked to the war in Ukraine but rather to the "misaligned equilibrium between supply and demand," with the geopolitical situation an additional factor. Asked if he would support a price cap on Russian oil, Puri said they will examine the issue once more details are available.

We remind, HPCL commenced its Cowdung to Compressed Biogas Project at Sanchore, Rajasthan. This will be HPCL’s first project under Waste to Energy portfolio. The plant is proposed to utilize 100 Tons per day of dung to produce biogas, which can be utilized as automotive fuel. The project is proposed to be commissioned in a year’s time.
The project’s ground breaking ceremony took place at Shree Godham Mahatirth Pathmeda Lok Punyarth Nyas, Village Pathmeda, Tehsil Sanchore District Jalore in Rajasthan which was attended by ED - Bio-fuel & Renewables, Shri Shuvendu Gupta and Senior officials from HPCL.
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QatarEnergy has selected Eni as a new international partner in the North Field East (NFE) expansion project, said the company.

The Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, and Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi signed a partnership agreement for a new joint venture company during the official ceremony on Sunday.

QatarEnergy will hold a 75% interest while Eni will hold the remaining 25% interest, the company said.

The joint venture will hold a 12.5% interest in the entire NFE project, including four mega LNG trains with a combined capacity of 32 million tons per annum (MTPA).

The NFE project will expand Qatar’s LNG export capacity from the current 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA. 'A $28.75 billion investment, NFE is expected to start production before the end of 2025 and will deploy state-of-the-art technologies to minimize overall carbon footprint, including carbon capture and sequestration,' Eni announced.

The agreement marks the completion of a competitive process that started in 2019 and which will run for 27 years.

The deal is seen as a strategic move for Eni, expanding its presence in the Middle East while gaining access to a world-leading LNG producer and detaining some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world.

We remind, Eni informs that it has acquired the company Export LNG Ltd, which owns the Tango FLNG floating liquefaction facility, from Exmar group. The facility will be used by Eni in the Republic of Congo, as part of the activities of the natural gas development project in the Marine XII block, in line with Eni's strategy to leverage gas equity resources. The Tango FLNG, built in 2017, has a treatment capacity of approximately 3 million standard cubic meters/day and an LNG production capacity of approximately 0.6 million tons per year (about 1 billion standard cubic meters/year). The acquisition of this facility allows the development of a fast-track model capable of seizing the opportunities of the LNG market. In addition, the high flexibility and mobility characteristics of the Tango FLNG will favour the development and enhancement of Eni's equity gas by accelerating production start-up time.
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Imperial Oil has announced a long-term contract with Air Products which will supply low-carbon hydrogen for its proposed renewable diesel complex at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, said the company.

Air Products will provide pipeline supply from its hydrogen plant under construction in Edmonton and increasing overall investment in the facility to CAD$1.6bn to support the contract. Jon Wetmore, Imperial’s Vice President of Downstream, said, “Our agreement with Air Products is an important milestone as we progress plans to build the largest renewable diesel manufacturing facility in Canada. This project highlights Imperial’s commitment to investing in a lower carbon future.”

He said it will continue to hold discussions with business partners and governments as it works toward a final investment decision “in the months ahead”. Imperial, which recorded net income of USD2,409m in the second quarter, will use Air Products’ low-carbon hydrogen to produce renewable diesel at Strathcona that substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional production.

The hydrogen and biofeedstock will be combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce premium low-carbon diesel fuel.

The additional investment by Air Products will be used to facilitate integration with Imperial’s proposed project that is expected to enable further significant emissions reductions at Air Products’ overall complex. Air Products will supply Strathcona with approximately 50% of the low-carbon hydrogen output from the 165m standard cubic feet per day hydrogen production complex.

Dr. Samir J. Serhan, Chief Operating Officer at Air Products, said there is significant demand for low-carbon hydrogen, and Air Products is ready to meet it from the Alberta Blue Hydrogen Hub.

We remind, Air Liquide confirms today its intention to withdraw from Russia. Taking a responsible and orderly approach, the Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local management team with the objective to transfer its activities in Russia in the framework of an MBO (Management Buy Out). This project is notably subject to Russian regulatory approvals. In parallel, as a consequence of the evolution of the geopolitical context, the activities of the Group in Russia will no longer be consolidated starting September 1, 2022.
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SK Capital completes USD250m sale of NuCera Solutions to Chase Corporation, said the company.

An affiliate of funds advised by SK Capital Partners (SK Capital) has completed the sale of NuCera Solutions (NuCera) to Chase Corporation, a leading manufacturer of protective materials for high reliability applications in a USD350 million deal.

Formed through the carve-out of Baker Hughes’ specialty polymer business, NuCera is a recognised leader in the production and development of specialty polymers and polymerisation technologies that serve as mission critical performance additives in demanding applications globally. The Company operates globally with headquarters in Houston, Texas, a primary production facility in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, and international sales offices in France and Singapore.

Following the carve-out of NuCera, SK Capital successfully established NuCera as a standalone market leader, growing the business through the development of a targeted global commercial strategy which resulted in a multitude of new business wins.

We remind, Funds advised by SK Capital Partners, and Edgewater Capital Partners private investment firms focused on the specialty materials and specialty chemicals sectors, announced having entered into exclusive negotiations following submission of their binding offer to acquire the scintillation and photonic crystals business of Saint-Gobain, S.A. SK Capital will lead the investment with Edgewater acting as a meaningful minority shareholder with Board involvement.

SK Capital is a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, specialty chemicals, and pharmaceuticals sectors.
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BASF and Huayuan Group today signed a strategic cooperation intention agreement to strengthen their collaboration in the areas of raw material supply, market expansion, and product development, said the company.

The two companies will work together on offering high-quality and innovative solutions to serve the increasing demand from various industries in China and overseas.

The business cooperation between BASF and the Huayuan Group dates back more than a decade. Under the new agreement, BASF will continue to provide Huayuan with high-quality ingredients. Meanwhile, leveraging BASF's deep know-how and extensive innovative solutions in the chemical industry, the partners will expand the cooperation in metal pretreatment technologies, pharmaceutical materials, and sustainable packaging materials, further supporting the development of both companies in key strategic industries.

"The Huayuan Group is a major Chinese player in high-end manufacturing, new energy, and advanced materials. By forming a strategic partnership in broad scope, we will meet customers’ increasing demands for high-quality products in various industries,” said Dr. Jeffrey Lou, President and Chairman, BASF Greater China.

Headquartered in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, Huayuan Group is ranked among the top 500 private enterprises in China, with eight national high-tech enterprises. Shao Qin Xiang, Chairman and President of Huayuan Group, said: "This agreement is built on the long-term relationship and cooperation between the two companies. Huayuan Group and BASF will combine respective strengths and expand their cooperation areas to achieve mutual business growth."

We remind, BASF, SABIC and Linde have started construction of the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. By using electricity from renewable sources instead of natural gas, the new technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions of one of the most energy-intensive production processes in the chemical industry by at least 90% compared to technologies commonly used today.
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