Central Asian countries on the path to reducing their carbon footprint

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The growing attention of investors and lenders to ESG factors puts additional pressure on oil and gas companies, which may face difficulties in attracting investments in the future, said, said Globuc.

Energy transition and decarbonisation of the downstream industry will be among the topics explored at the Downstream Central Asia & Caspian conference in Tashkent. It is impossible to implement downstream projects without attracting investment, and today, sustainability of the production process and decarbonisation efforts of a future project have become one of the decisive factors in obtaining project financing.

Within the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement, Central Asian and Caspian countries have committed to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. In particular, by 2030 Kazakhstan will reduce them by 15%, Uzbekistan by 35% and Azerbaijan plans to cut emissions by 40% or more by 2050.

National oil and gas companies of the region have already begun to reduce their carbon footprint. Uzbekneftegaz and Technip Energies discussed the prospects and opportunities for cooperation in the field of decarbonisation of the oil and gas industry; KazMunayGas and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation in the field of decarbonisation. BP has submitted a roadmap for the decarbonisation of the energy sector to the government of Azerbaijan.

At Downstream Central Asia & Caspian, the largest downstream oil&gas event in the region, on the 20th of October as part of the "Energy Transition and Decarbonization in Central Asia" session, participants will discuss what the refineries of the future will be like in a world with a low-carbon economy and the role of hydrogen in the energy transition.

Azamat Kozhanov, CEO at Kazakh Invest, and Ainur Tumysheva, Investment Director at Svevind will talk about the largest hydrogen project in Central Asia, the Svevind Green Hydrogen project in Kazakhstan. Bilal Guliyev, General Director for Research, Development and Innovation at SOCAR Turkey will present a report on the role and importance of R&D and innovation in accelerating decarbonization of the petrochemical and oil refining industries.

Alexey Tyurikov, Vice President, Russia and CIS at AspenTech, will share innovations to achieve ambitious sustainable development goals while simultaneously achieving profitability targets.

Gennady Tarasov, Managing Director of Innovation and Marketingat at Kazgiproneftetrans will share information about an innovative project and the prospects of cryogenic technology.

Downstream Central Asia & Caspian is an annual industry business event. In 2022, the event will be held in Tashkent on the 19-20th of October 2022. The conference will bring together representatives of oil and gas processing and petrochemical companies in Central Asia and the Caspian region, as well as leading technology suppliers from all over the world.

The conference is organised by Globuc, an international event management company based in London. Globuc specialises in high-level business events in the energy and oil&gas sectors.

Earlier it was reported that the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company will increase the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) to approximately 505,000 tonnes of polymer products per year by the end of 2024.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- -Nexeo Plastics, a leading global thermoplastics resin distributor, is pleased to announce it is providing a series of informative online videos to help all customers, especially designers and processers navigate the entire product lifecycle, said the company.

This instructional online support is offered in partnership with Routsis Training. Nexeo Plastics aims to help tackle customers’ technical issues, while driving innovative solutions. The first video, Calculating Snap Deflection and How It Relates to a Material Stress Strain Curve, is now available at Routsis Training Videos | Nexeo Plastics.

Nexeo Plastics’ Digital Marketing Manager, Lindsay Bosnjak, said, “Our customers want more technical information regarding application development, material selection, process optimization and troubleshooting. They are searching for online solutions geared toward these capabilities, and Nexeo Plastics strives to provide them with the ability to solve their technical and material challenges. We want our customers to know that we understand their pain points, and we have the resources to support them."

Whether customers are designing an application, testing new materials, needing alternative material suggestions, or needing help with their production process, Nexeo Plastics’ technical team can provide support.

Built on decades of technical experience, Nexeo Plastics’ technical support team can help customers succeed in today’s challenging market. From concept to commercialization, the technical support team works alongside customers through material selection, testing and troubleshooting, process optimization and application development.

We remind, Nexeo Plastics, a leading global thermoplastics resin distributor, is pleased to announce an agreement with Highsun Engineering Plastics Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Highsun Holding Group (also known as HSCC), to provide high-quality virgin polyamide resins to customers in the Americas.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- TotalEnergies, along with its partners, has signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) of the Sultanate of Oman in the onshore Block 11, said the company.

The first stage of the EPSA activities will see seismic acquisition in late 2022, with a first exploration well planned to be drilled in 2023. TotalEnergies will hold a 22.5% interest in the block, OQ 10% and Shell with 67.5% will be the operator. Block 11 contains undeveloped discoveries and exploration potential.

"Our recent activities in Oman are a demonstration of TotalEnergies’ strategy of transformation into a multi-energy company. Today’s entry into the Block 11 gives us the opportunity to unlock additional potential to meet domestic and export gas demand. It strengthens our strategic relationship with the Sultanate of Oman, as illustrated last December by our entry into the neighbouring Block 10 gas concession, and the start of construction last July of 17-megawatt-peak solar photovoltaic systems providing power to a desalination plant”, said Laurent Vivier, Senior Vice President Middle East and North Africa, Exploration and Production, at TotalEnergies.

H.E. Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals in Oman said: “There is a continuous focus in MEM on enhancing the natural gas reserves of the Sultanate of Oman through exploration and appraisal activities undertaken by several companies in the country. This agreement strengthens the strategic relations with partners in the sector such as Shell, TotalEnergies, OQ and others to ensure Oman’s energy security and attract more foreign investment, adding the highest value to the local supply chain."

We remind, TotalEnergies ENEOS Renewables announced the appointment of Gavin Adda as chairman of the new joint venture. Based out of Singapore, Gavin Adda is also the CEO of TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation (DG) Asia Pacific, a Board of Director at Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:MAXN) and co-chairman of the Sustainability Committee at the European Chamber of Commerce, Singapore.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell said it was "unaffected" by the German government's decision to place the PCK Schwedt oil refinery under a trusteeship, effectively taking control away from Russian majority owner Rosneft, said Reuters.

It is unclear who will step in to replace Rosneft as operator of the 233,000 barrel per day refinery, which Shell has sought to sell out of.

"Shell remains unaffected by this order as a 37.5% shareholder in PCK Schwedt and will continue to comply with its contractual obligations in accordance with its own shares," Shell said in an emailed statement.

"We do not want to speculate about measures in the context of the continued operation of the refinery in Schwedt (or other locations) that may or may not be taken by the government."

Shell in May said PCK Schwedt held no strategic value for its business. Last year it tried to sell its stake to Vienna-based Alcmene but the move was pre-empted by Rosneft, which sought to increase its 54% stake. That move was put on hold by the German government in March.

We remind, the German government is looking at bringing the PCK Schwedt refinery, partially owned by Russian energy firm Rosneft, under state control. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck are expected to hold a news conference on Friday presenting details of the plans, Spiegel reported, citing government sources.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Innovations play a key role in aligning Evonik consistently with sustainability. They are also important to leverage sustained growth, said the company.

In 2021, Evonik’s innovation growth fields generated more than €500 million in additional sales compared with 2015, for example, with sustainable solutions for health, cosmetics, and membranes. That was an increase of a good 40 percent compared with the previous year. Technologies enabling the transportation of medical active ingredients in the body, for example, lipid nanoparticles for mRNA-based vaccines, were particularly successful.

Harald Schwager, deputy chairman of Evonik’s executive board, who is responsible for innovation: “Our innovative capability is a key factor in leveraging profitable and resource-efficient growth.” The good development of our innovation growth fields is clear evidence of this. Our research pays off: Innovations give us access to additional new business.” In the ten-year period to 2025, Evonik aims to generate additional sales of over €1 billion with its innovation growth fields. “I am firmly convinced that we will achieve this goal."

Schwager wants the success story of the innovation growth fields to continue beyond 2025. “Climate change, population growth, and geopolitical uncertainty are confronting humankind with new and in some cases, unprecedented challenges,” he says. Evonik has therefore refocused Creavis as a strategic innovation unit and business incubator. It develops innovations for key issues of the future—for a hydrogen economy and circularity, efficient and environment-friendly agriculture, and knowledge and data-based business models. Schwager: “The new growth areas at Creavis could develop into innovation growth fields with comparable sales potential."

Evonik research and development expenses amounted to €464 million in in 2021. The majority is spent on research in the chemical production divisions, with a smaller amount being channeled to Creavis. Relative to sales, the R&D ratio was more than 3 percent in 2021. Worldwide, the Evonik Group has around 2,600 R&D employees.

Evonik's new chief innovation officer, Ralph Marquardt, aims to strengthen the company's innovative strength even further in the future. Marquardt, who has a doctorate in chemistry and joined Evonik in 2006, has acquired the necessary experience, for example, through leadership roles in various business areas. Sustainability is his central focus. He is convinced that as a specialty chemicals company Evonik can make a big contribution to a livable future. “Our innovations are essential if we, as a society, want to curb climate change, avoid the use of fossil raw materials, and feed the growing world population,” he says.

In May, Evonik announced that it will be investing more than €3 billion in Next Generation Solutions, in other words, products with superior sustainability benefits, in the period up to 2030. The goal is for them to account for more than 50 percent of sales. In the same period, a further €700 million will be invested in Next Generation Technologies, i.e., the ongoing development of production processes and infrastructure to avoid CO2 emissions. Innovations will be needed to meet the sustainability targets associated with this billion-euro investment program.

We remind, business line Coating Additives of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) is expanding production capacity of ACEMATT precipitated matting agents at its Taiwan manufacturing facility. The significant capacity increase will help meet growing demand for matting agents in Asia, with the capacity expansion expected to be completed by the second half of 2023.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR2.38 billion in 2021. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers.
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