Fire breaks out at Chevron's El Segundo, California refinery

Fire breaks out at Chevron's El Segundo, California refinery

Chevron said fire crews responded to an isolated fire inside its 269,000-barrel-per-day El Segundo refinery in California on Tuesday, with no injuries due to the incident, said Reuters.

The time of dispatch was 6:13 p.m. (0213 GMT) with a response at the two-alarm level from El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Los Angeles County fire departments, El Segundo fire chief Deena Lee said.

It was unclear whether the material involved was jet fuel or diesel, Lee said.

Local media reports said the fire had occurred in a particular section of the refinery. The Los Angeles Times reported on its website that the blaze had been extinguished around 8:35 p.m. (0435 GMT).

A company spokesperson declined comment on which refinery units were involved.

The El Segundo refinery supplies 20% of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California, according to Chevron's website.

We remind, Chevron reported its second-highest ever quarterly profit, blasting past analysts' estimates, driven by soaring global demand for its oil and gas and rising production from its U.S. oilfields. The surge comes as oil companies book mounting profits with prices near record levels and supplies tight on output cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as market disruption from the war in Ukraine. Chevron posted a third-quarter net profit of USD11.2 B, or USD5.78 per share - almost double the $6.1 B from the same period last year, and well ahead of Wall Street's USD4.86 estimate.
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PTTGC swings to Q3 net loss amid weaker petchem margins

PTTGC swings to Q3 net loss amid weaker petchem margins

PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) swung to a net loss of Thai baht (Bt) 13.4bn in the third quarter amid weaker petrochemical spreads, said the company.

Group adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 6% in the third quarter of this year from 14% in the same period of 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA at the intermediates business fell by 87% year on year in the third quarter, weighed by weaker sales volumes due to planned maintenance at the company’s bisphenol A (BPA) plant.

The phenol, monoethylene glycol (MEG), and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) markets were weighed by poor downstream demand, especially the textile, construction and electronic industries in China during the third quarter.

For the polymers and chemicals business, third-quarter adjusted EBITDA fell by 4% year on year amid lower sales volumes.

As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical America announced plans to build a new plastics recycling facility in central Ohio.

PTTGCA, the company that has proposed construction of an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to locate a new recycling complex on SWACO property.
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German chemicals distributor Brenntag Q3 earnings beats expectations

German chemicals distributor Brenntag Q3 earnings beats expectations

German chemicals distributor Brenntag posted higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday, saying it was able to balance European and global supply chains as rising energy costs affected the continent, said Reuters.

The group, whose services include storing large-scale quantities of chemicals and repackaging them into smaller quantities, said quarterly operating earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 34% to 460 million euros (USD463 million), compared with analysts’ average estimate of 453 million euros in a company-provided poll.

The company continues to expect reaching the upper range of its 2022 guidance of 1.75 billion to 1.85 billion euros in operating EBITDA.

We remind, Brenntag has acquired the life sciences and coatings business from a fellow distributor in the Australia and New Zealand region. The acquisition from Ravenswood, a specialties distributor with an expertise in blending, is expected to close on 2 December.

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BASF and G-Philos intensify cooperation on stationary storage systems for renewable energy projects

BASF and G-Philos intensify cooperation on stationary storage systems for renewable energy projects

BASF Stationary Energy Storage GmbH (BSES) and South Korea’s G-Philos have signed a sales and marketing agreement for NAS batteries (sodium-sulphur stationary batteries) for power-to-gas (P2G) projects, power grid and microgrid applications, the companies jointly announced.

The companies will work together to develop and market energy storage systems based on NAS batteries from BASF and power conversion systems (PCS) from G-Philos. G-Philos will also purchase NAS batteries from BSES with a total capacity of 12 MWh.

BASF and G-Philos started partnership in 2020 when an NAS battery system and a PCS developed by G-Philos were deployed in a demonstration P2G project implemented in South Korea.

The two companies decided to expand cooperation following successful operation of that project.

Based on their agreements, BASF and G-Philos plan to strengthen their commitment to the market for long-duration energy storage and climate-friendly hydrogen in South Korea and the Asia region. G-Philos also intends to offer preconfigured package solutions consisting of a combination of NAS batteries with its power converters through its own distribution network.

We remind, BASF posted a EUR130m loss in its German domestic market during the third quarter (Q3), as economic conditions deteriorated quickly, on the back of high production costs for chemicals companies. Martin Brudermuller added, however, that the overall increase in sales revenue in Q3 came thanks to the company’s ability to pass higher input costs onto customers through higher selling prices, as well as a weaker euro, benefiting the company in its non-euro sales.
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Petronet LNG plans petrochemical complex with PDH, PP units

Petronet LNG plans petrochemical complex with PDH, PP units

India’s Petronet LNG plans to set up a greenfield petrochemical complex consisting of a 750,000 tonnes/year propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH), a 500,000 tonnes/year polypropylene line (PP) and other facilities for the import, storage and transfer of ethane and propane at Dahej, in western Gujarat state, said the company.

The project is estimated to cost around Indian Rupees (Rs) 142bn (USD1.74bn), Petronet said in its submission to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The petrochemical project is expected to become operational three years after the company receives all the necessary regulatory and other approvals, it added.

The complex will help Petronet meet the expected growth in demand for petrochemical products in India while also providing import substitution, it said in its submission.

The company plans to use imported propane as raw material for its PDH unit which will then provide the propylene feedstock for the proposed PP line, it added.

“The petrochemical complex will accelerate the development of downstream petrochemicals industry for polymer processing like packaging, fibre and filament, automotive, health care and personal care,” it added.

We remind, Petronet LNG and ONGC Videsh are jointly in talks about buying a stake in Tellurian Inc's proposed Driftwood project in Louisiana.

Petronet is a state-owned firm which develops facilities for the import, storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Dahej and Kochi in southern Kerala state.
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