Ryanair to buy sustainable fuel from Shell but 2030 target elusive

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ryanair signed an SAF supply agreement with Shell , but Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said it would take a "revolution" to hit his target of powering 12.5% of flights with the fuel by 2030, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, said the memorandum of understanding could give it potential access to 360,000 tons of SAF from 2025 to 2030, a fifth of what it says it needs to reach its 12.5% target.

"I'm not sure we'll get there (12.5%) but by signing up more partnership agreements with Shell, with Neste and with the other fuel suppliers, I think that gives us our best chance of maybe getting to 8, maybe 10, maybe 11," O'Leary told a sustainability conference the airline was hosting on Thursday.

"Who knows, hopefully we will get to 12.5% by 2030. But that will not happen unless we have a dramatic revolution in supply of production of SAFs and availability at our airports." The Shell deal follows similar agreements Ryanair has struck with Finnish biofuel producer Neste and Austrian oil and gas group OMV.

Sustainable jet fuel generally produces up to 70% less carbon than fossil fuels, offering airlines a way to become greener while continuing to fly, before less carbon-intensive hybrid, electric or hydrogen aeroplane options become available.

O'Leary told an Irish parliamentary committee on Wednesday that he did not expect a hydrogen engine to be ready before 2040 or 2050.

Ryanair has committed to cutting its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 and said the Shell agreement could save 900,000 tons in carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to over 70,000 flights from Dublin to Milan.

Ryanair operates an average of 3,000 flights per day and plans to grow from a record 168 MM passengers this financial year to 225 MM by 2026.

We remind, Shell Petroleum NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc (Shell), has reached an agreement with Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, Pioneer Point Partners and Sampension to acquire 100% shareholding of Nature Energy Biogas A/S (Nature Energy) for nearly USD2 bn (EUR1.9 bn).

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mOSOCW (MRC) -- INEOS has signed a 20-year contract with Sempra Infrastructure for the supply of approximately 1.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from Phase 1 of the Port Arthur LNG facility under development in Texas North America, said the company.

Under the agreement INEOS has agreed to purchase approximately 1.4 mtpa and has also signed a non-binding heads of agreement (HOA) for the potential purchase of an additional 0.2mtpa from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project under development. The first deliveries are expected in 2027.

In July, INEOS also signed a contract for long-term regasification capacity in the proposed German LNG Terminal in Brunsbuettel, Germany. These agreements mark INEOS’ entry into the global Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) market. The company is a first mover among European corporates as it secures competitive sources of energy to meet its own needs and those of its customers in Europe, as part of the energy transition.

The agreements come at a critical time for energy markets and will provide much needed security of supply for Europe.

Brian Gilvary Chairman, INEOS Energy said, “This long-term contract with Sempra Infrastructure and the agreement of regasification capacity in Brunsbuettel, secures the key areas of the value chain for INEOS across the Atlantic corridor and represents a major step forward in the INEOS Energy journey, at a time of significant transformation in the energy industry."

The Port Arthur LNG project is a fully permitted facility on a 3,000-acre site in Jefferson County, Texas. It is expected to include two natural gas liquefaction trains and LNG storage tanks and associated facilities capable of producing, under optimal conditions, up to approximately 13.5mtpa of LNG.

The German LNG Terminal is a planned regasification facility in Brunsbuettel, Germany, that will have an annual throughput capacity of 8 billion cubic metres (bcma) of natural gas and can be expanded to at least 10bcma. German LNG has executed the Engineering Procurement and Construction Contract and has entered into agreements with foundation customers INEOS, ConocoPhillips and RWE for long-term regasification capacity in the terminal. It is now focussing on securing the final permits to fully develop the terminal.

We remind, INEOS Europe AG and Pacific Gas (Hong Kong) Holdings Co., Ltd, have signed long-term time charter agreements for four 99,000 cbm (cubic metre) VLECs (Very Large Ethane Carriers). The deal will bring INEOS’ ethane fleet to 16 vessels, with eight VLEC and eight Dragon class ethane carriers. With these agreements, INEOS will have a total of six VLECs under time charter with Pacific Gas.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras completed the sale of Isaac Sabba (REMAN) refinery in Manaus, Amazonas state to Ream, a subsidiary of Grupo Atem, said the company.

Petrobras received USD257.2m, higher than the initial sale price of USD189.5m. The additional money reflects variation in working capital, net debt, investments and what Petrobras called monetary correction. The refinery has a throughput capacity of 46,000 bbl/day.

Petrobras will continue to support Ream in operating the refinery for up to 15 months under a service agreement. Grupo Atem is a fuel distributor and retailer with more than 320 franchised stations.

The company has distribution centres in Manaus, Amazonas state; Santarem and Itaituba in Para state; Porto Velho and Vilhena in Rondonia state; Sinop in Mato Grosso state; and Campo Grande in Mato Grosso do Sul state.

It can handle more than 5bn litres/year of fuel. Atem is building two more distribution centres.

We remind, Petrobras rejected a binding proposal for the Gabriel Passos Refinery (REGAP) in Minas Gerais state.
Petrobras rejected the bid because the proposal was below its "economic and financial evaluation", the company said. It will now consider when it could start a new bidding process.

We remind, Petrobras rejected a binding proposal for the Gabriel Passos Refinery (REGAP) in Minas Gerais state.
Petrobras rejected the bid because the proposal was below its "economic and financial evaluation", the company said. It will now consider when it could start a new bidding process.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Elementis PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its Chromium business to Yildirim Group for an enterprise value of USD170 million, with total pretax cash proceeds expected to be around USD119 mln, said the company.

The London-based specialty chemicals company said the sale, expected to complete before the end of the first quarter of 2023, follows the strategic review of the Chromium business announced last April.

"Following the sale of the Chromium business, Elementis will continue to implement its strategy built on innovation, growth and efficiency, with a portfolio now fully focused on premium specialty products," the company said.

We remind, Elementis says it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Aqdot (Cambridge, UK), a supramolecular chemtech company, to sell Aqdot’s odor capture and smart fragrance release solution for use in anti-perspirant and deodorant product formulations. Further details have not been disclosed.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based Eastman aims to light a fire under the ecosystem for collecting hard-to-recycle polyester waste with USD2bn in new investments for plastics recycling projects in the US and France, said the company.

“As we demonstrate the value of the technology, there will need to be dramatic changes in the way society works to create circularity - the recycling infrastructure, the recovery, the sortation and the materials chosen to be used. All that is going to have to evolve dramatically,” said Scott Ballard, president, Plastics Division at Eastman.

“We’re catalysing that change – that’s the way we think about it,” he added. Eastman has three major plastics recycling projects using its polyester renewal technology (PRT) in the offing – one under construction in the US and two more planned – one in France and the other in the US.

The company’s PRT technology uses methanolysis to break down polyester waste into monomers dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG). This chemical (also called advanced or molecular) recycling process can be applied not only to clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drink bottles but also to hard-to-recycle materials such as carpet, polyester clothing and coloured PET bottles that today are mostly going into landfill.

We remind, Eastman Chemical Co. has signed a deal to supply beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. from its proposed third chemical recycling plant. Eastman's first chemical recycling plant is set to open early next year in Kingsport, Tenn., where the firm is based. A second plant will open in Normandy, France, in 2025. Interzero Plastics Recycling of Germany will supply the French plant with PET household packaging waste as feedstock.

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