Hungary fuel situation 'critical', imports needed, MOL says

Hungary's fuel supply situation is "critical" as demand has soared and panic buying has led to shortages, oil and gas group MOL said on Tuesday, adding the only solution was to create the conditions for increased imports, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Foreign players have cut fuel shipments to Hungary since the government capped the price of petrol and diesel at 480 forints (USD1.22) per liter a year ago. "MOL remains committed to maintaining security of supply from our own products, however securing full market supply cannot be ensured without the ramp-up of product imports in the current environment," the company said in a statement.

MOL's Managing Director Gyorgy Bacsa later added in an emailed statement that MOL was trying to import more products from its refinery in Slovakia but "has reached the limits of its logistical capacities." The company said it faced some shortfall of fuel stocks across almost its entire network of filling stations over the weekend as many people started panic buying and stockpiling.

The fuel price cap currently applies to drivers of privately owned vehicles, farm vehicles and taxis and is set to expire at the end of December. The government has said it will decide whether to extend the measure based on information from MOL on whether the company is able to ensure supply. The government did not reply to questions on Monday and Tuesday.

MOL also said it had started ramping up crude oil processing at its Danube refinery and expected to reach full capacity utilization in a couple of weeks. Due to maintenance work, the refinery has been operating at 50%–55% capacity, affecting all of MOL's products.

We remind, MOL announced that, through a subsidiary, it signed a long-term charter contract for three newbuilding liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with QatarEnergy. The vessels will be built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. in China, and are scheduled for delivery in 2027. MOL signed a long-term charter contract with QatarEnergy in April 2022 for four newbuilding LNG carriers, and the relationship between QatarEnergy and MOL will be further expanded by three LNG carriers through the latest contract.
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Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is accelerating operationalization of its board mandated low carbon growth strategy, by establishing a new Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth vertical that will focus on renewable energy, clean hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as well as international expansion in gas, LNG and chemicals, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Musabbeh Al Kaabi has been appointed Executive Director of the new vertical. The creation of the Low Carbon Solutions & International Growth vertical builds on the company’s successful track record in responsibly and sustainably supplying energy to the world. It will play an important role in advancing the company’s ongoing transformation, which has included a steadfast focus on the decarbonization of its operations, energy efficiency and operational excellence, reductions in methane emissions, advancing CCUS to cut CO2 emissions, and the use of renewable and other zero-carbon energy sources.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said: “The Low Carbon Solutions & International Growth vertical will accelerate delivery of our decarbonization roadmap and advance our Net Zero by 2050 ambition. As the UAE prepares to host COP28 next year, we will continue to focus on practical and positive solutions that drive progress for the climate and the economy.

“With the direction and support of our nation’s wise leadership and the ADNOC Board, ADNOC is embarking on a new and exciting period of accelerated growth, with a determined focus on sustainability that will help future-proof our business for decades to come. To lead and drive the delivery of our new mandate, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Musabbeh Al Kaabi to the role of Executive Director, Low Carbon Solutions & International Growth, with effect from 16 January 2023.”

Since its inception ADNOC has been focused on sustainability, including eliminating routine flaring of natural gas across its operations. Its investments in the early 1980s to gather and process flared gas have been instrumental in mitigating the negative environmental impacts associated with flaring. The company recently set a new upstream methane intensity target of 0.15% by 2025, which is the lowest in the Middle East, and plans to continue to reduce methane emissions through the use of flare gas recovery systems and regular leak detection and repair programs.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) on Monday signed a deal awarding the first concession in the Middle East for unconventional oil resources. The six-year agreement is the first investment by a Malaysian company in an Abu Dhabi concession, United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM said.
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TotalEnergies and Air France-KLM have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the delivery of more than 1 MMcm3/800,000 tons of SAF by TotalEnergies to Air France-KLM Group airlines over the 10-year period from 2023, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This sustainable aviation fuel will be produced by TotalEnergies at its biorefineries. It will be made available to Air France-KLM Group’s airlines, mainly for flights departing from France (in accordance with French legislation) and the Netherlands.

The sustainable aviation fuels produced by TotalEnergies reduce CO2 emissions by at least 80% on average over the entire lifecycle, compared with their fossil equivalent.

Air France-KLM has implemented a strict sourcing policy and is committed to purchasing only SAFs that do not compete with human food or animal feed, that are RSB* or ISCC** certified for sustainability, and that are not derived from palm oil.

With the signing of this MoU, Air France-KLM and TotalEnergies confirm their collaboration and their goal of furthering the development of a more responsible aviation sector. A long-standing partnership in support of aviation sector decarbonization.

Air France-KLM Group and TotalEnergies have been collaborating on the use of sustainable aviation fuel for nearly 10 years. Their partnership began with “Lab Line for the Future” in 2014, a two-year experiment during which 78 flights between Paris-Orly and Toulouse and between Paris-Orly and Nice were powered by 10% SAF supplied by TotalEnergies.

In January 2020, Air France and TotalEnergies participated, alongside Safran and Suez, in the Call for Expression of Interest launched by the French government aimed at developing sustainable aviation fuel production in France.

We remind, Technip Energies has been awarded a contract for work on the conversion of TotalEnergies’ Grandpuits refinery southeast of Paris into a zero-crude platform oriented towards sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The converted plant will have a capacity to produce 210,000 tonnes/year of SAF from sustainable feedstock such as used cooking oil and animal fat.
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SNF has completed a two-year-long construction and expansion of ADAM (dimethylaminoethyl acrylate) monomer production capacity at our facility in Riceboro, Georgia, said the company.

This expansion increases SNF's U.S. ADAM capacity by 80%. ADAM is the main feedstock for ADC80 cationic monomer, an essential component in all SNF cationic polyacrylamide-based polymers.

This new ADAM monomer capacity features a new catalyst that provides more process flexibility with an improved safety profile for our employees. Further, methanol, a by-product of ADAM production, will be used as a fuel source, making the process more sustainable and less reliant on natural gas.

This expansion represents SNF's ongoing commitment to meet the increasing demand for cationic polyacrylamide-based polymers in wastewater treatment, oil & gas, and paper applications.

We remind, SNF Holding on Thursday announced a USD375m expansion of its water-treatment and water-conditioning polymer production plant near Plaquemine, Louisiana. SNF produces acrylamide monomer and polyacrylamide powders and emulsions at the Plaquemine unit. SNF initially invested USD350m in Iberville Parish in June 2009, with the current polyacrylamide powders facility built in stages over the succeeding years.

SNF is a specialty chemical group whose products contribute to treating, recycling, preserving water, saving energy, and reducing carbon footprint. A pioneer in soft chemistry, SNF has long been present on all continents, employing 6,900 people, including 2,100 in the USA. Innovation and movement towards a cleaner, less carbon-intensive world are great accelerators of SNF's growth.

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Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France) announced that earlier this year it demonstrated the successful start-up of the first ethanol-to-ethylene pilot plant based on Axens Atol technology with Sumitomo Chemical, which is going on the waste-to-polyolefins project in Japan, said the company.

At full rollout, this project will attain the production of waste-based polyolefin at industrial scale, representing a step forward towards a circular economy based on renewable carbon.

Building upon the historic 2021 achievement of the first waste-based polyolefin production at lab scale, the cooperation between both companies entered into a new phase with the construction and start-up of the first Atol plant. This success proves the reliability and robustness of Axens Atol technology, which will be capable of processing a wide variety of ethanol feedstocks derived from various origins.

Axens now counts 5 Atol references in the world, demonstrating the versatility of a technology which is at the crossroads of various value chains, from polymers and chemicals to biofuels.

“We are honored to work hand in hand with Sumitomo Chemical, in a cooperation that has the potential to be a game changer for the polyolefins industry. This project clearly addresses the waste plastics issue and Axens is committed to support our customers and partners to accelerate the deployment of circular economy the world,” said Frederic Balligand, Axens Renewables Product Line Vice-President.

As per MRC, Axens and Hyundai Chemical Co. successfully achieve the start-up of the pyrolysis gasoline (Pygas) unit, part of the Hyundai Chemical petrochemical grassroots complex in Daesan, South Korea. The product has been on-specification regarding the aromatics recovery and the sulfur content in a short period. Thanks to the strong support of Axens personnel on-site during the commissioning and start-up activities, Axens and Hyundai Chemical, started-up the Pygas units (Pygas first and second stage) in December 2021, few months after entering into a collaboration.

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