Nghi Son refinery to shut for 55 days from August 25 for maintenance

Nghi Son refinery to shut for 55 days from August 25 for maintenance

Vietnam's largest refinery, Nghi Son, will be shut down for 55 days starting August 25 for major maintenance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said, as per Reuters.

The 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery will process 7.96 MMt of crude oil this year, the ministry said in a statement.
This will be the first major maintenance at the refinery, which started commercial production in May, 2018. The refinery supplies more than a third of Vietnam's needs for refined fuels.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical suffered a leak at its residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC), which had been shut down since late last month. The ministry said the unit will be restarted on Jan. 15 at the latest. The closure of the unit causes a 20%-25% fall in the refinery's total output.

Nghi Son refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1% by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% by Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam and 4.7% by Mitsui Chemicals Inc. Vietnam's other refinery, the 130,000-barrel-per-day Binh Son, will also be shut down from June 22 through to August 11 for maintenance.

We remind, Vietnam's largest oil refinery will complete repairs needed to fix a technical problem at its residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit by Jan. 15. The 200,000-barrel-per-day Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical had a leak at the RFCC unit, the government said on Friday, adding the problem would reduce the refinery's output by 20%-25%. Nghi Son, which provides more a third of Vietnam's petroleum needs, is one of only two oil refineries in the country.

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Borealis acquires a majority stake in Renasci

Borealis acquires a majority stake in Renasci

Borealis acquires a majority stake in Belgian recycling firm Renasci, the polyolefins producer announced.

Borealis announced the acquisition of a ; today it announces an increase of its investment to acquire a majority stake of 50.01%, signalling on-going confidence in the potential of Renasci’s patented SCP concept to drive the circular transformation. The investment is an important component of Borealis’ strategy to reach its ambitious circular goals, which target a six-fold increase in the volume of circular products and solutions to 600 kilotonnes by 2025, rising to 1.8 million tonnes by 2030. The acquisition will support Borealis to reach these goals by providing increasing long-term access to chemically recycled feedstock from Renasci’s Ostend facility and through enabling access to key circular technologies.

SCP is unique because it enables the processing of multiple waste streams using different recycling technologies under one roof, resulting in exceptionally high valorisation of waste. Through leveraging its market access, know-how, and innovative technological capabilities, Borealis will accelerate the implementation of the SCP concept and will also explore opportunities for replicating the model in strategic locations.

“With this investment, we mark another milestone on our path to realising our Strategy 2030 goals. Our acquisition of a controlling stake in Renasci has the potential to unlock significant progress on circularity for our entire industry, and is proof of the spirit in action,” says Borealis CEO Thomas Gangl.

We remind, Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions, and a European front-runner in polyolefins recycling; and VERBUND, Austria’s leading energy company, announce that they have signed a ten-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply hydropower to Borealis operations in Schwechat, Austria, starting in January of 2023.

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ExxonMobil sells interest in Esso Thailand

ExxonMobil sells interest in Esso Thailand

ExxonMobil has reached an agreement with Bangchak Corporation to sell its interest in Esso Thailand that includes the Sriracha Refinery, select distribution terminals, and a network of Esso-branded retail stations, delivering on its commitment to strengthen value and overall competitiveness, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The transaction will be executed by ExxonMobil’s affiliate, ExxonMobil Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd, which holds 65.99% interest in Esso Thailand.

“As we execute our strategy, ExxonMobil is focusing its investments on global production facilities to meet the world’s demand for lower-emissions fuels and high-performance products, while divesting assets where others see the potential for greater value,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions. “We appreciate the talent and determination of our colleagues in Thailand who have safely provided reliable product supply to the Thailand and Greater Mekong markets for more than 125 years, and we thank them for their dedicated service."

ExxonMobil will continue to supply the Thailand market with branded finished lubricants and chemical products through a new company to be formed. ExxonMobil’s upstream operations through its affiliate ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Khorat Inc., and ExxonMobil’s Bangkok Global Business Center, which employs about 2,000 people, will not be impacted.

ExxonMobil remains focused on safe and reliable operations and ensuring compliance with commitments made to customers and relevant government agencies and regulators.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023, subject to standard conditions and applicable legal requirements, including approval from regulatory authorities.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil has initiated legal proceedings against the European Union to try to stop a proposed windfall tax on fossil fuel companies, arguing Brussels has exceeded its legal authority. In September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the plan to impose a 33% “solidarity contribution” after oil and gas companies posted record profits in 2022.
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Shin-Etsu Chemical has developed new process technologies, transfer parts and other equipment for Micro LED displays

Shin-Etsu Chemical has developed new process technologies, transfer parts and other equipment for Micro LED displays

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. has developed new process technologies that can be applied for the manufacturing of Micro LED displays, said Polymerupdate.

The size of a Micro LED chip is not visible to the naked eye, with the length of one side being less than 50 ?m (micrometers). For example, in order to manufacture one 4K display that has 4 times the resolution of a conventional high-definition screen, it is necessary to precisely array about 24.90 million chips. In order to implement improvements in the complexity and yield ratio in the processes of Micro LED chip manufacturing and the transfer process of each chip, Shin-Etsu Chemical has been working together with Shin-Etsu Group companies to take advantage of our unique materials technologies. We have proceeded to develop various advanced innovative transfer equipment and transfer parts to solve the key manufacturing challenges of Micro LED display manufacturing.

The new process technologies we are announcing were jointly developed with Dexerials Corporation (Head Office: Shimotsuke City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan; President: Yoshihisa Shinya) and introduces innovative technology that will transfer singulated anisotropic conductive film (ACF) of?80?m or less onto the targeted location by laser equipment. Employing this technology, it becomes possible to transfer the singulated ACF only to the designated plate and mount the Micro LED chip on it and makes the repair process in Micro LED display manufacturing easy to carry out, a matter which had been a large issue up until now.

We remind, on 16 Feb 2022, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd announced plans to invest over $695 M to expand its silicone manufacturing plants across Japan to meet a very strong demand for advanced functional products. According to the company, the new plant investments will expand the manufacturing capacity of "highly diversified" kinds of silicone resins, fluids, and rubber end products by 2025. The expansion project will start with Shin-Etsu's main facility, the Gunma Complex in Gunma Prefecture, and will be followed by two other facilities in Naoetsu, Niigata Prefecture, and Takefu, Fukui Prefecture.

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ORLEN secures new petrochemical assets, advancing circular economy efforts

ORLEN secures new petrochemical assets, advancing circular economy efforts

MRС) -- PKN ORLEN, finalised a transaction to acquire a part of Poland’s largest plastics manufacturer, Basell Orlen Polyolefins, in which the ORLEN holds an equity interest, said the company.

The acquisition was approved by the antitrust authorities in Poland and the Netherlands. The business segment, acquired by ORLEN, specialises in the production and sale of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as well as customer service in the Polish market. It is a polymer commonly used to make consumer and industrial products, found in plastic films, bags, canisters, food packaging, as well as components of electronic devices, such as wires and cables.

“Keeping a close eye on the market environment, we can see that demand for petrochemical products is growing strongly across the globe,’ said the CEO and President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN, Daniel Obajtek. “According to forecasts, the value of the petrochemicals and base plastics market is expected to double by 2030. This is a big chance for our Company. We want to capture the largest possible share of that promising business in order to drive fast profit growth. The acquisition we have just completed is opening up such opportunities. We are also looking into a project that would allow us to add another petrochemical product to our portfolio, solidifying our position as a leading producer in Europe. It is this business segment that is expected to generate half of our future profits from oil processing.”

Poland is the largest consumer of LDPE in Central Europe, forecast to account for nearly 35 per cent of regional demand by 2025. At present, annual demand in the Polish market is about 300,000 tonnes, compared with close to 800,000 tonnes in Central Europe. The combined capacities of regional producers are estimated at 520,000 tonnes. According to forecasts referenced in ORLEN’s press release, by 2025, the LDPE market in Central Europe and in Poland will grow to about 890,000 tonnes and 312,000 tonnes, respectively, in which the company “is bound to have a significant share”.

In July 2022, PKN ORLEN signed a preliminary agreement to acquire a part of the assets of Basell Orlen Polyolefins. Once all antitrust approvals had been secured in Poland and the Netherlands, it was possible to finalise the transaction. Basell Orlen Polyolefins is a joint venture in which PKN ORLEN and the Dutch chemicals company LyondellBasell Industries each hold a 50 per cent stake. Following the separation of the LDPE production business from Basell Orlen Polyolefins, the company will focus on developing the PP technology, used to produce polypropylene and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
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