Neste renewable fuels business posts strong revenues

Finnish refiner Neste posted strong revenue and profit growth in its renewable fuels business even as its Chief Executive flagged the long-term need for new raw materials amid growing European demand for sustainable jet fuel, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company has bet heavily on renewable fuels but is competing in a crowded space as fossil fuel majors enter the green fuel market, pushing up costs for used cooking oil and discarded animal fat. Neste estimates that the maximum available global capacity for waste and residue materials would be around 40 MMtpy.

Chief Executive Matti Lehmus said 20 to 30 MMt of it is being reused, while new materials and processing technologies were being studied to enable long-term growth. He said the joint venture to produce renewable diesel with U.S.-based Marathon Petroleum Corp in Martinez, California would start production this quarter with an initial output of 750,000 t, half of it being Neste's.

"The facility is targeting to reach full Phase I capacity by the end of the first quarter of 2023," Lehmus said on converting Marathon's refinery to renewable diesel production. The company's share will grow to more than 1 MMt by the end of 2023, he said, adding it will account for nearly 20% of Neste's total renewables capacity.

Shares of the refiner jumped 11% by the afternoon in Helsinki after posting comparable fourth-quarter core operating results that beat market expectations on higher margins and a positive currency impact. The maker of renewable and oil-based fuels reported October-December comparable earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of 894 million euros ($960 million)o, beating a mean forecast of 858 million euro in a poll by the company.

Neste's board proposed a dividend of 1.52 euros per share, consisting of an ordinary dividend of 1.02 euros and two instalments of extraordinary payouts of 0.25 euros, up from a year-ago dividend of 0.82 euros. The company expects its first-quarter sales margin to be within a range of USD825-925/t, supported by waste and residue prices at the beginning of the year, which RBC analysts said to be "well above expectations". The consensus estimates was USD739/t.

We remind, Business Finland has given Neste a public financial award of EUR 27.7 million for green hydrogen projects at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland. For its hydrogen projects, Neste became the first Finnish firm to be given IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) designation by the European Commission in July 2022. This gave Neste the opportunity to seek for the currently available public funding. EU IPCEI projects further the strategic goals of the EU and the shared interests of Europeans by funding innovation initiatives throughout the various EU Member States.

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Hyundai Living & Culture, Hyundai Department Store Co. Group's building materials unit, said on Wednesday that it has received Good Recycled Product (GR) certification from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of S.Korea for its recycled PET packaging sheets, said Kedglobal.

The GR certification scheme was introduced in 1997 to improve consumer confidence in recycled products. This is the first time recycled PET packaging sheets received GR certification.

"We obtained GR certification for the first time among recycled PET packaging materials because the content of recycled materials reached 90% while meeting food sanitation requirements. We received high marks for the sheets' quality, eco-friendliness, and the quality control system throughout the whole process," said an official of Hyundai L&C.

Hyundai L&C has supplied food containers based on recycled PET sheets to Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Green Food since 2021. The container has a three-layer structure, and the recycled PET is used in the middle layer where the plastic is not in contact with food.

Hyundai L&C plans to expand the range of its use of recycled PET sheets from food containers to cups and PET bottles.

We remind, Hyundai Chemical, a JV between South Korea’s Lotte Chemical and Hyundai Oilbank, has started to market cargoes from the new polypropylene (PP) plant in Daesan in mid-November. Chinese customers informed CommoPlast of having received offers for on-spec cargoes of homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) from its newly launched plant.

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On Thursday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on companies it accused of playing a critical role in the production, sale and shipment of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia, as Washington increases pressure on Tehran, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on six Iran-based petrochemical manufacturers or their subsidiaries and three firms in Malaysia and Singapore over the production, sale and shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum.

The latest U.S. move against Iranian oil smuggling comes as efforts to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal have stalled and ties between the Islamic Republic and the West are increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests.

"Iran is increasingly turning to buyers in East Asia to sell its petrochemical and petroleum products, in violation of U.S. sanctions," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in the statement.

"The United States remains focused on targeting Tehran’s sources of illicit revenue, and will continue to enforce its sanctions against those who wittingly facilitate this trade," Nelson said. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thursday's move targeted firms the Treasury accused of being involved in facilitating the sale and shipment of petroleum and petrochemicals on behalf of Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd., which was hit with sanctions by Washington in 2020.

Among the Iranian companies targeted were petrochemical producer Amir Kabir Petrochemical Co. (AKPC), its subsidiary Simorgh Petrochemical Co. and four subsidiaries of previously sanctioned Marun Petrochemical Co. Treasury said Triliance has purchased millions of dollars worth of low-density polyethylene produced by AKPC for shipment to buyers in China.

Treasury accused Singapore-based Asia Fuel PTE. Ltd., which was also targeted, of facilitating the shipment of petroleum products worth millions of dollars to customers in East Asia. Sense Shipping and Trading SDN. BHD. in Malaysia and Singapore-based Unicious Energy PTE. Ltd. were also hit with sanctions.

The action freezes any U.S. assets of those hit with sanctions and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with the companies also risk being hit with sanctions.

We remind, State firms from Iran and Venezuela will start in the coming weeks a 100-day revamp of the South American nation's largest refining complex to restore its crude distillation capacity. The effort by state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and the state-owned National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) to boost fuel output at the Paraguana Refining Center marks a step toward ending Venezuela's reliance on U.S. refinery technology, the sources said.

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Ghana, which is struggling with its worst economic crisis in a generation, is seeking Indian investment in its oil and gas sector, William Owuraku Aidoo, its deputy minister of energy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Ghana has asked India to consider exploration of three blocks in the western basin and to build refineries as the African nation aims to construct a petroleum hub, Aidoo said. "There are some opportunities in Ghana specially in the oil and gas front. We have some oil blocks available and we came here hoping to attract Indian investments," Aidoo told Reuters after a meeting with Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri at India Energy Week.

He said Ghana will award exploration licenses through direct negotiations if Indian companies are interested. Ghana wants India to consider three blocks in the western basin, he said. Apart from offering exploration opportunities, Ghana is also seeking Indian support to build refineries of about 300,000 barrels per day.

"We have space for three of them ... we want to make a petroleum hub," Aidoo said. Separately, he said Ghana's oil production this year could average 120,000-150,000 bpd.

We remind, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) unveiled India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine technology solution for heavy duty trucks flagged off by Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Energy Week in Bangalore. The Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2ICE) powered trucks will emit near zero emissions, deliver performance on par with conventional diesel trucks and reduce noise and with projected reductions in operating costs thus redefining the future of Green Mobility.

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LyondellBasell announced that PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company will again license LyondellBasell’s polyethylene technology at their facility located in Jilin City, Jilin Province, P.R. of China, said the company.

The newly licensed technology will comprise of LyondellBasell’s leading high-pressure Lupotech process technology which will be used for both a 100 kiloton per year (KTA) Autoclave and a 300 KTA Tubular line. Both production trains will produce mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Furthermore, an additional 400 KTA Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (ACP) line for the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) will be built at the same time.

“We are pleased to be able to license additional LyondellBasell polyethylene technology in this project as PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company is an important existing licensee with whom we have had a long and successful history,” said Neil Nadalin, Director Global Licensing and Services at LyondellBasell. Nadalin added: “The newly added lines will include our state-of-the-art high-pressure Lupotech technology as well as our multi-modal HDPE technology enabling PetroChina to produce differentiated polyethylene resins”.

“We are very satisfied with the first Hostalen unit running on our site in China and we are excited to add a new multi-modal HDPE line using the Hostalen ACP technology, stated Mr. Han Zhiqun, Chief Engineer of PetroChina Jilin. “Furthermore, we are eager to expand our future product portfolio into differentiated low-density polyethylene resins by applying the LyondellBasell Lupotech Autoclave and Tubular processes. This newly added capacity will help us to foster our ambitions in supporting the global energy transition in being able to best serve the solar panel lamination and encapsulant market."

Decades of experience in high-pressure application design makes the LyondellBasell Lupotech process the preferred technology for EVA/LDPE plant operators. High reliability, unmatched conversion rates and effective process heat integration are key attributes of the Lupotech process, designed to ensure this technology’s on-going energy efficiency. More than 15,000 KTA of LyondellBasell high pressure LDPE technology has been licensed by LyondellBasell in over 80 lines around the world.

The Hostalen ACP process technology manufactures high performance, multi-modal HDPE resins with an industry-leading stiffness/toughness balance, impact resistance, high stress cracking resistance and process advantages are used in pressure pipe, film and blow molding applications. The PetroChina HDPE plants will commence operations using Avant Z 501 and Avant Z509-1 catalysts to produce a full range of multi-modal HDPE products.

New licensees take advantage of LyondellBasell’s in-house expertise of continuous production improvement, product development according to the latest environmental regulations, and our know-how in high pressure design, by optionally joining our Technical Service program. In addition to the Hostalen ACP, Lupotech T and Lupotech A process technology, the LyondellBasell licensing portfolio of polyolefin processes and catalysts includes: Spherizone – The breakthrough multi-zone circulating reactor provides a unique and innovative platform to manufacture polypropylene products with novel architecture and enhanced properties.

We remind, LyondellBasell announced it has signed the first two European renewable electricity power purchase agreements (PPAs) and two additional PPAs in the United States. The combined additional contracts represent a total of approximately 560 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. LyondellBasell has now signed eight PPA agreements and achieved over half of its 2030 target to procure a minimum of 50 percent of global electricity from renewable sources.

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