Ghana seeks India help to build refining hub

Ghana seeks India help to build refining hub

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 awarded PE contract for Chinese petrochem complex

LyondellBasell awarded PE contract for Chinese petrochem complex

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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Celanese expanding portfolio of sustainable products across acetyl chain

Celanese expanding portfolio of sustainable products across acetyl chain

Celanese is launching a line of acetyl products that include mass balance bio-content, the US-based producer said.

The products available are to be known as ECO-B products and will be offered in such products as acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), amines, acetate esters, anhydrides and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The expanded list of products portfolio provides an opportunity to take an additional step with an offering that is chemically identical to the standard products.

“Celanese ECO-B products enable customers to realise reductions in CO2 emissions in their end-use products and advance their renewable content goals,” said Lori Ryerkerk, Celanese chairman, CEO and president.

We remind, Celanese has completed the USD11bn acquisition of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials (M&M) business. With the acquisition, announced in February 2022, Celanese obtains a broad portfolio of engineered thermoplastics and elastomers, brands and intellectual property, global production assets, and a “world-class organisation”, it said.

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Shell affiliate Equilon agrees new biofuels JV in US

Shell affiliate Equilon agrees new biofuels JV in US

Shell affiliate Equilon Enterprises has agreed with US agricultural company S&W Seed to establish a joint venture (JV) for developing new plant genetics for oil seed cover crops as feedstocks for biofuel production, said the company.

The JV intends to develop camelina (“Camelina sativa”) and other oilseed species from which oil and meal can be extracted, with initial grain production expected in late 2023.

Camelina is regarded as a scalable and commercially viable oilseed with the potential to be a sustainable feedstock source for the energy transition, S&W said in a statement on Tuesday.

S&W will contribute its expertise in seed research, technology, production, and processing to the JV, including its seed processing and research facilities in Nampa, Idaho.

The JV, named Vision Bioenergy Oilseeds LLC, will be jointly owned by Shell and S&W. Financial terms were not disclosed.

We remind, Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC announced it has commenced operations of its Pennsylvania Chemical project, Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM). The Pennsylvania facility is the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex in the Northeastern United States and has a designed output of 1.6 MMt annually.

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European Commission approves Sika acquisition of MBCC

European Commission approves Sika acquisition of MBCC

The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Germany-based construction chemicals producer MBCC by Switzerland’s Sika, said Reuters.

The approval, under the EU Merger Regulation, is conditional on the divestiture of MBCC's global chemical admixture business.

As initially proposed, the Sika-MBCC combination would have “substantially reduced competition” and led to higher prices and less innovation in the European Economic Area (EEA) in the markets for chemical admixtures and concrete admixtures, the Commission said.

The merged entity would have "very large market shares" and would only face competition from very few other competitors in the EEA markets for chemical admixtures, the Commission said. The markets for chemical admixtures are characterised by significant barriers to entry, such as the need to have a sufficiently large customer base, strong sales force and technical team, high volumes of orders and know-how to compete, it said.

Sika and MBCC were "key innovators and global leaders” in the development and supply of chemical admixtures and construction materials, it said. The development of new polymers and new formulations of chemical admixtures play a key role in the concrete industry, in particular to address sustainability challenges, such as bio-based admixtures.

"We were concerned that the combined entity could foreclose competitors," said Margrethe Vestager, EU executive vice president in charge of competition policy.

We remind, INEOS Enterprises has today signed an agreement to acquire MBCC Group’s Admixture Business from Sika AG. The admixture business is a leading producer of concrete additives essential for the construction industry, with well invested operations across 35 manufacturing sites and sales of around USD1 billion.

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