PetroChina Guangdong gets on-spec benzene and ethylene

PetroChina Guangdong gets on-spec benzene and ethylene

PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical has achieved on-spec benzene at its 3 million mt/year reformer and cracker (1.2 million mt/year ethylene) of its refining & chemical project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province over the weekend, according to the company sources, said Ccfgroup.

On-spec ethylene has been also achieved. The company is expected to get paraxylene (PX) on February 14, and to start its styrene unit as well on Feb 14.

PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical has the total designed capacity to produce 810kt/year of benzene, 2.6 million mt/year of PX and 800kt/year of styrene.

We remind, PetroChina completed trial runs at a 1.2 million tonne-per-year ethylene facility in its newly launched refinery complex in south China on Sunday. PetroChina Guangdong PC announced that the ethylene plant, a 10-million-ton refining and chemical integration project, produced on-spec products and entered the stage of comprehensive trial production on Feb 12. PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical Refining and Chemical Integration Project, located in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, covers an area of 920 hectares, with crude oil refining production capacity of 20 million mt/year aromatics capacity 2.6 million tons/year and ethylene capacity 1.2 million tons/year.

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CP Chem is partnering with Charter Next Generation to place overwrap film from recycled PE on store shelves

CP Chem is partnering with Charter Next Generation to place overwrap film from recycled PE on store shelves

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) and Charter Next Generation (CNG) announced today that overwrap film made with CPChem’s Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene is bound for store shelves in the U.S. Versatile and efficient, overwrap films help preserve food, keep medical instruments secure and sterile, and provide lightweight and durable product packaging, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“Together with CNG, we are transforming waste plastics into useful products and demonstrating real-world, commercial scale applications of circular plastics,” said Jay Bickett, CPChem’s Vice President of Polymers. “This collaboration is a great example of the new possibilities unlocked by advanced recycling."

CPChem leverages its established advanced recycling program to produce Marlex® Anew™ Circular Polyethylene, which is certified through International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS using the free attribution model. This process uses pyrolysis oil, made from difficult-to-recycle waste plastics, as a feedstock to produce a circular polyethylene with characteristics identical to CPChem’s original Marlex polyethylene.

For more than a decade, CNG has used recycled content as a component in a number of its food and consumer packaging films, and recently announced ISCCPLUS certification at its Lexington, Ohio campus. This location is one of the single largest extrusion sites in the world and serves key markets such as towel and tissue overwrap, fresh produce, protein, e-commerce and more.

“CNG is excited to bring films using Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene to consumers,” said Doug Latreille, Chief Commercial Officer at CNG. “With our Lexington campus now ISCC PLUS certified, CNG is well positioned to offer circular products like these films to customers on a commercial scale."

CPChem continues to explore applications for its circular polyethylene and enhance its advanced recycling program. The company recently worked with Phillips 66 to process pyrolysis oil in a successful commercial scale trial at the Phillips 66 Sweeny Refinery in Old Ocean, Texas. The Phillips 66 site has also received ISCC PLUS certification, verifying the refinery meets the standards to convert pyrolysis oil into circular feedstocks, which can be used to produce CPChem’s Marlex® Anew™ Circular Polyethylene.

We remind, Chevron Corp. posted a record USD36.5 bn profit for 2022 that was more than double year-earlier earnings but fell shy of Wall Street estimates, undercut by an asset writedowns and a retreat in oil and gas prices.
The second largest U.S. oil producer's adjusted net profit for 2022 beat by about USD10 billion its previous record set in 2011. But USD1.1 B in writedowns in its international oil and gas operations in the fourth quarter left earnings short of forecasts for adjusted net profit of USD37.2 B.

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Chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market is set to reach USD1.29 bn

Chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market is set to reach USD1.29 bn

The global chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market stands at USD600 MM as of now and is expected to reach USD1.29 B by the year 2032 at a CAGR of 8% from 2022 to 2032, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers come across as thermoplastic polymers that exhibit improvised chemical and physical properties. The application areas include thermoplastic elastomer and modifiers for polyethylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polyvinyl chloride. They are preferred mainly as they offer protection against heat, fire, oil, chemicals, weather, and abrasion.

The other advantages are inclusive of exceptional physical and mechanical properties, tensile strength, higher-filler acceptance, and low-temperature performance. PVC is being increasingly used for PVS siding, doors, pipes, and fences with upgradation in building and construction sector.

Geomembranes are amongst the major applications of chlorinated resins and elastomers. They could be used as impact modifiers as well as flexible sheeting for roofing membranes, automotives, molded shapes, cable jacketing, and extruded profiles, and ultimately as a base polymer. It needs to be noted that impact modification is the biggest application of chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers, as far as consumption is concerned. It is used to impact modify PVC for vinyl sliding, pipes, window profiles, deck, and fence.

At the same time, the fact that prices of raw materials are volatile can’t be ignored. Also, prices of crude oil are skyrocketing. Polyethylene is made from the crude oil derivatives. As such, it gets directly affected by the factors mentioned above. Also, various economies are laying down strict regulations regarding the use of polyethylene in the interest of environment. These factors are likely to restrain the chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market in the near future. Future Market Insights has, through its line of expertise in the form of analysts and consultants, highlighted these findings with future perspectives in its latest market study entitled “Chlorinated Polyethylene Resins and Elastomers Market”.

We remind, Solvay in advanced negotiations to divest its stake in Rusvinyl. The company confirms it is in advanced negotiations to divest its stake in Rusvinyl, an independent 50/50 joint venture in Russia, to its joint venture partner, Sibur. In addition to the recently obtained preliminary clearance from Russian governmental authorities, the potential transaction is still subject to several other regulatory approvals. Solvay will keep the market informed if and when appropriate, in accordance with applicable law.

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Germany relaxes restrictions to expedite sale of Rosneft stake in the Schwedt refinery

Germany relaxes restrictions to expedite sale of Rosneft stake in the Schwedt refinery

Germany plans to adjust its Energy Security Act to allow a quick sale of Russian energy group Rosneft's stake in the Schwedt refinery without the need for prior nationalization, a draft law showed, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the planned adjustment to the law, the condition of prior nationalization of assets put under government trusteeship could be withdrawn if the sale of the assets is needed to ensure that Germany's energy sector remains functional, the draft law, seen by Reuters on Thursday, showed.

Germany took control of the Schwedt refinery, which was majority owned by Rosneft, and put Rosneft Deutschland under a trusteeship of the German industry regulator but Rosneft still holds 54.17% of the refinery.

We remind, Rosneft will parnter with Indonesia to contribute USD24 B on a greenfield refinery in East Java province.
The refinery will have 14 refining units for vehicle fuels as well as seven units for petrochemicals. The purpose is to construct a facility which can process heavy crude oil and high sulfur crude oil.

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China crude oil imports to set a record in 2023

China crude oil imports to set a record in 2023

China is expected to import a record amount of crude oil in 2023 due to increased demand for fuel as people travel more following the dismantling of COVID-19 controls and as a result of new refineries coming onstream, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The prospect of strong demand from the world's biggest importer will be another bullish factor for an oil market already supported by the OPEC+ producer group's output cuts and western sanctions on Russian exports. China's crude imports may rise between 500,000 and 1 MMbpd this year to as high as 11.8 MMbpd, reversing previous two years' decline to exceed 2020's record of 10.8 MMbpd, according to analysts from four industry consultancies - Wood Mackenzie, FGE, Energy Aspects and S&P Global Commodity Insight.

Their estimates are in line with the latest forecast by the International Energy Agency. Since the removal of COVID controls in December, China's demand for gasoline and jet fuel has risen.

Sun Jianan, an analyst at Energy Aspects, reckoned gasoline and jet fuel would account for around 50% and 30% of total growth in demand for liquid fuels, respectively. Jet fuel consumption, according to Sun, would reach 90% of pre-COVID levels by end-2023.

Demand for diesel - a key industrial and transportation fuel - and petrochemical feedstock naphtha, may grow more slowly as it will take longer for the recovery in China's manufacturing and property sectors to materialize, said FGE analyst Mia Geng and Energy Aspects' Sun.

"Economic stimulus, along with infrastructure expansion in 2023 will set the stage for robust diesel consumption recovery," Wang Zhuwei, an analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insight, said. With domestic consumption rising and lucrative export markets to supply, the four consultancies saw Chinese refineries raising crude throughput by between 850,000 to 1.2 MMbpd over 2022 levels, for an increase of between 6% to 9%.

Last year, China's refineries posted their first annual decline in throughput since 2001. Chinese consultancy Longzhong said state-run refineries were lifting throughput during the first week of February by 5.5% from January to an average of 74.5% of capacity.

We remind, ECI Group has signed license and engineering agreements for process technology and engineering design with a confidential Chinese client for two lines of ethyl-vinyl acetate (EVA) production using ECI Group's proprietary Hybrid Technology offering. This technology is capable of producing 4000,000 tpy EVA total, each line producing 200,000 tpy. The plant will be part of the client's integrated project to be located in Guangxi Province, China. ECI Group will provide the technology, design, and training for the two lines, as well as support through commissioning, start-up, and production.

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