Repsol links its fuel discounts to a unique multi-energy offer in Spain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol announced the launch of a new connected energy program aimed at customers of its portfolio of energy products: fuel, electricity, heating, solar and electric mobility, said Polymerupdate.

This unique multi-energy proposition in Spain, which will come into effect on April 1, replaces the current fuel discounts, effective March 16, 2022.

The company's innovative approach links fuel discounts to customers contracting their energy products and paying for them through Waylet, its free payment and loyalty application, which has more than 6 million registered users.

Customers can achieve a discount in the form of a Waylet balance of up to 20 euro cents per liter of fuel on a permanent basis and 100% of the amount when recharging electric vehicles at the company's public points and service stations. These savings generated in Waylet can be used for future payments, either at service stations and electric recharging points, or on Repsol bills (electricity and gas), in the purchase of butane cylinders, diesel orders, gift cards and in any of the more than 4,400 establishments linked to the Waylet network.

In addition to accumulating savings, the company's customers also benefit from having a single supplier that covers all their energy needs. Repsol has always demonstrated its commitment to its customers through a unique value proposition and competitive advantages to offer them a differential global service.

We remind, Repsol will nearly double the production capacity of its Reciclex recycled polyolefins with a new production line at its Puertollano Industrial Complex in Spain. The company will invest EUR 26 M to install a new 25,000 tonnes/y production line for polyolefins with mechanically recycled plastic content. Repsol currently has 16,000 tonnes/y of Reciclex polyolefins capacity.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Geo Centric (SKGC) aims to enter the global market with its high value-added chemical material Ethylene Acrylic Acid (EAA), said Polymerupdate.

The company currently operates EAA factories in the United States and Spain to establish of a new factory in China to secure the only EAA production base in Asia.

SKGC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical (STL) on March 22 in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China to build a new EAA plant. The agreement ceremony was attended by SKGC CEO Na Kyung-soo, Head of SKGC China Business Division Jang Nam-hun, Head of SKGC China Investment Management Department Cai Lian Chun, STL Chairman Yang Wei Dong, and Director of STL Zhu Xiao Dong.

Last August, SKGC signed an establishment and investment agreement with STL to form a joint venture to build the global EAA Plant 3. Now, the company plans to push forward with the establishment of the EAA Plant 4. Plant 3 is currently undergoing Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) and is expected to be completed by 2025. Plant 4 is planned to begin construction in the second half of next year with a USD 40 billion investment and commence commercial production in 2028, with a targeted annual production capacity of 50,000 tons.

With the completion of the EAA Plant 4, SKGC’s global production capacity for EAA will increase to 140,000 tons per year, allowing the company to preemptively capture the Asian market. By taking over Dow Chemical Company’s EAA business in 2017, it has been operating manufacturing plants in Texas, the U.S., and Tarragona, Spain.

EAA is a type of high-performance adhesive copolymer resin produced by only three to four global chemical companies. It has excellent bonding performance for dissimilar materials such as metals and plastics, or paper and plastics. SK Geo Centric is the only company capable of commercial production of High Acid EAA, a high-quality product grade that exhibits outstanding adhesive performance.

Furthermore, EAA is becoming increasingly useful in various industries due to its excellent performance, including sterilized packs and vacuum packing for meat products, golf balls, and tempered glass. One particular benefit of EAA is its ability to replace existing plastic materials used for paper-coating, resulting in reduced plastic usage, which is expected to generate more demand from the market in the future.

We remind, Satellite Petrochemical is planning to partner with French’s industry gas provider Air Liquide to construct an integrated new material and new energy project at Dushangang in China’s Zhejiang province. Under the agreement, Satellite will invest yuan (CNY) 10.2bn (USD1.57bn) to build an 800,000 tonne/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant, an 800,000 tonne/year butanol unit and a 120,000 tonne/year neopentyl glycol (NPG) unit, together with some supporting facilities.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners aim to start full operations at a refinery and petrochemical project in northeast China in 2026 to meet the country's growing demand for fuel and petrochemicals, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project in Liaoning's Panjin city, expected to cost USD10 B, will be Aramco's second major refining-petrochemical investment in China.

Joint venture Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO) will build and operate the complex that will house a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery and a cracker with annual production capacity of 1.65 million tons of ethylene and 2 million tons of paraxylene, Aramco said in a statement.

Construction at the complex will start in the second quarter after the project secures the required administrative approvals, Aramco said. The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2026, it added. Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil as feedstock for the plant.

State-owned NORINCO Group, a Chinese military equipment maker, owns 51% of HAPCO while Aramco and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group hold stakes of 30% and 19%, respectively.

We remind, Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and Linde Engineering, a global leader in the production and processing of gases, announced that they have signed an agreement to jointly develop a new ammonia cracking technology.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has let a contract to TS Participacoes e Investimentos SA subsidiary Toyo Setal Empreendimentos Ltda to complete a new natural gas processing unit (UPGN) already under construction at the Polo GasLub Itaborai hub in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as per Ogi.

As part of the Mar. 24 contract, Toyo Setal will conclude construction of the UPGN, which halted in midyear-2022 following the previous main contractor’s inability to complete the project, Petrobras said.

Award of the contract follows Petrobras’ launch of a tender in September 2022 seeking a replacement contractor to complete the remaining scope of work on the Route 3 UPGN. The tender, which closed in mid-November 2022, called for the winning bidder to deliver civil construction, electromechanical assembly, interconnections, commissioning, pre-operational and start-up services, as well as assisted operation of lingering works for both gas processing units of the GasLub Itaborai complex’s Route 3 gas plant, including supply of materials and equipment.

With the newly awarded contract to Toyo Setal, Petrobras said it expects start of gas processing operations in the GasLub Itaborai to begin in 2024 in accordance with the operator’s 2023-27 strategic plan.

Other units required to start these operations—including auxiliary units as well as subsea and onshore pipelines—have already completed construction and are in their final commissioning or preoperational phases, Petrobras confirmed.

We remind, Petrobras it will reduce gasoline and diesel prices at its refineries from Wednesday, a move that will likely offset the resumption of federal taxes levied on fuels. Shares in the company dropped sharply after the news, trading down more than 3% by midday and making Petrobras one of the biggest fallers on the local benchmark stock index Bovespa , which slipped 0.5%. The price cut comes as the government announced on Monday it was set to resume the collection of taxes on fuels, ending a waiver set by former President Jair Bolsonaro last year - a measure that will boost government revenues but is seen as upsetting the middle class.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Agilyx ASA, a technology company that enables customers to recycle post-use plastics to high value, virgin-equivalent products, and INEOS Styrolution America LLC, the global leader in styrenics, are pleased to announce that they are advancing the development of a previously announced 100 tons per day TruStyrenyx chemical recycling facility in Channahon, Illinois, said the company.

TruStyrenyx is a partnership between Agilyx and Technip Energies and provides an all-in-one solution for the chemical recycling of polystyrene back into a high purity styrene monomer. The styrene monomer can be used to make new, food-grade plastic products or packaging. Under the agreement, Agilyx and Technip Energies will collaborate with INEOS Styrolution and together develop the design and engineering that will serve as the basis for constructing the chemical recycling facility. We anticipate completion of engineering in 2023, which will form the basis for a financial investment decision.

Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx, said: “I’m delighted that we are partnering with INEOS Styrolution to continue development of the first large scale TruStyrenyx plant, utilizing some of the private placement funds Agilyx raised in September. We view TruStyrenyx as a game changer in the recycling of polystyrene, enabling an incredibly high purity, circular solution. This new facility will help to meet the growing demand from brand owners and consumers who want to see more recycled plastics in products."

Greg Fordyce, President of INEOS Styrolution, said: “We are very pleased to announce the advancement of the recycling plant in Channahon, Illinois. This facility will increase polystyrene recycling rates in the greater Chicago area and across the United States and demonstrates our company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. The TruStyrenyx facility will allow us to provide our customers with recycled content that is incredibly high purity for producing environmentally conscious products using innovative and sustainable solutions."

We remind, Sika is to divest some admixtures assets to investment fund Cinven after the UK’s competition authority showed “concerns” about the initially-planned divestment to INEOS. Sika is in the process to acquire construction chemicals peer MBCC, a process it hopes to conclude in the first half of 2023. In January, it said it was to divest to INEOS some admixtures assets coming from MBCC in the UK, the US, Canada and Europe.

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