Azoty Police signs deal for USNC micro nuclear reactor

Poland’s Grupa Azoty Police said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal for the development and construction of a nuclear power research facility equipped with a micro modular reactor (MMR) with Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) and the Polish West Pomeranian University of Technology, said the company.

USNC said the 30MWt MMR would be a fourth-generation high-temperature, gas-cooled "nuclear battery". State-controlled chemical and fertilizer producer Azoty Police, a member of largest Polish chemical group Grupa Azoty, said: “The reactor will serve as a training, research and testing facility. It will be connected to the energy infrastructure of Grupa Azoty Police, which will provide a unique opportunity to study, test, optimize and integrate the MMR zero-emission energy source with an industrial facility.

“Cooperation in this area will allow the development of a plan for the full-scale implementation of the use of nuclear energy for chemical processes and the generation of steam and hydrogen at the facilities of Grupa Azoty Police. “This will be another significant step towards the decarbonisation of the Grupa Azoty Group's technological processes."

The agreement for the micro reactor was concluded in relation to a US-Polish cooperation in MMR development, formally established by an intergovernmental agreement in February 2021.

We remind, Grupa Azoty Polyolefins said that it has taken a first delivery of ethylene feedstock for its USD1.8bn world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and PP plant that it plans to launch in Police, northwestern Poland in the near future, said the company. A shipment of 3,500 tonnes of ethylene was on Monday delivered to the company’s maritime gas terminal in Police by the gas carrier GasChem Rhone, it added.

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Australia's gasoline and diesel imports are expected to rise 2% to hit a record for a second straight year due to a drop in domestic production and a post-COVID economic recovery boosting fuel demand, traders, analysts and an industry source said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In the near term, gasoline imports are set to jump due to a roughly five-week outage at a gasoline-making unit at Ampol's Lytton refinery in Brisbane followed by maintenance work in May at Viva Energy's refinery near Melbourne.

This presents an opportunity for sellers in Singapore and South Korea, whose supplies make up around half of total Australian gasoil imports and nearly 80% of gasoline purchases, data from Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy showed.

Australia's growing appetite for gasoline imports, following the closure of two refineries in 2021, is likely to help boost Asian refining margins, which have already more than doubled so far this year.

We remind, China's mega private refineries are expected to operate at full processing rates or higher until April as their margins have improved after the government lifted COVID-19 restrictions. The rise in crude demand at Zhejiang Petrochemical (ZPC) and Hengli Petrochemical, which account for 6.5% of China's refining capacity, will lift crude imports by the world's top importer, with volumes expected to hit record levels this year and support global prices.


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Kraton plans a “significant expansion” of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers (SBS) capacity at its plant in Belpre, Ohio, starting in 2024, said the company.

By 2025, SBS production capacity is expected to increase by 24,000/year, it added. “This expansion supports our growth strategy and our customer's growing demand for SBS in North America," said Holger Jung, Kraton Polymers CEO.

Last year, global supply chain challenges and force majeures impacted Kraton’s business, “but we have successfully navigated and emerged stronger”, Jung said.

To further grow its SBS capacity in north America, Kraton is exploring additional manufacturing expansion opportunities to strengthen its regional position, it said. Financial details were not disclosed.

We remind, Kraton Corporation announced a general price increase of up to 20% across its crude tall oil (CTO) refinery products and derivatives, it said in a press release. The increase will be effective 1 July, or as contracts allow. Kraton is targeting the increase alongside a continued supply and demand imbalance in the market.

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DCC plc, the leading international sales, marketing and support services group, has partnered with Oberon Fuels, the leading producer of renewable dimethyl ether (DME), to advance the design, construction and operations of multiple renewable DME production plants in Europe, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The companies have completed an initial feasibility study, which confirmed significant market demand for a renewable substitute for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). Both companies will now further investigate sustainable and scalable supply chains of renewable feedstocks, as well as advantageous locations for production plants.

Once adequate feedstocks and appropriate sites have been established Oberon will construct and operate the renewable DME production facilities and DCC Energy will commit to buying Oberon’s renewable DME as an offtake partner. DCC Energy will lead with energy by supplying its customers with significant volumes of renewable DME to help them to decarbonize.

DME blended with LPG can be used in existing residential, commercial and industrial applications without any need for investment. After minor modifications to infrastructure, pure renewable DME is a drop-in energy source for existing applications. DME is stored, transported and dispensed using existing LPG vehicles and equipment which makes it quick to deploy, efficient and cost-effective. It reduces carbon emissions immediately, which is of vital importance to off (natural gas) grid customers.

We remind, China's mega private refineries are expected to operate at full processing rates or higher until April as their margins have improved after the government lifted COVID-19 restrictions. The rise in crude demand at Zhejiang Petrochemical (ZPC) and Hengli Petrochemical, which account for 6.5% of China's refining capacity, will lift crude imports by the world's top importer, with volumes expected to hit record levels this year and support global prices.

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PetroChina reported a net profit increase of 62.1% in 2022, thanks to strong prices of oil and gas, the company said.

Chemical business encountered an operation loss of yuan (CNY) 598m (USD87m), reversing the CNY12bn profits in 2021, due to significant rise on crude-related cost. Oil, gas and new energy segment generated CNY165.7bn profits, 142% more than the previous year, boosted by prices rallies.

Ethylene production increased 10.5% to 7.4m tonnes. Capital expenditure (capex) stood at CNY274.3bn, up by 9.2% from 2021.

The company expects that global economy to continue recovering but at a slower pace, with many uncertainties and crude prices may face high volatility in 2023. China’s economic growth will rebound, driving up demand recoveries of refined oil, while competition will remain fierce.

The company targets to produce 1,727.7m barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of oil and gas in 2023, an increase of 2.5% from the 1,685.4m boe in 2022. PetroChina aims to process 1,293.1m bbls of crude oil in 2023, up by 6.6% from 2022. Capex in 2023 is expected to decrease to CNY243.5bn, which is 11% less than 2022.

We remind, China’s biggest oil and gas producer PetroChina posted a big 71.5% increase on net profits in the third quarter, thanks to strengthening oil prices, the company announced.

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