Global refinery margins lose steam as Russian oil finds new outlets

Global diesel margins have slumped by about half since February, dragging on refiners' profits, as Russian exports continue despite sanctions, helping output from China and India reach all-time highs in March, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Western sanctions and price caps on Russian crude and oil products introduced in December and February had been expected to tighten oil supplies globally.

However, Russia continues to ship out low-cost oil, enabling its biggest clients - India and China - to boost their refining output and exports. Russian oil products, meanwhile, are being sent in high volumes to oil hubs to be stored and re-exported worldwide.

In addition, several new refining complexes are coming online this year in the Middle East and China, churning out more oil products for export and further depressing refining margins.

India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's largest refining complex, said in its earnings call on Friday gasoil margins dropped as Russian diesel supplies have remained firm, while an unusually mild winter in Europe led to a build-up in inventories.

Demand for gasoil to replace natural gas in power generation has also fallen after spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices eased from all-time highs, the company said.

Benchmark European diesel barge refining margins drifted to their lowest since February 2022 last week to about USD13.70 a barrel, according to Reuters assessments, pressured by high import volumes and the restart of French refineries after labor-related strikes.

Similarly, Asian gasoil margins have fallen by 31% in April to the lowest since January 2022 at about USD14 a barrel last week because of high inventories and as the arbitrage window to Europe has been shut for months.

Profit on processing a barrel of Brent crude at a typical European refinery has plunged by about 71% to the lowest since January last year to USD3.56 a barrel in April, while refining profit margins in Asia are down by around 57% to USD2.54 a barrel in the month.

We remind, Russia has increased its diesel exports to Brazil and other parts of Latin America following an embargo on shipments to Europe, traders said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Russia has long been the main diesel supplier for Europe, where refineries do not produce enough fuel to meet domestic demand for diesel cars. But a full EU embargo on Russian oil products since Feb. 5 has diverted Russian diesel exports to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and STS loadings.

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Dow announced it has selected Linde as its industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for its proposed net-zero carbon emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Final investment decisions for both the Dow and Linde projects are subject to approval by both companies' respective Board of Directors and various regulatory agencies. Final investment decisions are expected in fourth quarter this year for a potential startup of phase 1 in 2027.

Under the parties' framework agreement, Linde will complete the design and engineering for a Linde-owned and operated world-scale air separation and autothermal reformer complex. This complex would be integrated with Linde's existing operations in Fort Saskatchewan.

"Linde's partnership is critical in enabling Dow to advance its plans to decarbonize our Fort Saskatchewan site while growing our business," said Edward Stones, Dow's business vice president, Energy and Climate. "Our customers are looking to Dow to help lower the carbon footprint of their products, and this is an important step in that direction."

Dow's net-zero carbon emissions ethylene cracker and derivatives complex would decarbonize approximately 20 percent of its global ethylene capacity while growing its global polyethylene supply by about 15 percent and supporting approximately USD1 B of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth across the value chain by 2030.

The proposed production process at Fort Saskatchewan will convert cracker off-gas into hydrogen as a clean fuel to be used in the ethylene production process and carbon dioxide will be captured onsite to be transported and stored by adjacent third-party carbon storage infrastructure partners.

"The Dow net-zero Fort Saskatchewan project will be a milestone project in global industrial decarbonization," said Dan Yankowski, senior vice president Americas, Linde. "Linde's engineering, large project execution and operations expertise, combined with our long-standing relationship, uniquely positions us to support Dow as it takes an important step towards achieving its decarbonization goals."

We remind, Dow intends to construct the sector's first net-zero carbon emissions ethylene and derivatives complex with respect to scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, at its Fort Saskatchewan (Alberta, Canada) site. The project involves a new 'net-zero carbon emissions' ethylene cracker at the site, set for launching by 2027. It would expand Dow's ethylene and polyethylene capacity by over 200% from its Fort Saskatchewan site, while retrofitting the site's existing assets to net-zero carbon emissions.

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Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and Citroniq Chemicals, a world-scale producer of carbon-negative materials, announced that the two companies have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the development of Citroniq's green polypropylene (PP) projects in North America, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

These projects will use Lummus' Verdene PP technology suite. "Lummus is honored to collaborate with Citroniq to bring this innovative and sustainable technology to market, which will facilitate further decarbonization of our industry," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "Lummus is the global leader in licensing PP technology, and we can serve as a launch pad for Citroniq's green, carbon-negative PP to meet the growing demand for products using sustainable materials."

"Together, Citroniq and Lummus are creating the first world-scale sustainable bio-polypropylene production process in North America," said Kelly Knopp, Principal and Co-Founder of Citroniq Chemicals. "The first plant will sequester about 1.2 MM tons of CO2 annually as solid polypropylene pellets, providing customers an impactful solution for reducing their carbon footprint and meeting their ESG goals."

"With a projected investment of over USD5 B and a combined PP annual capacity of over 3.5 billion pounds, Citroniq is prepared to execute a rapid expansion plan of its E2O process, to meet the market's growing need for sustainable, carbon negative polypropylene at a competitive price," said Mel Badheka, Principal and Co-Founder of Citroniq Chemicals. "Located in the Midwest, Citroniq's first plant is scheduled to start production in 2026 and provide identical, drop-in products that can be directly certified as biogenic through physical testing."

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced an integrated technology award from SP Chemicals and its subsidiary SP Olefins. SP Chemicals will license Lummus' CATOFIN technology for a new 800 KTA propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit, and SP Olefins will license Lummus' Novolen technology for a new 400 KTA polypropylene (PP) unit. Both units will be located at SP Chemicals' complex in Jiangsu Province, China.

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Covestro has developed a new PC grade containing 90% recyclate derived from post-consumer waste. The carbon footprint of the new Makrolon grade is claimed to be 70% lower than that of a comparable fossil-based virgin plastic, the company said.

The new grade is the latest member of Covestro’s CQ portfolio of circular solutions and is initially available only in the Asia-Pacific region. Calling it a ‘breakthrough solution’, Lily Wang, global head of the Engineering Plastics segment at Covestro, said the material was suitable for, among other applications, consumer electronics.

“It will enable our customers to achieve their sustainability goals faster,” she explained. “This is especially true for industries such as consumer electronics and audio and networking equipment manufacturers, which have ambitious sustainability goals of their own."

By selecting high-quality recyclates and optimising the material composition during the compounding process, excellent whiteness and highly saturated colours - both of which are typically a challenge for PCR plastics with high recycled content - are achievable. The PCR grade is manufactured with halogen-free flame retardants that meet performance requirements without increasing environmental impact. It also meets the highest V-0 rating of Underwriters Laboratories' UL 94 flammability standards.

To meet rising demand, Covestro is currently building a dedicated compounding plant for PCR polycarbonates at its integrated site in Shanghai. Commissioning is scheduled for later this year, after which it will be able to supply more than 25,000 metric tons of high-quality PCR polycarbonates annually.

Next to mechanical recycling, Covestro is also working on the further advancement of mass-balanced polycarbonates based on feedstock from biowaste and residual materials, certified to the internationally recognised ISCC PLUS standard. These materials offer a lower carbon footprint but the same quality and performance as their fossil-based counterparts. Already, various Makrolon RE polycarbonates are available featuring a renewable attributed raw material content of up to 89%. The RE series is also part of the CQ portfolio. And at the end of 2021, the first climate-neutral polycarbonates were supplied by Covestro to customers in Europe. The mass-balanced products demonstrate an identical good quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and offer an out-of-the-box solution for customers with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

We remind, Covestro successfully started up a new world-scale facility for the production of chlorine in Tarragona, Spain. It is the first world-scale production plant for chlorine based upon the highly innovative and energy efficient ODC (oxygen depolarized cathode) technology invented by Covestro and its partners.

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Groningen, the Netherlands-based BioBTX B.V., a company that has developed proprietary technology enabling the production of renewable aromatics from waste, and chemical recycling company Agilyx have announced a new collaboration aimed at the further scale up of BioBTX’ technology, said the company.

The two partners are planning a commercial demonstration plant - BioBTX's first - based on a combination of Agilyx pyrolysis technology and BioBTX’s catalytic technology to explore the production of renewable aromatic chemicals (benzene, toluene, xylene, or BTX).

Agilyx's technology enables the processing of difficult-to-recycle post consumer waste plastics, producing pyrolysis vapours that BioBTX’s catalytic technology then converts into aromatic chemicals.
The integration of these two technologies will yield a high quality BTX product, meeting the demanding specifications of the chemical industry whilst also converting difficult to recycle plastic waste streams.

Aromatic chemicals are fundamental building blocks of the chemical industry. With a market size of approximately EUR200 billion per year, growing to EUR 500 billion or more in 2050 the potential is enormous. They are used to produce everything from drugs to nylon clothing and key elements of the green energy transition like wind turbine blades.

The deal is a 'first of its kind' collaboration in Europe between Agilyx and BioBTX to produce renewable aromatic chemicals in the Benelux region and, noted Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx, who called it a significant milestone for chemical recycling.

“We are thrilled to bring these two technologies together for this innovative collaboration,” he said.
The announcement comes as the EU pushes ahead with its Circular Economy Action Plan which seeks to address the interface between chemicals, products, and waste legislation.

We remind, KBR, Inc. (Houston) announced it has been awarded an engineering and design services contract from The Chemours Co. (Wilmington, Del.) to increase capacity and advance technology for its industry-leading Nafion ion-exchange materials platform.

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