Technip Energies and Casale join forces to license technologies for blue hydrogen

Technip Energies (Paris) and Casale SA (Lugano, Switzerland) announced a new partnership to jointly license oxidative reforming-based technologies; autothermal reforming (ATR) and partial oxidation (POx) technologies for the blue hydrogen market, said the company.

ATR is a process to produce syngas that contains hydrogen, CO and CO2.

It becomes cost-effective for low-carbon hydrogen when combined with carbon capture technology and suitable for larger-scale facilities. As part of this collaboration, Technip Energies and Casale will be co-licensors of the technology and will offer Process Design Package (PDP), proprietary equipment and entire plants. In order to decarbonize hydrogen facilities, the ATR-based solution could achieve up to 99% of carbon capture rate.

Technip Energies’ two centers of excellence for hydrogen, Claremont CA, US and Zoetermeer, NL, will jointly execute with Casale PDP for ATR-based blue hydrogen projects.

Loic Chapuis, SVP Gas & Low Carbon Energies of Technip Energies, commented: ” We are excited to announce this partnership with Casale, which will allow us to offer cutting-edge ATR-based solutions for the blue hydrogen market. By leveraging our global leadership in hydrogen, having delivered more than 30% of the installed capacity worldwide, with our combined proprietary technologies, we are confident that we can provide advanced and cost-effective solutions that will meet the needs of our customers. ATR-based solutions will be complementary to T.EN’s proprietary SMR-based solutions, allowing us to offer a complete range of solutions in the low-carbon hydrogen market. We look forward to working with Casale to drive innovation and decarbonize hydrogen production at scale."

Federico Zardi, CEO of Casale SA, said: “We are delighted to enter this partnership with Technip Energies, a global leader in hydrogen plants. This partnership can provide the market with advanced solutions for the decarbonization of the world, leveraging our long history of developing and applying advanced ATR and POx technologies with several ATR-based mega production units already delivered, in combination with Technip Energies’ technological expertise in the hydrogen field."

We remind, Technip Energies announces the award of a contract for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase of LanzaTech’s DRAGON Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Project based on LanzaJet Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) Technology, on track to be one of the first commercial SAF facilities in the UK.

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Eni's Versalis and Mater-Bi, a company controlled by Investitori Associati II and NB Renaissance, have signed an agreement in which Versalis will acquire the remaining 64% interest in Novamont from Mater-Bi, making Versalis sole owner, said the company.

The deal is subject to approval by competent authorities. An expected completion date was not available.

Next steps and the timing of closing are subject to approval by the competent authorities.

Versalis is the largest Italian chemical company and leader at an international level, whose strategy hinges on its product portfolio specialization, including the chemistry from renewables. Novamont is a B Corp-certified Benefit company and a leading player in the circular bioeconomy sector, as well as a leader in the market for biodegradable and compostable bioplastics and biochemicals. Its acquisition represents a great opportunity for Versalis to accelerate its strategy through the integration of a technological platform which is both unique and complementary. This will significantly contribute to the decarbonization of Versalis’ product portfolio.

The deal will strengthen the Novamont platform by accelerating the growth of high value-added, multi-product supply chains and local projects. The goal is decoupling the use of natural resources from economic growth so as to keep doing more with less.

We remind, in Italy, Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, has acquired the technology to produce enzymes for second-generation ethanol from DSM. The agreement has a strategic value for Versalis as it integrates with proprietary Proesa® technology, applied at the Crescentino plant for the production of sustainable bioethanol and chemical products from lignocellulosic biomass, improving the competitiveness of technology and production.

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Idemitsu SM (ISM) and Petrochemicals P(M), Malaysia, subsidiaries of Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., successfully obtains the ISCC PLUS certification, an international certification system for sustainable products, for the production of styrene monomer and polystyrene, said the company.

In addition to supplying biomass feedstocks from Idemitsu Kosan to ISM, the project aims to the supply chain for styrene-based biomass plastic in Southeast Asia by procuring various biomass feedstocks and selling biomass products in cooperation with the subsidiaries located in Singapore.

ISCC PLUS certification is an international system that manages and ensures the supply chain of products made from sustainable raw materials such as biomass and, allows to apply the mass balance method. Biomass naphtha, the raw material for biomass products, is manufactured from raw materials derived from renewable materials such as plants, and thus can reduce CO2 emissions compared to naphtha derived from petroleum.

Idemitsu Kosan will supply biomass naphtha-derived feedstocks to ISM to produce biomass styrene monomer based on the mass balance method under ISCC PLUS certification. Similarly, the adjacent P(M) will produce biomass polystyrene from the biomass styrene monomer supplied by ISM. This will allow them to establish the supply chain of styrene-based biomass plastics from Japan to Malaysia.

To ensure the stable supply of styrene-based biomass products in Southeast Asia, ISM and P(M) will stably procure the various biomass feedstocks and manufacture/sell biomass products utilizing the marketing capabilities of Idemitsu International (Asia) Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), trading of petroleum and related products, and Idemitsu Chemicals Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), sales of petrochemical products in southeast area.

We remind, DIC Corporation announced that it has reached an agreement with Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., to build a new biomass plastics supply chain, as well as to begin exploring the production of biomass polystyrene, said the company. Actual production of biomass polystyrene, at DIC’s Yokkaichi Plant, is scheduled to commence by the second half of the fiscal year 2023.

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Eni's Board of Directors, chaired by Lucia Calvosa, approved on 27 Apr 2023 the unaudited consolidated results for the 1Q 2023, said the company.

1Q 2023 adjusted profit before tax of EUR 5.0 bn was only 5% lower than 1Q 2022 despite a 20% fall in crude oil price and a 42% drop in gas price. This performance reflects a highly resilient E&P result and an outstanding contribution from the GGP business plus steady earnings from Sustainable Mobility & Refining.

Of note is the 30% rise in adjusted EBIT and 14% rise in adjusted profit before tax on 4Q 2022 despite the weakening Upstream scenario. E&P earned EUR 2.8 bn of adjusted EBIT. Including the contribution of Azule, the 1Q 2023 pro-forma EBIT increased to EUR 2.93 bn, a reduction of 33% year on year. GGP earned EUR 1.37 bn of adjusted EBIT, 47% higher than the 1Q 2022, driven by optimization and trading activities. Eni Sustainable Mobility, operational as of 1 Jan 2023, delivered EUR 0.14 bn of adjusted EBIT, up by EUR 0.07 bn compared to the proforma adjusted EBIT of the 1Q 2022 following the restatement of the comparative period.

The Refining business earned EUR 0.13 bn of adjusted EBIT compared to a loss of EUR 0.04 bn during 1Q 2022. The improvement was driven by higher benchmark refining margins, with Eni's SERM up to $11/bbl (vs a negative value in 2022) but negatively impacted by planned turnaround activity at important upgrading refinery units and lower leverage to natural gas price energy costs than in the benchmark due to efficiency initiatives already undertaken. Versalis was negatively affected by lower demand and market uncertainties, which held back purchase decisions by resellers and continued competitive pressures of products from Middle and East Asia.

Plenitude & Power delivered solid results with EUR 0.19 bn of adjusted EBIT (flat year on year) helped by the ramp up in the renewable installed capacity and production volumes and optimizations in the business of power generation from gas-fired plants. Plenitude generated EUR 0.23 bn of adjusted EBITDA despite challenging conditions. 1Q 2023 adjusted net profit attributable to Eni shareholders was EUR 2.9 bn and, compared with 1Q 2022, was 11% lower. In 1Q 2023, the Group adjusted operating cash flow before working capital at replacement cost was EUR 5.3 bn, largely exceeding the cash outflows related to organic capex of EUR 2.2 bn and dividend payments (EUR 0.8 bn).

Seasonal factors that typically shape working capital requirements in the first quarter accounted for the bulk of the excess cashflow with other investing activities also a EUR 0.2 bn outflow and the net effect of acquisition and disposal amounting to EUR 0.3 bn. In Mar 2023, Eni paid the third instalment of the 2022 dividend of EUR 0.22/share. The fourth tranche of EUR 0.22 per share will be paid in May 2023. Net borrowings ex-IFRS 16 as of 31 Mar 2023, were EUR 7.8 bn, and Group leverage stood at 0.14, versus 0.13 as of 31 Dec 2022.

We remind, Eni has started offloading the initial LNG cargo into Snam's new c in Piombino on 8 May 2023. The terminal has a cumulative processing capacity of 5 bn cu m/y, or nearly 7% of Italy's gas demand. The LNG was generated at Egypt's Damietta liquefaction facility, one of the units where Eni has invested with the strategic target of expanding its integrated liquefied gas portfolio. Eni bought regasification capacity at Piombino terminal as part of its strategy to diversify Italy's LNG supplies through its internationally generated equity gas. Leveraging its strong relations with the nations where it runs and its trademark fast-track project development approach, Eni has boosted the volumes of available gas from Libya, Algeria, and Italy and raised the number of LNG cargoes from Congo, Egypt, Qatar, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, and Indonesia.

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Pemex’s production of aromatics, ethane, propylene, and sulphur fell in the first quarter, year on year, but methane output rose strongly, the Mexican energy and petrochemicals major said.

The rise in production of methane and its derivatives helped overall petrochemicals production to remain mostly flat, with 319,000 tonnes produced during the first quarter, down by 0.62% year on year.

Financially, however, the company’s sales, operating income, and net income fell sharply.

Pemex said its production of methane and derivatives had risen sharply on the back of healthy output at its VI ammonia plant, located at the Cosoleacaque petrochemical complex.

Pemex said attributed the sharp fall in production of aromatics and derivatives to a five-week maintenance at its CCR Plant, located at the petrochemicals complex La Cangrejera CCR, in the state of Veracruz in the east of Mexico.

We remind, Mexican state oil company Pemex's newest refinery, which is still under construction in Mexico's southeast, will begin to process crude oil in July 2023.

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