Iraq asks Turkey to resume northern oil export pipeline

MRC) -- Iraq has sent an official request to Turkey to restart oil export flows through a pipeline that runs from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, said Reuters.

A statement by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday confirmed news reported earlier by Reuters that Iraq requested Turkey restart flows that have been shut in for almost seven weeks. "Both the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Natural Resources and Iraq's Ministry of Oil are reportedly waiting for Turkey's response before resuming oil exports," the KRG statement said.

Iraq's request to Turkish state energy company BOTAS came after traders buying crude from the Kurdistan region signed contracts with Iraq's state-owned crude marketer SOMO on Tuesday and Wednesday following weeks of discussions, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Iraq's oil ministry and Turkey's energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Turkey halted Iraq's 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of northern exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad damages of USD1.5 B for unauthorized exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.

Iraq put off asking Turkey to resume flows as it spent weeks resolving various issues with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) surrounding a restart deal.

The KRG has agreed for SOMO to market its crude oil. Its export revenue will be deposited in an existing KRG bank account with Citi in the United Arab Emirates, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Baghdad will have auditing access, Reuters previously reported.

SOMO also had to iron out contracts with buyers of KRG crude. The newly signed contracts are for a period of up to three months but do not address the vast amount of debt that the KRG owes trading firms, one of the three sources said.

Producers in the region have called for the KRG to prioritize debt repayment, making transparency and regularity of payments conditions for new investments and maximum export flows once the pipeline reopens, a separate industry source said.

The timing of the pipeline restart, however, remains uncertain. Turkey is seeking negotiations relating to the damages it was ordered to pay in the arbitration case, and wants permanent resolution of open arbitration issues before resuming flows, sources previously told Reuters.

"There are a number of considerations and one of the important (ones) is presidential elections in Turkey on May 14 with a possible run off," Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, executive chairman of Norwegian oil company DNO, told a call with analysts on Thursday on the matter of the restart.

We remind, Russia has started diesel exports to Chile, expanding its oil products supplies to Latin America after a European Union embargo forced traders to find new outlets. According to Refinitiv data, two cargoes loaded in April in Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk with about 73,000 tons of diesel heading to Guayacan port in Chile.

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Japan's biggest oil refiner Eneos Holdings said on Thursday it planned to more than double net profit to ¥310 B in three years and expand aggressively in green energy and climate-friendlier fuels, said Reuters.

Companies in Japan, an energy-poor country importing nearly everything from oil to coal, are under pressure from the government and shareholders to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also made the green transition a matter of national energy security. Eneos, which still relies mainly on its oil business, plans to spend ¥1 T over three years on its energy segment including renewable energy projects, the hydrogen supply chain and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Its first SAF plant in Japan should be launched in 2026 and it is considering another SAF facility that could be operational by about 2030. Renewable energy, primarily solar and wind power, should reach 6 to 8 gigawatts (GW) by 2040 from less than 1 GW now, the company said.

Eneos, also a major miner, said it was preparing to list its metal unit JX Nippon Mining and Metals, although the plans had yet to be finalized. Through the listing, Eneos will be able to execute strategic investment which is necessary for transforming the business portfolio to realize the energy transition, President Takeshi Saito said.

"The spin-off will also help reduce volatility of Eneos' earnings," he said. JX will sell majority stake in the Caserones copper mine in Chile to Lundin Mining after suffering a series of ramp-up delays and cost overruns, resulting nearly ¥350 B of appraisal loss in total.

Eneos aims to boost net profit to ¥310 B in the fiscal year to March 2026 from ?180 B projected for the current 2023/24 year. Net profit fell 73% in 2022/23 fiscal year to ¥143.8 B, hurt by declines in its petrochemical business and as gains on inventories were reduced.

Eneos plans to invest ¥180 B over the three years in its oil and gas upstream segment, including for additional development of liquefied natural gas in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and in its carbon-capture and storage business.

We remind, Eneos Holdings Inc. has no plans to buy Russian crude until all problems related to the Ukraine crisis are over and will purchase alternative supplies from the Middle East.

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PureCycle Technologies announced that it has reached mechanical completion of its first polypropylene (PP) purification plant in Ironton, OH, US., said the company.

The facility, which is based on proprietary technology licensed from Procter & Gamble, is expected to produce 107 M lbs/y of Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) resin, once fully operational.

The plant will now begin operational pre-startup and safety review processes. Initial pellet production is planned to commence in 2Q 2023.

We remind, SK geo centric (SKGC), a South Korean-based global leader in polypropylene (PP) production, and PureCycle Technologies, Inc. signed a joint venture agreement to operate the first Polypropylene recycling plant in Asia. SKGC will make a joint investment with PureCycle to build a plastic recycling plant in Ulsan, South Korea with an annual capacity of up to 60,000 tons. The plant, which is currently expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2025, will turn contaminated plastic feedstock into ultra-pure recycled ("UPR") resin that can be infinitely reused and recycled.

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Chemours, a US-based company, has awarded KBR to enhance the technology and capacity of its Nafion-branded ion exchange materials platform, said the company.

The contract is part of Chemours' USD200 M investment initiative that seeks to expand the Nafion membranes and dispersions technology platforms, which supports the increasing hydrogen economy.

“We are excited to be a part of this important program, which furthers our partnership with Chemours, and to deliver solutions that will contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable world,” said Jay Ibrahim, president of KBR’s Sustainable Technology Solutions business. “This win highlights KBR’s extensive clean hydrogen and specialty chemical expertise and is indicative of KBR’s strategic commitment to support our customers through the energy transition.”

For decades KBR has been a leader in the hydrogen value chain, serving as both technology provider and advisor and as a provider of differentiated project delivery solutions.

Wt remind, Evonik, the market and innovation leader in polyurethane additives, has boosted its range of high-performance products for the spray polyurethane foam (SPF) industry with the release of DABCO PM 301, said the company. Used in combination with the latest Opteon™ 1100 and Opteon™ 1150 blowing agents from Chemours, a global chemistry company, DABCO® PM 301 improves thermal performance and increases efficiency in SPF systems.

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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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