Portugal's Galp to invest USD426 mln in biofuels with Japan's Mitsui

Portuguese oil company Galp said it had teamed up with Japan's Mitsui to invest USD426 MM in an industrial-scale plant to produce biodiesel and biojet fuel from waste at its Sines refinery, said Reuters.

The companies will create a joint venture for the project, which will be 75% controlled by Galp, it said in a statement. Galp also said it had made a final decision to invest 250 million euros on its own in a 100 mega-watt (MW) electrolyzer unit to produce green hydrogen to power the refinery. It said that both plants would start operating in 2025.

The Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) plant will have a production capacity of 270,000 metric tons per year. It will transform waste materials, such as used cooking oils, into renewable biodiesel and biojet fuel -- also known as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) -- using green hydrogen produced by the electrolyzer, which will have a capacity of 15,000 metric tons of green hydrogen a year.

SAFs are an alternative to traditional jet fuel aimed at being more environmentally-friendly as they help replace dirtier petroleum products while providing new uses for waste. The Sines refinery south of Lisbon is Portugal's biggest consumer of hydrogen from natural gas, although Galp wants to gradually produce zero-carbon fuel there through a process of electrolysis using renewable energy.

Galp Chairwoman Paula Amorim said in a statement that the two projects are among the largest of their kind. "These decisions are based on the expectation that the tax and regulatory developments in Portugal will not hinder the success of such large-scale investments," she added.

Galp is trying to speed up the decarbonization of its processes and products and plans to allocate around 50% of its capital expenditure to low-carbon activities through 2025.

We remind, Galp has taken a step towards a sustainable and low-carbon future with its recent announcement of a EUR650 million (approximately USD692 million) investment aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the Sines refinery and its product portfolio, ushering in a new era of eco-friendly energy solutions in Portugal.

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An explosion was reported at Iran's southern refinery of Bandar Abbas, according to the official IRNA news agency, following a gas leak, said Reuters.

The leak caused gas condensates to explode in what is one of Iran's largest refineries, the news agency said, adding that an official confirmation has yet to be announced.

No detail was provided regarding damage to production or casualties.

We remind, Russia's Transneft suspended deliveries of diesel to the key Baltic and Black Sea terminals of Primorsk and Novorossiysk on Friday. Russia temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday, without a specified end date.

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The Russian government has approved some changes to its fuel export ban, lifting the restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels as well as diesel with high content of sulfur, as per Reuters.

It also lifted restrictions on the export of fuel already accepted for export by the Russian Railways and Transneft before the initial ban had been announced last week. The ban on all types of gasoline and high-quality diesel remains in place.

Russia announced on Thursday that it had temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect in order to stabilize the domestic market.

Russia in recent months has suffered shortages of gasoline and diesel. Wholesale fuel prices have spiked, although retail prices are capped to try to curb them in line with official inflation.

The crunch has been especially painful in some parts of Russia's southern breadbasket, where fuel is crucial for gathering the harvest. A serious crisis could be awkward for the Kremlin as a presidential election looms in March.

We remind, Russia's Transneft suspended deliveries of diesel to the key Baltic and Black Sea terminals of Primorsk and Novorossiysk on Friday. Russia temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday, without a specified end date.

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Dow announces the start-up of a new MDI distillation and prepolymers facility at its world-scale manufacturing site in Freeport, Texas, said Coatings.specialchem.

This investment optimizes Dow’s existing asset infrastructure and advances Dow’s position in attractive applications in automotive, construction, consumer and industrial markets. The new Freeport MDI facility, which replaces Dow’s North America capacity in La Porte, Texas, will supply an additional 30% of product to Dow’s customers. In coordination with the start-up of the new MDI facility, Dow shut down its polyurethane assets at the La Porte site.

“Our customers are looking for a cost competitive and reliable supply of key upstream polyurethane raw materials to support their growth,” said Jane Palmieri, president, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure operating segment, Dow.

“The back integration at the Freeport site enhances operational flexibility and reliability and delivers a more sustainable production process ensuring that we are best positioned to support our customer needs and downstream growth,” added Palmieri.

Dow’s extensive polyurethane franchise upgrades key polyurethane components and systems to produce rigid, semi-rigid and flexible foams and coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers and composites.

The products are used in various applications ranging from industrial and infrastructure solutions to consumer comfort solutions such as flooring, furniture, bedding and footwear, to automotive solutions for vehicle interior and energy-efficient insulation materials.

We remind, Dow, a global materials science company, and Shanghai Qifan Cable Co., Ltd. (Qifan Cable) have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Wire China 2023. In the coming years, the two parties intend to jointly engage in developing innovative solutions for submarine cables, to support development of offshore wind power that will accelerate the global energy transition to renewable sources.

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Oil prices held steady on Monday after Russia relaxed its fuel ban, taking the edge off earlier gains on a tighter supply outlook and wariness over interest rates that could curb demand, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Brent crude futures were up 17 cents, or 0.18%, at $93.44 a barrel by 1133 GMT after settling 3 cents lower on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 7 cents, or 0.08%, at $90.10.

Russia approved some changes to its fuel export ban, lifting the restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels and diesel with high sulfur content, a government document showed on Monday. The ban on all types of gasoline and high-quality diesel, announced last Thursday, remains in place.

"The market continues to digest Russia's temporary ban on diesel and gasoline exports into an already tight market, offset with the Fed's hawkish message that rates will stay higher for longer," said IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore.

Crude prices fell last week after a hawkish Federal Reserve rattled global financial markets and raised concerns over oil demand. That snapped a three-week rally of more than 10% after Saudi Arabia and Russia constrained supply by extending production cuts to the end of the year.

Last week, Moscow issued a temporary ban on gasoline and diesel exports to most countries to stabilize the domestic market, fanning concerns of low products supply as the Northern Hemisphere heads into winter. In the United States, the number of operating oil rigs fell by eight to 507 last week - the lowest count since February 2022 - despite higher prices, a weekly report from Baker Hughes showed on Friday.

Compounding supply constraints, U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending Sept. 29, decreasing available refining capacity by 324,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Monday. Offline capacity is expected to rise to 1.9 million bpd in the week ending Oct. 6, IIR added.

Expectations of better economic data this week from China, the world's largest crude importer, lifted sentiment. However, analysts flagged that oil prices face technical resistance at the November 2022 highs reached hit last week.

China's manufacturing sector is expected to expand in September, with the purchasing manufacturing index forecast to rise above 50 for the first time since March, Goldman Sachs analysts said.

We remind, Russia's Transneft suspended deliveries of diesel to the key Baltic and Black Sea terminals of Primorsk and Novorossiysk on Friday. Russia temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday, without a specified end date.

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