Shinkong secures US FDA approval for R-PET

Thai Shinkong Industry Corporation (TSIC) recently secured the approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the use of its recycled materials for food-contact packaging, said the company.

The US FDA approval is key for TSIC to tap on the US market, which is currently a major buyer of R-PET pellets from Shinkong’s facility in Taiwan.

TSIC, which is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation and Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation, launched its new R-PET facility in Rayong, Thailand in early September.

Currently, it is in the process of securing approvals from major brands to be able to supply bottle-grade R-PET pellets to both local and overseas markets.

We remind, Thai Shinkong Industry Corporation (TSIC) in mid September commenced operations at its new recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) facility in Rayong, Thailand.

TSIC is a joint venture between Japan’s Mitsubishi Co and Taiwan’s Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp, which will offer chemically recycled R-PET pellets from southeast Asia.

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South Korea's SK Energy, owned by SK Innovation, is offering more October-loading 10ppm sulfur gasoil for sale, after selling around nine cargoes in the past few weeks, three industry sources familiar with the matter said Reuters on Monday.

The refiner is looking to sell one 300,000-barrel 10ppm sulfur gasoil cargo loading Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, the sources said. One 500ppm sulfur gasoil cargo is also available via this sale tender, for loading on Oct. 25-27, they added.

The tender for these cargoes close on Sept. 25 with same-day validity. SK Energy previously sold around nine 10ppm sulfur gasoil cargoes in the past two weeks between premiums of $1.70 a barrel and a discount of 60 cents a barrel to free-on-board Singapore prices.

The refiner could be trying to capitalize on lucrative margins now, given the backwardated market structure where October prices are trading at least $3 a barrel higher than November prices, one of the three sources said.

SK Energy typically does not comment on commercial matters.

We remind, 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. 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.

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Worley has been selected to develop the Front-End Engineering Design for QatarEnergy LNG’s CO2 sequestration project in Ras Laffan, Qatar, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Through this CO2 sequestration project, there will be the capacity to capture 4.3 million metric tonnes of CO2 per annum, which will help QatarEnergy LNG to further reduce their environmental impact across the LNG value chain by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from QatarEnergy LNG North’s 7 LNG trains and QatarEnergy LNG South’s 3 LNG trains.

CO2 will be captured from the trains, compressed, and injected into the new injection wells. New compression trains and pipelines need to be installed after FEED is completed. Using QatarEnergy LNG’s selected concept, Worley will develop the FEED study and EPC scope of work.

The project team at Worley’s Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Centre of Excellence will aim to prove the pre-FEED concept by modelling the CO2 capture process. This high-level technical approach will instill further confidence to expand the CO2 sequestration technology in the future to include the remaining trains at QatarEnergy LNG South and North.

Nawar Chapman, Country Manager Qatar & Kuwait at Worley stated, “Having worked alongside QatarEnergy LNG for over a decade, we are delighted to be involved in this project and support Qatar on its sustainability journey. This project presents an opportunity to utilize our in-depth knowledge of the region and global expertise in delivering FEED services to the CCUS sector to drive project delivery. As we work towards our purpose of delivering a more sustainable world.

The project will have international involvement from Worley’s teams in Qatar, and Australia, and is set for completion in April 2024.

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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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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