Haldia selects multiple Lummus Technologies for India's first on-purpose propylene plant and largest cumene and phenol plant

Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. will license its olefins conversion technology and the Lummus/Versalis cumene and phenol technologies for a new plant in West Bengal, India, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Once HPL's plant is complete, it will be India's largest cumene and phenol plant and the nation's first on-purpose propylene plant. The milestone will also help HPL become India's first integrated operator in the phenolics value chain and a leader in the niche specialty chemicals segment. The integration of OCT will strengthen India's petrochemical market by allowing production of more phenol products locally rather than by importing them.

"We are honored to work with Haldia Petrochemicals, a long-time customer, on this critical investment for India's petrochemical industry," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "This is an opportunity to showcase Lummus' integrated technology solutions to help our customer become a leader in the phenolics and specialty chemicals value chain."

"With the commissioning of these plants, the overall chemical business portfolio is expected to increase by an additional Rs. 5,000Cr. The company has ambitious targets to complete the project by Q1 2026," said Navanit Narayan, Chief Executive Officer of Haldia Petrochemicals. "As the plans move towards fruition, there will be advancement in areas such as digitization. This will generate direct and indirect employment in the downstream chemical industry. The total industrial scenario evolving around chemicals will witness tremendous growth within a very short period."

Lummus' scope includes the technology license for OCT and cumene and phenol technologies, basic design engineering, site services, advisory services and training.

OCT is the only commercially demonstrated route to propylene using metathesis chemistry, and it produces propylene from reacting ethylene with C4 and/or C5 olefins. In addition, Lummus and Versalis have partnered to license phenol and cumene technologies since 2007. The phenol technology is the lowest carbon footprint among available phenol technologies and provides a safe, reliable process that maximizes product yields and produces high purity products. The cumene process is a liquid-phase alkylation technology using a proprietary zeolite catalyst and is characterized by a very high cumene yield, ultra-high purity cumene product and a long catalyst run length.

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commercial availability of its Saplene super absorbent polymer (SAP) technology. The process uses acrylic acid as the main feedstock to produce SAP, which consumer goods manufacturers use to produce liquid-absorbing personal hygiene products and other specialty applications.

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Chevron Corp earned $6.5 bn for 3Q 2023, down from $11.2 bn in 3Q 2022, primarily due to lower upstream realizations and lower margins on international refined product sales, said the company.

Included in the current quarter were a one-time tax benefit of $560 M in Nigeria and pension settlement costs of $40 M. Foreign currency effects increased earnings by $285 M. Adjusted earnings of $5.7 bn in 3Q 2023 compared with adjusted earnings of $10.8 bn in 3Q 2022. Sales and other operating revenues in 3Q 2023 were $51.9 bn, down from $63.5 bn in 3Q 2022. Capital expenditure in 3Q 2023 was up over 50% from 3Q 2022.

This includes about $400 M of inorganic spend largely due to the acquisition of a majority stake in ACES Delta LLC, but excludes the acquisition of PDC Energy Inc. Quarterly shareholder distributions were $6.2 bn, including dividends of $2.9 bn and share repurchases of $3.4 bn. Share repurchases were lower than the prior quarter due to restrictions related to the acquisition of PDC Energy. The company's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.51/share, payable 11 Dec 2023, to all holders of common stock as shown on the transfer records of the corporation at the close of business on 17 Nov 2023.

Chevron's upstream earnings were $5.7 bn for 3Q 2023, down from $9.3 bn recorded in 3Q 2022, reflecting lower commodity prices. The company's worldwide net oil-equivalent production was up 4% from the year-ago quarter primarily due to the acquisition of PDC Energy. US net oil-equivalent production was up 20% from 3Q 2022 and set a new quarterly record, primarily due to the acquisition of PDC Energy, which added 179,000 boe/d during the quarter, and net production increases in the Permian basin. US upstream earnings were lower than a year ago, primarily on lower realizations partially offset by earnings associated with PDC Energy. International net oil-equivalent production was down 112,000 b/d from a year earlier primarily due to higher impacts from turnarounds, shutdowns and normal field declines.

International upstream earnings were lower than a year ago primarily due to lower realizations and lower sales volumes, partially offset by a favourable one-time tax benefit of $560 M in Nigeria and foreign currency effects. The downstream segment of the company reported a profit of $1.68 bn, which marked a decrease from the $2.53 bn recorded a year ago. This decline was primarily attributed to significantly lower performance in international markets. US downstream earnings were $1.37 bn during the quarter, compared with $1.29 bn a year ago primarily due to higher margins on refined product sales. Refinery crude oil inputs increased 23% from the year-ago period primarily due to the absence of 2022 turnaround activity at the Richmond, CA, US, refinery. Refinery product sales were up 4% from the year-ago period, primarily due to higher demand for jet fuel.

We remind, Chevron Corp has agreed to acquire Hess Corp in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 bn, further diversifying the energy company's portfolio with the addition of Stabroek block interests offshore Guyana and adding Bakken acreage to the company's existing US shale position. The deal is expected to increase Chevron’s estimated 5-year production and free cash flow growth rates and extend such growth into the next decade, the company said in a release Oct. 23.

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Eni subsidiary Versalis has started construction on a 6,000 tonne/year pyrolysis-based chemical recycling demo plant in Mantua, Italy, the company announced in a press release.

The plant will use mixed plastic waste as feedstock and is expected to be operational by end-2024. While not mentioned in the press release, Fabio Assandri, Research and Innovation Technology Director at Versalis, has previously stated that Plasmix is an ideal waste stream for pyrolysis.

Plasmix is a grade of mixed plastic waste sold by Italian waste management and recycling major Corepla (National Consortium for the Collection and Recycling of Plastic packages) and is made up of the remaining mix of plastic packaging waste post-sorting for mechanical recycling suitable material.

The press release did state that “the project was made possible by the collaboration – initiated in 2020 – with Corepla.”

The demo plant will integrate Technip Energies’ pyrolysis purification technologies, following on from the agreement reached between Technip and Versalis in September.

We remind, Versalis, Eni's chemical company, has published the 2022 Sustainability Report, illustrating its contribution to the development of more sustainable and circular models in line with Eni's strategy and values, said the company.
The document also outlines the targets set by the company to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Being energy-intensive, the chemical industry bears a heavy responsibility in the decarbonisation challenge since deemed ‘hard to abate’, i.e. difficult to decarbonize.

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Venezuela's largest refining complex, the 955,000-bpd Paraguana Refining Center, was operating at about 10% of capacity after two CDUs were shutdown due to a fire and lack of feedstock, according to four sources close to operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The paralysis at state oil company PDVSA's complex is cutting down the OPEC country's refining operations in a critical moment, when scarcity of gasoline and diesel are affecting some regions, triggering long lines of drivers in front of stations.

The Cardon and Amuay refineries integrate the Paraguana Refining Center at Venezuela's Western region, among the world's largest but that has been operating at a fraction of capacity in the last decade due to delayed maintenance and lack of repairs.

The whole complex was on Monday processing 94,000 bpd of crude, about 10% of its nameplate capacity, the sources said. PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of Cardon's four CDUs was halted on Saturday following a fire that left no injured workers, reducing the refinery's crude processing to one crude unit running some 30,000 bpd, according to the sources. The affected plant was working in "unsafe condition and leaking diesel before the fire," one of the sources said. Cardon's gasoline reformer, which produces high octane gasoline blendstock, was in service.

At the neighboring Amuay refinery, one of five CDUs was halted last week due to low crude inventories, according to a report seen by Reuters. Only one distillation unit remains in service, processing some 64,000 bpd. Amuay's most complex units, a flexicoker and a catalytic cracker that are key to fuel production, remain idled.

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commercial availability of its Saplene super absorbent polymer (SAP) technology. The process uses acrylic acid as the main feedstock to produce SAP, which consumer goods manufacturers use to produce liquid-absorbing personal hygiene products and other specialty applications.

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Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commercial availability of its Saplene super absorbent polymer (SAP) technology, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The process uses acrylic acid as the main feedstock to produce SAP, which consumer goods manufacturers use to produce liquid-absorbing personal hygiene products and other specialty applications.

"Introducing this technology to the market is another significant step for our portfolio expansion across the C3 value chain," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lummus Technology. "Combining our existing portfolio with SAP technology and our recently acquired acrylic acid technologies positions Lummus at the forefront of the specialty high-value polymer technology market and enables us to offer customers more tailored and integrated solutions."

Saplene SAP technology is commercially proven, and previously developed and operated at scale by the Songwon Industrial Group of South Korea. The technology has also been licensed for a 45 KTA industrial plant.

Recently, Lummus announced it acquired the rights to Air Liquide's acrylic acid and acrylic acid esters technologies using propylene as the main feedstock. As a result, Lummus now offers the full chain of technologies for the production of SAP and acrylate esters from propylene, which is a key intermediate in the petrochemical value chain.

We remind, C2X, a company aiming to establish large-scale green methanol production for multiple industries, has taken an important step towards the development of their second production site. After signing a Framework Agreement with the Egyptian Government for a green methanol project in Egypt earlier this month, C2X has successfully concluded the first phase to secure the concession for a 47ha large site for green methanol production within the Port of Huelva, Southern Spain.

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