ExxonMobil starts up cracker at Huizhou, China

Exxon Mobil Corp. (ExxonMobil; Spring, Texas) has successfully commenced operations of a 1.6 million metric tons per year ethylene unit at its Huizhou petrochemicals complex in Guangdong Province over the weekend, with the core ethylene unit achieving on-spec production in its first trial run, said Chemweek.

The unit's startup is expected to boost China's demand for feedstock naphtha, market sources told Platts. ExxonMobil had already obtained 2.08 million metric tons (MMt) of naphtha import quotas in the first batch for 2025, up from 150,000 metric tons in the same batch for 2024, another source with knowledge about the matter told Platts.

China’s oil demand growth in 2025 will be mainly driven by naphtha, jet fuel and LPG, with S&P Global Commodity Insights projecting China’s oil demand to grow 300,000 b/d on the year in 2025 and a further 170,000 b/d year over year in 2026.

The new cracker was originally designed to use naphtha as feedstock, added the source. The unit is also capable of processing a mix of naphtha and LPG as feedstock, the company said on its official WeChat account.

The unit will provide key feedstock for the complex’s downstream petrochemicals units, including two linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) units with a combined capacity of 1.2 MMt/y.

In February, ExxonMobil started up its 730,000 metric tons per year LLDPE No. 1 unit that uses purchased ethylene as feedstock.

The $10 billion petrochemicals complex, located in the Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, is one of the few megaplants wholly owned by foreign companies. The facility — designed to produce high-end petchems products — was set up to meet growing demand in China.

The Huizhou cracker was one of the few Chinese ethylene projects planned to commence operations this year. In early April, Wanhua Chemical Group started up its phase 2 project of a 1.2 MMt/y ethylene plant at its Yantai Industrial Park on April 3, Platts reported earlier.

China is expected to add a combined 8.75 MMt/y of ethylene capacity this year, bringing the total installed capacity to 63.9 MMt/y, according to data from the Economics and Technology Research Institute, part of state oil company China National Petroleum Corp.

Most of China’s new ethylene capacity will use naphtha as feedstock, according to the ETRI. Alternative feedstock like ethane has been hit hard amid the US-China trade standoff, given that the US supplies nearly all bulk ethane shipments globally.

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Countries at the U.N. shipping agency struck a deal on a global fuel emissions standard for the maritime sector that will impose an emissions fee on ships that breach it and reward vessels burning cleaner fuels, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The U.S. pulled out of the climate talks at the International Maritime Organization in London this week, urging other countries to do the same and threatening to impose "reciprocal measures" against any fees charged on U.S. ships.

Despite that, a majority of countries approved the CO2-cutting measures to help meet the IMO's target to cut net emissions from international shipping by 20% by 2030 and eliminate them by 2050.

Under the scheme, from 2028 ships will be charged a penalty of $380 per metric ton on every extra ton of CO2 equivalent they emit above a fixed emissions threshold, plus a penalty of $100 a ton on emissions above a stricter emissions limit.

Countries still need to give final approval at an IMO meeting in October. The talks exposed rifts between governments over how fast to push the maritime sector to cut its environmental impact.

A proposal for a stronger carbon levy on all shipping emissions, backed by climate-vulnerable Pacific countries - which abstained in Friday's vote - plus the European Union and Britain, was dropped after opposition from several countries, including China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, delegates told Reuters.

The deal is expected to generate up to $40 billion in fees from 2030, some of which will go towards making expensive zero-emission fuels more affordable.

In 2030, the main emissions limit will require ships to cut the emissions intensity of their fuel by 8% compared with a 2008 baseline, while the stricter standard will demand a 21% reduction.

By 2035, the main standard will cut fuel emissions by 30%, versus 43% for the stricter standard. Ships that reduce emissions to below the stricter limit will be rewarded with credits that they can sell to non-compliant vessels.

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OQ, spearheading the development of Duqm in Oman as a premier integrated hub for hydrocarbons, chemicals, and low-carbon products, and Royal Vopak entered into an exclusive partnership framework agreement in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This is a significant step for a strategic alliance that aims to unlock future growth opportunities in industrial and energy terminal infrastructure and sustainable energy transition facilities in SEZAD.

Leveraging Vopak’s proven expertise to develop and operate large-scale infrastructure projects, this partnership holds high prospects to drive economic growth, attract international customers, create new employment opportunities, and effectively serve all new projects requiring storage solutions in Duqm.

Highlighting the significant impact of this partnership, Ashraf Al Mamari, Group CEO of OQ, said: “This partnership is a catalyst for Duqm’s emergence as a globally competitive energy hub. By aligning with Vopak’s international expertise, we are unlocking a new era of strategic infrastructure investment that strengthens Oman’s position in global energy flows, accelerates the energy transition, and delivers long-term value for our economy and future generations.”

Dick Richelle, CEO of Royal Vopak, welcomed this partnership, saying: “Vopak is excited to collaborate with OQ Group on this strategic partnership in Duqm. Our combined strengths in infrastructure development will be instrumental in creating a leading energy and chemical hub serving multiple industrial customers concurrently. We are excited to support Oman’s Vision 2040.”

This strategic partnership is set to boost confidence and international interest, attract world-class expertise and financing, align strategic goals and investments and provide access and networking opportunities to global talent.

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The EU plan to stop the Russian energy imports by 2027 includes Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said, as per Interfax.

"There's a question whether the liquefied natural gas will be part of the road map we are preparing. The work is ongoing at the moment. But, yes. I mean the plan is to phase out Russian fossil fuels, so we will be looking into a very comprehensive plan," Itkonen said at a press briefing in Brussels on Tuesday in response to a related question.

According to the statistical data on the EU imports of Russian LNG provided by Itkonen, Russian LNG imported by the European Union in the first quarter of this year accounted for 16% of all LNG consumed in the EU.

Russian LNG imports roughly stood at 20 billion cubic meters in 2024, or around 20% of 100 billion cubic meters of LNG imported by the EU last year, she said.

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Russia's economy continued growing in Q1 2025, though the pace has been slowing, with the economy gradually emerging from the phase of severe overheating, the Central Bank of Russia said in its Talking Trends bulletin on the country's economy and markets, as per Interfax.

"Data for January-February and the survey figures for February-March indicate that the economy has continued growing, albeit at a slower pace than in previous quarters. GDP in Q1 2025 should clearly exceed the level of Q3 2024, as seasonally adjusted," the Central Bank said.

"There will likely be slight growth in the country's GDP in Q1 2025 when adjusted for seasonality and as based on published statistics compared to Q4 2024. Very high figures for December 2024 and Q4 overall that are predominantly owing to large volumes of production under government orders are the main reason for the extremely elevated figures," the bank's analysts said in response to possibly slight growth compared to Q4.

"The situation overall indicates the possible beginning of Russia's economy gradually exiting the phase of severe overheating in which it was in 2024," the regulator said.

"Supplies of goods and services have been attempting to maintain pace with demand that has been rising at an accelerated rate at this phase. The problem is that this growth has been leading to increasingly higher prices rather than an increase in actual production volumes, which are increasing less and less owing to the limited production factors, with ongoing exceeding growth in demand and a widening gap between this and production capabilities, the Central Bank's analysts warn.

We remind, eight European countries have joined the EU sanctions against Belarus endorsed by the Council of the European Union on March 27, 2025.

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