Braskem signs partnership with Haldor Topsoe to develop biobased MEG

MOSCOW (MRC) — Braskem, the American producer of thermoplastic resins, and Danish-based Haldor Topsoe, a company in catalysts and surface science, have signed a technological cooperation agreement to develop a pioneering route to produce monoethylene glycol (MEG) from sugar, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement calls for the construction of a demonstration plant in Denmark, with operation slated to begin in 2019.

MEG is a key component of PET resin, the main man-made raw material used by the textile and packaging industries that is also widely used to make bottles. The project is based on a two-step process developed at Topsoe's labs along with own catalysts, and focuses on the conversion of sugar into MEG at a single industrial unit, which will reduce initial investment in the production and boost the competitiveness of the process.

With the agreement, Braskem wants to expand its portfolio of renewable products to offer new solutions that complement its bio-based polyethylene marketed with the I'm green seal.

The demonstration plant will conduct tests to validate the technology and confirm its technical and economic feasibility, which is a critical step before launching production on an industrial scale and commercial operations. The unit will be flexible to validate the technology in different raw materials such as sucrose, dextrose and second-generation sugars.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — South Korea’s Hanwha Total Petrochemical will use at least four times more LPG feedstock when it completes raising its cracker capacity by 30% to 1.4 MMtpy in 2019, said a top executive, as per Reuters.

Hanwha Total operates a 1.1 MMtpy cracker in Daesan, South Korea, that uses about 100 Mt to 200 Mt of LPG a year, said Sebastien Bariller, a senior vice president in charge of feedstock purchasing for the company on the sidelines of a condensate and naphtha forum in Penang.

The amount of LPG used after the cracker’s expansion would be raised by 700 Mt, he said, with supply source mainly from the United States.

Most crackers in Asia—which produce the fundamental building blocks of plastics such as ethylene and propylene—run on naphtha. Many of the units, though, can replace at least 5% of the naphtha with LPG, and that’s often done when LPG prices are at least USD50/t lower than naphtha.

Hanwha Total, which also owns two condensate splitters, is a joint venture between French oil and gas company Total and the Hanwha Group.

Hanwha Total announced earlier this year that it would invest USD450 MM to expand the Daesan cracker capacity to meet rising petrochemicals demand.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) aims to sell at least 10% of its fuel distribution unit in an initial public offering in Abu Dhabi, as Gulf states step up plans to privatize energy assets in an era of cheap crude, reported Reuters.

The listing details came as Saudi Arabia and Oman are also looking to privatize energy assets as low oil prices squeeze revenues.

Saudi Arabia plans to list 5% of its national oil company Aramco by next year, which Saudi officials say could raise USD100 B, making it the world’s biggest IPO.

At the holding company level, ADNOC will continue to be owned by the Abu Dhabi government, said ADNOC CEO Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber at an energy conference.

"The IPO of ADNOC Distribution represents an important milestone in this new approach and is a natural evolution for the growth and expansion of this exciting retail-focused business," al-Jaber said.

The ADNOC statement confirms a Reuters story in September that said the company could list more than 10% of its fuel retail business.

The transformation of ADNOC is also seen as part of an economic reform drive led by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

ADNOC produces some 3 MMbbl of oil per day, or around 3% of global production. It also produces more than 9.8 Bcf of raw gas per day, placing it among the largest energy producers in the world.

ADNOC Distribution is the leading fuel distributor in the United Arab Emirates with an approximately 67% market share by number of retail fuel service stations, which stood at 360 by end of September.

As MRC wrote previously, ADNOC plans to almost triple its petrochemical production to an annual 11.4 MMt by 2025 from 4.5 MMt at present, group chief executive Sultan Al Jaber said in November 2016.

ADNOC's petrochemicals are produced by Abu Dhabi Polymers Co (Borouge), which makes polyolefin, and Ruwais Fertilizer Industries (Fertil), which produces urea and ammonia fertilisers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP has celebrated the startup of its world-scale polyethylene (PE) units in Old Ocean, Texas that will play a pivotal role in the company’s continuing dynamic growth strategy, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new Old Ocean facility will produce up to 1,000,000 mt annually to meet the growing demand for polyethylene from our customers around the globe. These units can produce a wide variety of high quality polyethylene resins ranging from metallocene linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) to bi-modal resins for film and pipe products, displaying the wide capability of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s proprietary MarTech technology.

"We announced plans to build these world-scale units in 2011, broke ground in 2014 and today, we are celebrating the successful start-up of commercial operations," said Mark Lashier, president and CEO. "With these new assets in place, we can penetrate new markets to reach new customers, expand our global presence, and deliver on our growth commitments to our owner companies."

As MRC informed before, in June 2017, Chevron Phillips Chemical announced it had successfully completed a low viscosity polyalphaolefins (PAO) capacity expansion at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. The 20% capacity expansion enables the company to meet the increasing demand for lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Chevron Phillips Chemical develops and produces PAOs, marketed under the brand name Synfluid PAO, which are used for a variety of applications including engine oils, gear oils and greases.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
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MOSCOW (MRC) — Private conglomerate CEFC China Energy and Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft have agreed to study the possibility of building a petrochemical complex in South China, as per Reuters.

The deal will deepen strategic cooperation between Rosneft and CEFC, which agreed in September to buy 14.2% of the Kremlin's energy champion in a deal valued at over USD9 B.

Rosneft and CEFC signed an agreement to carry out a joint preliminary study into the possible construction of a petrochemical plant in China's Hainan province on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in Vietnam, the Russian company said.

"The companies will set up joint working teams to discuss technical configurations of the project as well as commercial and economic matters," Rosneft said in a statement. The companies will also jointly analyze the long-term supply of feedstock for the proposed new plant, it said.

Earlier on Friday, China Business Network reported, citing a CEFC executive, that the companies had agreed to build a petrochemical complex using liquefied petroleum gas and condensate to make petrochemicals. The complex would be built in Yangpu, a port in China's southernmost island province of Hainan, China Business Network reported, citing a CEFC executive.

"Once a feedstock supplier joins the investment of the petrochemical facility ... the supply chain will be strengthened further and shall benefit the project's profitability," Cai Feng, an investment official of CEFC was quoted as saying.

A senior company source at CEFC said part of the feedstock supply may come from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

CEFC operates an oil tank farm at Yangpu used partly as a state crude oil reserve, the company's largest physical oil asset in China. The companies did not provide any financial details of the deal or specify if it was a binding agreement.
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