Ineos Styrolution implements new distribution structure in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Styrolution announced that it has significantly expanded its distribution agreements with Albis Plastic and the Ultrapolymers Group in Europe, as per GV.

According to Ineos Styrolution, the new structure will give both distributors access to the company’s entire speciality portfolio as well as its standard products. For styrenic speciality products, both distributors have access to all EMEA countries with the exception of Malta, Israel, and the sub-Sahara Africa. For standard products, the agreement covers all European countries. This agreement does not affect existing distribution agreements with other local distributors.

As MRC informed earlier, Styrolution was founded in October 2011 as a joint venture between BASF and INEOS. On November 17, 2014, INEOS completed the purchase of BASF's 50% share - making Styrolution a wholly owned, standalone company within INEOS. And in January 2016, Styrolution changed company names and visual identity to Ineos Styrolution to mark Ineos ownership.

Ineos Styrolution is the leading, global styrenics supplier with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 80 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering the best possible solution, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, toys/sports/leisure, and packaging.INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,100 people and operates 15 production sites in nine countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has announced that a new 1.5 MMtpy ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas complex is mechanically complete with commissioning progressing well, as per the company's press release.

Project startup is expected during the second quarter of 2018.

The new ethane cracker, part of ExxonMobil’s multi-billion dollar Baytown chemical expansion project, will provide ethylene feedstock to the new performance polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, which began production in the fall of 2017.

"With the completion of the project in Baytown, we are on the verge of fully realizing one of ExxonMobil’s most significant U.S. Gulf Coast investments," said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. "Our new ethane cracker will allow us to economically meet rapidly growing demand for high-performance polyethylene products around the world while continuing to sustain economic development and create jobs for decades to come."

The project has created more than 10,000 construction jobs and 4,000 related jobs in nearby Houston communities since construction began in 2014. Once operational, it is expected to support 350 new permanent positions at the Baytown complex, USD870 million a year in regional economic activity and USD90 million per year in local tax revenues.

The Baytown chemical expansion project is a key component of ExxonMobil’s previously announced Growing the Gulf initiative. In addition to the ethane cracker in Baytown, ExxonMobil and SABIC are proposing to build a jointly owned petrochemical complex in San Patricio County, Texas, that would include a 1.8 MMtpy ethane cracker - the largest capacity of any ethane cracker built to date.

Massive new supplies of oil and natural gas have dramatically reduced energy costs and created new sources of feedstock for U.S. refining and chemical manufacturing. Most of ExxonMobil’s planned new chemical capacity investment in the Gulf region is focused on supplying export markets such as Asia with high-demand products, which will contribute to strengthening the United States’ balance of trade. Recent changes in the U.S. corporate tax rate also create an environment for increased future capital investments in projects such as these, and will further enhance the company’s competitiveness in global markets.

"The US chemical industry is rapidly expanding along the Gulf Coast due to abundant supplies of domestically produced natural gas, as demonstrated by the investments ExxonMobil alone is making," Verity said. "This expansion will not only increase the nation’s existing manufacturing and export capacity, but also further stimulate economic growth and create thousands of full-time jobs."

ExxonMobil Chemical Company is one of the largest petrochemical companies worldwide. The company holds leadership positions in some of the largest-volume and highest-growth commodity petrochemical products in the world. ExxonMobil Chemical Company has manufacturing capacity in every major region of the world, serving large and growing markets. More than 90% of the company's chemical capacity is integrated with large refineries or natural gas processing plants.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - European refiners are threatening to cut Russian oil purchases due to worsening quality after Moscow has re-routed large volumes of crude to China, as part of its fight with OPEC and the United States for market share in fast growing Asian markets, Reuters.

The quality of Russia's flagship Urals oil grade has deteriorated so much that multiple buyers are reviewing how much they buy and the price they are willing to pay for it, according to traders and sources close to European refiners.

Russia has forged closer ties with energy-hungry China at a time of chilling relations with the West over Moscow's role in Ukrainian crisis and allegations of its interference in foreign elections, accusations denied by the Kremlin. Miroslaw Kochalski, vice-president of PKN Orlen, Poland's biggest refiner, told Reuters in an interview that the changing quality of the Urals his company buys could influence future deals. "It opens room for negotiations with partners, also regarding price conditions," Kochalski said.

According to the industry sources who spoke to Reuters, that position is shared by others in the industry who buy Urals crude. The Russian energy ministry and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft both acknowledge the problem of weak Urals quality.

The Urals oil that reaches customers in Europe is a blend of different sources of oil, with the mixing taking place inside Russia's pipeline system. The quality depends on the relative proportions of higher-quality and lower-quality darker oils in the mix.

Data on Urals chemical composition, obtained by Reuters from industry sources, showed the oil exported to Europe this month is near the bottom end of the quality range allowed under a standard set by Russia's state standards agency Rosstandart. The trading sources said they track the quality via documents that accompany cargos of crude pumped from Russia.

The worsening of Urals quality has dampened its price and prompted buyers to think about the possibility of reducing the volumes they buy, according to the traders and sources close to European refineries. "We can't refine this (oil)," a trader at a European company said. "There is only one way out, which is to cut Urals purchases and get supplies of lighter grades for blending."

At least five traders said they believed Urals was being affected because better-quality types of oil that would previously have been mixed into Urals were being diverted instead eastwards and incorporated into the ESPO blend exported to China and other Asian markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - British oil and gas company BP will increase investment in the United States after the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said on Tuesday, as per Reuters.

"It is important for us, there is no doubt we will increase investments," Dudley, himself a U.S. citizen, said in an analyst call after BP reported a surge in profits in 2017.

BP invested USD90 billion in the United States over the past decade, excluding $65 billion in fines and clean up costs over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, making it the country's biggest investor in the energy sector, Dudley said.

"The regulatory system in the United States is suddenly so much easier. It was becoming an avalanche of regulations in every direction," he said. "From a business community stand point this is quite transformational, there will be a lot of capital attracted to the U.S. because of that."

BP took a one-off charge of USD900 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 to adjust to new U.S. tax rules, though it expects a long-term boost from the corporate-friendly rates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Honeywell UOP announced that Qantas Airlines operated a 13,000-km flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia using Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The flight was the first between the U.S. and Australia to use this fuel, which was manufactured from Carinata seeds engineered by Agrisoma Biosciences.

Fuel for the flight was produced by AltAir Paramount LLC using Honeywell UOP’s Renewable Jet Fuel™ process technology, which converts non-edible animal fats and oils into renewable fuels. The Carinata seeds used for the fuel are a non-edible industrial mustard seed. They are pressed and yield half their weight in oils that are then refined into jet fuel.

"Honeywell Green Jet Fuel can replace as much as half of the petroleum jet fuel used in flight, without any changes to the aircraft technology, and still meet ASTM specifications,” said Dave Cepla, senior director of Honeywell UOP’s Renewable Energy & Chemicals business. “Depending on the feedstock, this fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 to 85 percent versus petroleum jet fuel."

Qantas established a partnership with Agrisoma to promote Carinata as a crop for Australian farmers, specifically as a renewable feedstock for making commercial aviation biofuel. The first such commercial seed crop is expected to harvest in 2020.

"Farmers can grow Carinata with the same equipment as wheat and canola, and it can be grown in the off-season to replenish field nutrients,” said Steve Fabijanski President and CEO of Agrisoma. “And while they produce a high oil content, the meal left over from the oil extraction is an excellent high-protein feed for livestock."

AltAir, which converted the Carinata oil into jet fuel, operates the world’s first commercial-scale renewable jet fuel plant at the AltAir Paramount refinery in Paramount, Calif. The plant produces 35 million gallons per year of renewable fuels, including Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, using Honeywell’s UOP Renewable Jet Fuel process, which produces fuels that are chemically identical to petroleum-based fuels. AltAir Paramount is a subsidiary of Alon USA Energy.
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