ADNOC announces strategic move downstream

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced its intention to move further downstream, as the company pivots to take full advantage of the rising demand for higher value refined and petrochemical products, particularly in the growth economies of China and Asia, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Speaking at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, a leading gathering of the energy industry, H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, set out ADNOC’s strategic ambitions to become a major global downstream player, with the operational flexibility to respond quickly to shifting and emerging market needs. At the center of its new downstream strategy, ADNOC intends to create the world’s largest integrated refining and chemical site in the world, in Ruwais, UAE, where it will triple petrochemicals’ production to 14.4 million tonnes, annually, by 2025.

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber announced plans to host a Downstream Investment Forum, in Abu Dhabi, on May 13 and 14, where ADNOC will unveil significant co-investment opportunities to strengthen and grow its downstream portfolio.

"We will unveil significant co-investment opportunities for all partners, ready to work alongside us at a special event this coming May, as we transform our Downstream portfolio domestically and internationally." H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said.

"I would like to extend an invitation, to those who are keen to join us on this journey, to attend the ADNOC Downstream Investment Forum, where we will unveil our roadmap, signature projects and detailed investment plans. As we begin this next phase of our development, we welcome existing and prospective partners to join us in creating smarter growth for our long-term mutual benefit."

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber explained ADNOC’s downstream strategy will build on the progress ADNOC had made in 2017, as it accelerated its transformation and sharpened its focus on its strategic pillars of people, performance, profitability and efficiency to both unlock and create maximum value from its resources and assets.

In addition to aligning its group of companies under a single, unifying brand, he said ADNOC opened up opportunities across its upstream and downstream businesses to new categories of partners and investors, including public and private financial institutions. ADNOC also took steps to enhance and optimize its capital structure by leveraging, for the first time, the global capital markets, including issuing a US $3 billion bond against one of its large crude oil pipelines - the biggest non-sovereign bond sale in the Middle East - and successfully listing ADNOC Distribution on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX), in what was the largest IPO in Abu Dhabi in a decade.

"The steps we have taken so far have laid a solid foundation for powering the next phase of our growth," said H.E. Dr. Al Jaber. "And the biggest opportunity for that growth is downstream, particularly in petrochemicals, where demand is expected to climb 150 percent by 2040, driven by the growth economies of Asia."

While developing downstream has become a key strategic priority for delivering on the goals of ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy, H.E. Dr Al Jaber said the company is also building on its strong legacy as a leading, global upstream player.

He cited the reconfiguration of the former ADMA offshore concession into multiple concession areas as an example of how an expanded approach to partnerships has allowed ADNOC to attract additional upstream partners who bring strategic value add to the table - in terms of market access, capital, technology and expertise.

In support of ADNOC’s upstream expansion strategy, H.E. Dr. Al Jaber noted that a series of new blocks are to be made available for commercially competitive bidding, in an unprecedented opportunity, for both existing and new partners with best-in-class exploration technology, to unlock untapped resources in one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon super-basins.

Organized by IHS Markit, CERAWeek takes place annually in Houston, Texas. It brings together 3,000 global industry leaders and policymakers, from more than 60 countries, across the entire energy value chain, to exchange knowledge and insights on energy markets, industry trends, technology and strategy.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2017, ADNOC and Borealis signed a framework agreement, under which the companies will advance two key projects that will expand both ADNOC and Borealis downstream petrochemicals business and support the delivery of ADNOC’s integrated smart growth and partnership strategy.
MRC

Iraq to increase Kirkuk oilfields output to supply refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq's state-run North Oil Company (NOC) has begun testing operations at its Avana and Bai Hassan oilfields in Kirkuk to increase crude supply for domestic refineries, Iraqi officials said on Wednesday, as per Reuters.

"We have started testing operations at Avana and Bai Hassan oilfields to prepare initial pumping of more than 50 Mbpd," one NOC official said.

Operations at the Avana and Bai Hassan fields have been halted since October when Iraqi forces took them back after they had been under Kurdish control since 2014.

Oil exports from Kirkuk fields have been suspended amid an ongoing dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) over the use of the Ceyhan export pipeline to Turkey.

Iraqi oil officials said there were no plans to resume crude flow through the Kurdish-owned pipeline, as no agreement had been reached yet.

"Until this moment we didn't reach any kind of agreement, even an initial, with Kurdish authorities to resume Kirkuk oil exports to Ceyhan," said an oil ministry official.

The Kurdish region operates a pipeline that connects to the twin Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline at Khabur on the border with Turkey.

Iraq started late last year to divert output from Kirkuk oilfields to local refineries to boost fuel production and help free up more oil for exports from the southern oilfields.
MRC

Aramco tends to Asian consumer relations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco’s deepening network of ties with major Asian crude buyers gained fresh impetus in late February, as per Yourpetrochemicalnews.

At home, efforts to enlist the company’s key existing foreign partners in delivering the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic blueprint bore fruit in a commitment by a long-standing Japanese investor to establish a steel mill at Ras al-Khair. Aramco is leading the development of a flagship maritime services complex at the port in the Eastern Province, north of Jubail.

Meanwhile, ministers from Riyadh and New Delhi confirmed that final details were being ironed out for the Saudi company’s long-mooted entry into the refining sector of India – the world’s third largest and fastest-growing oil consumer.

On February 28, Aramco announced signature of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and parent company Sumitomo Corp. to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed integrated steel mill producing steel plates – which would be established in Ras al-Khair.

No detail was provided on the envisaged capacity, cost or timeframe of the project. However, the announcement noted the potential uses of steel plates – namely the manufacture of pipes, pressure vessels, marine vessels and offshore platforms – making clear the linkage with the wider Ras al-Khair maritime complex development, where operations are scheduled to start in 2021.

The estimated USD5.2 billion scheme is being developed by Aramco in joint venture (JV) with local shipping affiliate Bahri, UAE-based fabricator Lamprell and South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries – and will encompass ship and rig building and repair services.

Several other foreign companies have also committed to establishing ancillary projects. Sumitomo Corp. is a long-established 50:50 Aramco partner in the 13-year-old Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co. (PetroRabigh) JV – the project company for the Saudi firm’s maiden integrated refining and petrochemicals complex, at Rabigh on the Red Sea coast.

Other international investments in the wider Ras al-Khair development have likewise been linked to partnership elsewhere in Aramco’s far-reaching operations.

US contracting stalwart McDermott signed an MoU in March 2017 to establish a manufacturing facility at the nascent offshore services hub. This included commitments whose failure to meet which would have consequences for McDermott’s lucrative position as a signatory of one of Aramco’s long-term agreements (LTAs). These grant qualification for tens of billions of dollars-worth of offshore contracting.

Meanwhile, Lamprell’s commitment to the Ras al-Khair complex was rewarded with negotiations, still ongoing, on joining the exclusive LTA pool.

In mid-2016, US-based GE Oil & Gas – which last year merged with compatriot BakerHughes, a major supplier of oilfield services to Aramco – and Italy’s Cividale signed an agreement to establish a 50,000-75,000-tpy forgings and castings manufacturing facility at the east coast site.
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Honeywell helps refiners meet Euro V standards With new catalyst

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell UOP has introduced a new catalyst that can more efficiently remove sulfur and nitrogen from lower-value diesel blending components, allowing them to meet Euro V clean fuels specifications, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Honeywell UOP’s ULTIMet catalyst, the newest addition to its Unity hydrotreating portfolio, has more active sites for chemical reactions and can be used as a drop-in reload to "debottleneck" a unit, resulting in increased plant capacity with no additional capital expense. The new catalyst also can be loaded in combination with conventional hydrotreating catalysts to further improve their performance.

"The ULTIMet catalyst enables refiners facing stricter fuel requirements to achieve higher quality product specifications and greater profitability," said Jose Carrazza, Vice President and General Manager of Honeywell UOP’s Catalysts, Adsorbents & Specialties business. "This new catalyst also delivers greater operating flexibility than conventional catalysts in hydrotreaters, so it can handle more challenging, lower-priced feedstocks."

The ULTIMet catalyst also has the high strength and attrition resistance necessary to prevent breaking, which ensures a more reliable operation and helps extend the operating cycle by as much as 50 to 75 percent.

Hydrotreating is a critical step in the refining process where hydrogen and a proprietary catalyst are used to remove sulfur and other contaminants before conversion into transportation fuels. The process produces a cleaner-burning diesel fuel product that meets new fuel regulations such as the Euro V standard, which specifies sulfur content of less than 10 parts per million in transportation fuels.

Honeywell UOP’s line of Unity catalysts includes more than two dozen hydrotreating catalysts for hydrocracking and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) pre-treat, and diesel, kerosene and coker naphtha hydrotreating. Honeywell UOP also offers catalysts for naphtha hydrotreating and FCC gasoline desulfurization.

Honeywell UOP inaugurated the use of catalysts in the refining industry in 1931, beginning with solid phosphoric acid. This and subsequent processes significantly raised the yield of high-octane transportation fuels. Today, Honeywell UOP is recognized as a leading developer of advanced catalysts for the refining industry.

As MRC informed before, in January 2018, Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) announced that BASF had opened a state-of-the-art control room equipped with Honeywell Experion technology at its waste incineration complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The control room was officially inaugurated on November 28, 2017, by Dr. Uwe Liebelt, president, BASF European Site and Verbund Management, and Vimal Kapur, president of HPS.
MRC

ELIX Polymers selected by Gigaset for its new home alarm system

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gigaset, one of the world's largest manufacturers of cordless (DECT) phones and the clear market leader in Europe, has chosen ELIX M201AS from ELIX Polymers, a leading manufacturer of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins and derivatives, for the housings of various components in its new Gigaset Smart Home Alarm system, as per ELIX Polymers' press release.

Three key properties called for by Gigaset for the housings were UV stability, chemical resistance and high gloss surface finish, without the need for any post-moulding treatments. ELIX M201AS, coloured in a customized white, best met the company’s requirements.

"ELIX M201AS has been our material of choice for many years for our DECT phones because it offers an excellent surface quality combined with chemical resistance and perfect processability, as well as very good mechanical properties," says Johannes Benning, an engineer at Gigaset. "It also has very good antistatic properties, so that products do not attract dust. It made sense for us to extend its use into our complementary range of products in home safety."

In fact, ELIX M201AS is used in many electrical and electronics applications around the home. Its physical and chemical properties are ideal for parts in continuous, long-term use, for which high-quality surface appearance is especially important. The compound contains special additives, not only to give it extra UV stability, but which also enable parts to be marked by lasers for identification and decorative purposes.

"We are very proud of the long cooperation with Gigaset and for being considered as a reliable and preferred partner for high quality ABS," comments Joachim Kroeger, Sales Manager ELIX Polymers. "We believe that the close collaboration that we have with the technical department at Gigaset - and indeed at many other customers and partners - enables us to analyse and identify their technical needs and to provide the best technical solutions and service."

ELIX Polymers backs up its comprehensive offering in ABS with customer services based on flexibility, proactivity, proximity to customers, a global perspective, and tailor-made solutions. Its multidisciplinary technical service team is equipped with the capabilities and resources to support customers throughout their product development processes. Whether it is a new colour development or the selection of the right material to comply with complex regulations, ELIX Polymers can provide highly experienced professionals with specialist knowledge in market segments that span automotive, appliances, E&E, consumer goods, healthcare, and beyond.

The Gigaset Smart Home Alarm system provides protection solutions for homes of all sizes, keeping owners up to date about the security status of their properties via a combination of small local sensors, cloud-connection and smartphone app. The Gigaset elements alarm system S contains base station, door sensor, motion sensor and siren and can be individually extended by a Wi-Fi-indoor camera and several other sensors.

As MRC wrote before, in February 2016, ELIX Polymers unveiled an upgraded version of P2MC as well as new ABS grades to complete the plating portfolio. Target applications for these electroplating grades include radiator grilles, logos, profiles, tailgate handles, and decorative interior parts.

ELIX Polymers is one of the most important manufacturers of ABS resins and derivatives in Europe, with 40 years of experience in engineering plastics and an installed capacity of 180,000/year from their plant in Tarragona (Spain) to the world. The operation starts in 1975, when the Tarragona ABS and SAN production plant was inaugurated.
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