Shell to partially restart German refinery ahead of IMO 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has struck a deal with Dutch tank terminal firm HES International to partially restart a German oil refinery suspended since 2011 in response to new restrictions on marine fuels, sources told Reuters.

A new cap set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that will cut the sulfur content in shipping fuel to 0.5 percent from 3.5 percent from next year is set to be one of the biggest fundamental events to hit oil markets in years.

HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal is in the process of reinstalling the vacuum distillation unit (VDU) at Wilhelmshaven to produce low-sulfur bunker fuels ahead of the implementation of the IMO rules, a spokeswoman for the company said.

HES said it had “reached a tolling agreement with a customer,” but declined to comment on the parties involved.

However, two trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the customer in question is Shell. Shell declined to comment.

The agreement is akin to a processing deal, whereby Shell brings in the feedstock and handles the end product, one of the sources said.

HES bought the 260,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery from ConocoPhillips in 2011 and converted it into a large-scale tank terminal facility with capacity of 1.3 million cubic meters.

The plant’s refining capacity was shuttered at a time when several European refineries were finding it uncompetitive to remain operational, as newer, more complex mega-refineries emerged in other regions like the Middle East and Asia.

But as the new IMO rules dictate a massive shift in oil product slates from higher to low sulfur, the economics are shifting and oil companies and traders are resorting to creative ideas to meet the new demand.

The IMO sulfur restrictions will lead high-sulfur fuel oil demand to fall 60 percent to 1.4 MMbpd next year, while marine gasoil demand will more than double to 2 MMbpd, the International Energy Agency forecast this week.

Vacuum distillation is an integral part of the refining process. VDUs typically run on residual fuel produced from distilling crude to produce vacuum gasoil which is then used to feed upgrading units that make gasoline and diesel.

However, the Wilhelmshaven VDU will not be running on residual fuel, HES said.

One of the sources said the plan is to process heavy, low-sulfur crudes like Brazilian grades to produce a range of products, including maximum 0.5 percent sulfur fuel oil or distillate marine fuels.

HES is 70 percent owned by private investment firm Riverstone, with the remaining 30 percent held by the Carlyle Group.

Infrastructure funds managed by banks Macquarie and Goldman Sachs agreed in principle last year to buy the company.

As MRC wrote previously, in May 2018, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) announced the official start-up of the second ethylene cracker at their Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has opened the Design & Solution Center in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, said the company.

The center will serve as a new base that widely offers the Mitsui Chemicals Group’s development capabilities, ranging from design to analysis, molding, prototyping and evaluation. An opening ceremony for the new center was held on March 11.

With the Mitsui Chemicals Group possessing product development capabilities in design, analysis, molding, prototyping and evaluation, Mitsui Chemicals has established the Design & Solution Center in aim of bringing these capabilities together to exhibit synergies within the group and to speed up the creation process.

The base will be used to help Mitsui Chemicals in strengthening its growth sectors of Mobility, Health Care and Food & Packaging. The Mitsui Chemicals Group aims through these efforts to strengthen its offering of total solution while also creating new customer value through Innovations.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axens has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing (ExxonMobil) to sublicense the latter’s sulfuric acid alkylation technology, said chemicals-technology.

Under the alliance agreement, both companies will market and distribute all technologies for high-octane gasoline production. The agreement aims to offer a streamlined solution to meet customer requirements.

The technologies to be accessible under the agreement include Axens feed preparation, or alkyfining, n-butane isomerisation and ExxonMobil’s sulfuric acid alkylation. Axens will offer the technologies under a single licence and engineering agreement.

"We are excited to expand our partnership to offer this optimised alkylation solution to the industry."
The new alliance follows the success of the recent ParamaX agreement to increase paraxylene production. Axens’ ParamaX suite consists of technologies originally developed by ExxonMobil Chemical Technology Licensing.

ExxonMobil president Dan Moore said: "Combining our owner-operator experience with Axens’ strong engineering expertise in providing advanced technologies, we are excited to expand our partnership to offer this optimised alkylation solution to the industry."

Axens chairman and CEO Jean Sentenac said: "We are excited by this agreement offering integration of advanced technologies to better meet refiners’ needs for the production of alkylate, a key component of high-octane gasoline."

According to ExxonMobil, its sulfuric acid alkylation technology ‘reacts propylene, butylene and pentylene with isobutane to form high-value alkylate for gasoline blending’. The high-octane and low-vapour pressure in alkylate make it a superior gasoline blendstock.

Axens provides several solutions to convert oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, production and purification of petrochemical intermediates, and natural gas treatment and conversion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industrial technology supplier Milacron Holdings Corp. has promoted from within, naming Michael Jones as the new president of its plastics processing unit, formally named Advanced Plastics Processing Technologies (APPT), for the Americas and Europe, said Canplastocs.

Jones has held a number of senior leadership roles within Cincinnati, Ohio-based Milacron since joining the company in 2015.

In his new role, he will oversee the APPT refreshed machinery portfolio and will continue to expand Milacron’s plastics processing machinery lines, including the recently launched Cincinnati large tonnage product line and the new Q-Series injection molding line.

"I am honoured to be appointed to lead the APPT Americas and Europe businesses, and I look forward to continuing to build upon Milacron’s leadership position by offering the service, the technology and the machinery required by plastics processing customers," Jones said in a statement.

Prior to joining Milacron, Jones served in a number of senior leadership roles with GE Aviation and Hill-Rom. He began his career at PwC in the global tax consulting group. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in Accounting, and also an MBA from The Ohio State University.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution Canada, joined industry trade group Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), said Chimiecanadienne.

Styrolution Canada’s Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario facility employs approximately 90 employees and supplies styrene to INEOS Styrolution downstream polystyrene operations as well as customers throughout North America.

In 2018, INEOS Styrolution announced a partnership with Canada-based companies ReVital Polymers and Pyrowave to use advanced technology to chemically recycle polystyrene packaging collected in consumer recycling systems.

"We are excited to join the CIAC," said Brian Lucas, Site Director at Styrolution Canada’s Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario facility. "Styrolution Canada is committed to continuous improvement to make our products and processes safer and more sustainable. We feel joining the similar-minded solution providers and world-class stewardship innovators that make up CIAC’s membership will be a great fit for us."

"CIAC is very pleased to welcome Styrolution Canada as a full member," said Bob Masterson, CIAC President and CEO. “We look forward to helping the company achieve its business objectives by developing a more competitive public policy environment for chemical producers in Canada.
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