Air Liquide expands supply contract to LyondellBasell PO/TBA plant with new agreement in the US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide has announced that it has expanded its utilities supply agreement with LyondellBasell for its new propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) project in the Houston area, as per the company's press release.

This agreement comes in addition to the long-term contract already signed with LyondellBasell to supply oxygen for this project, which will be the world's largest PO/TBA plant. With this new long-term agreement and related investment Air Liquide reinforces its presence as a major supplier in the Gulf Coast.

The PO/TBA project is comprised of facilities in two sites, with the PO/TBA plant to be located in the LyondellBasell Channelview Complex in Channelview, Texas; and the associated ethers unit in the company’s Bayport Complex in Pasadena, Texas. With this newly expanded long-term utilities agreement, Air Liquide will supply steam, electricity, treated water and nitrogen to the PO/TBA project’s ethers unit.

In April 2018, Air Liquide signed a separate long-term agreement to supply oxygen to the PO/TBA project’s Channelview location. These two agreements confirm Air Liquide’s long-term partnership with LyondellBasell and Air Liquide’s presence as a major supplier of industrial gas and utilities to the project.LyondellBasell announced in July 2017 its decision to build the world's largest PO/TBA plant as part of its organic growth program. The project is designed to meet rising global demand for both urethanes and cleaner-burning oxyfuels. Start-up is expected in 2021.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2017, LyondellBasell announced the successful startup of a new 20 ktpy polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Dalian, China. This is the company's third facility in China, strategically located to serve the region's growing automotive market.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyundai Chemical Co. has selected Univation Technologies' Unipol PE technology for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facility to be built in South Korea, as per Apic-online.

The 300,000-t/y HDPE plant, which will be located at Hyundai's site in Daesan, will utilize Univation's broad range of HDPE product technology portfolio, including the Acclaim K-100 Catalyst series for advanced HDPE products. An expected completion date for the project was not given.

Additionally, Hyundai has taken advantage of the flexible design of their Unipol PE Reactor line by investing in future production capabilities for both linear low-density PE and metallocene PE products, Hyundai noted.

Hyundai will also implement Univation's latest process control system, Premier APC+ 2.0, which provides "state-of-the-art" process control specifically designed for Unipol PE technology to maximize production rates, facilitate product transitions and improve overall economic performance, Hyundai added.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, South Korea’s major refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. and petrochemical firm Lotte Chemical Corp. have joined hands to build a heavy-feed petrochemical complex (HPC) at a combined investment of KRW 2.7 trillion (USD 2.5 billion).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengli Petrochemical wants to be China’s first private exporter of jet fuel, a Hengli spokesman and other company sources said, but the move against the dominance of state oil companies requires licensing and approvals that will be hard to come by, said Rueters.

Hengli, initially a petrochemicals maker, is ramping up a 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) oil refinery in the port city of Dalian to full capacity after a December startup.

It expects to churn out 5 million tonnes of refined products (about 40 million barrels) by year-end, including up to 3 million tonnes of aviation fuel, two company sources said, going after the fuel for which demand growth is fastest.

Hengli, though, has to first get its jet fuel certified by aviation authorities and then win export allowances before shipping any supplies abroad. Without those clearances, unless it can win the right to sell aviation fuel domestically, it would be forced to adjust its output to produce more diesel at the cost of the higher-value product.

“The company is hopeful of getting the export quotas ... but we foresee barriers in winning the domestic licensing,” said a senior Hengli source.

An executive with another private refiner based in Shandong, a hub for smaller independent operators, said: “Few independent plants are making jet fuel because it’s a monopolized market and needs certifications that are hard to obtain.”

Hengli’s new plant and a similar-sized private refinery that Zhejiang Petrochemical started trials on this month are adding to China’s swelling fuel surplus as the nation’s refinery throughput outpaces demand growth.

To find a profitable market, Hengli has applied for 3 million tonnes in export quotas for its jet fuel output this year, a Hengli spokesman said, without giving a timeline on when it may win the permits.

The Ministry of Commerce and the National Development & Reform Commission, who are together responsible for assigning export quotas, did not respond to requests for comment.

Winning those quotas would make Hengli China’s first private refiner to export aviation fuel, but before it can get to that stage, it first has to get an airworthiness certification for its fuel from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Hengli has already applied to the CAAC for the certification and expects to get it in July when the refinery production stabilizes, the company spokesman said.

A CAAC spokeswoman confirmed CAAC has received Hengli’s application, but gave no information on approval or timing.

As MRC informed earlier, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) have reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia’s oil production continued to fall this month, under pressure from lower exports after shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Europe were found to be contaminated in April, sources said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Five million tons of oil were contaminated last month with organic chloride and some of the dirty crude is still stuck in pipelines in Belarus and eastern Europe.

Russia has managed to take out around 2 million tonnes of the tainted oil from the pipeline system and agreed with Belarus last week to take back another 1 million tonnes.

Two industry sources told Reuters that Russia’s oil exports via Transneft pipelines, including Druzhba, dropped 6% during May 1-26 from the average level seen in April.

The country’s oil production over the same period totaled 11.126 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 11.147 million bpd on May 1-21, the sources said.

Russia’s recent oil output is below the 11.18 billion bpd target Moscow has pledged as part of an international deal among producers to curb production to support prices.

The oil contamination crisis, along with reduced exports from OPEC members Iran and Venezuela following U.S. sanctions on both countries, have lifted global oil prices.

Russia’s energy ministry, which oversees the energy data collection, declined to comment. So far, Russia has managed to restore some flows to Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia.

On Monday, Czech pipeline operator MERO said that oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic restarted at noon (1000 GMT).

Belarus state energy company Belneftekhim said on Monday that Belarus began pumping contaminated oil toward Russia on Friday and by the end of Sunday it had pumped 80,000 tonnes of it back to Russia.

Belarus Mozyr oil refinery is working at planned capacity while the Novopolotsk oil refinery is still operating at reduced capacity after the Druzhba oil contamination, Belneftekhim said.

As MRC informed earlier, the impact on European refinery throughput in the second quarter of 2019 from contaminated crude on the Druzhba pipeline is seen at roughly 250,000 barrels per day, under 2% of the continent’s product demand.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unipetrol has initiated a new project “Let’s talk about it”. The project is a series of discussion videos with well-known science popularizer, Michael Londesborough, said the company.

The program features various experts, who have come to share their perspectives on the subject of sustainability.

“We feel the need to discuss these topics not only with experts, but also to present them to business partners and the general public. That’s why we came up with this talkshow. We are also actively working on finding and implementing solutions to many of the issues discussed. For example, we are testing hydrogen manufacturing from sustainable sources or the process of recycling plastic by pyrolysis,” said Jakub Kosmowski, Marketing Director at Unipetrol Group.

The goal of this initiative is to inform about and explore areas which are increasingly more important in today’s world. Topics include circular economy, alternative fuels, recycling as well as responsible manufacturing, social responsibility of individuals and corporations and other related areas. The series of videos should function as an educational tool for the public and a source of information for businesses wishing to implement more sustainable production and business models.

“We want the series to function as a platform for meaningful discussion and sharing thoughts and ideas on the concept of sustainability. Guests are selected to represent a wide spectrum of opinions and perspectives from a line of experts, professionals and visionaries,” says Dr. Michael G. S. Londesborough B.Sc Hons Ph.D, Researcher at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the Czech Academy of Science and series moderator.

Unipetrol Group, the largest petrochemical producer in Czech Republic, considers the creation and support of these projects focused on sustainable models of production and consumption to be a part of its social responsibility.
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