Indonesian Pertamina and Saudi Aramco extend refinery talks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesian state energy company PT Pertamina said it was extending negotiations with Saudi Aramco on the potential joint development of an oil refinery in the country by another three months, reported Reuters.

That comes after talks were previously extended by six months from last December, with Pertamina on Tuesday reiterating that the two sides had been unable to agree a "valuation" for the refinery, without giving further details.

Pertamina and Aramco in 2016 agreed to negotiate to form a joint venture to build and operate the Cilacap refinery in the province of Central Java.

Pertamina spokeswoman Fajriyah Usman said in a statement on Tuesday that the two companies would extend talks by three months and that they had agreed to hire a financial adviser to help finalise a deal.

The Cilacap refinery is one of six major projects that are part of a push to double Pertamina’s refining capacity to 2 million barrels per day (bpd).

Pertamina officials said in April that if talk with Aramco failed, the Indonesian company would launch the project without a partner to meet an operational target of 2025.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world's most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polyethylene (PE) to the Ukrainian market grew in the first five months of 2019 by 11% year on year to 111,300 tonnes. The high density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main increase in imports, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's PE imports to Ukraine dropped to 21,100 tonnes from 25,100 tonnes in April, shipments of all ethylene polymers decreased. Overall PE imports reached 111,300 tonnes in January-May 2019, compared to 100,300 tonnes a year earlier. HDPE imports increased, whereas imports of other grades of ethylene polymers virtually remained at the 2018 level.

The structure of PE imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

Last month's HDPE imports fell to 8,700 tonnes from 9,600 tonnes in April, with pipe grade PE accounting for the reduction in shipments. Overall HDPE imports reached 42,000 tonnes in the first five months of 2019, compared to 31,100 tonnes a year earlier.

May imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) were 5,100 tonnes versus 6,900 tonnes a month earlier. Overall LDPE imports reached 31,600 tonnes over the stated period, which virtually corresponded to the 2018 figure.

Last month's imports of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) were 6,500 tonnes, compared to 7,500 tonnes in April. Overall LLDPE imports rose to 32,000 tonnes in January-May 2019 from 32,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Imports of other PE grades, including ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), totalled 5,200 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 5,700 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of chemical products rose in April 2019 only by 1% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased by 2.8% in the first five months of 2019, according to Rosstat's data.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, ethylene accounted for the largest increase in production year on year.

262,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced last month, compared to 263,000 tonnes in April. Thus, 1,318,000 tonnes of this olefin were produced in January-May 2019, up by 4.1% year on year.

May production of benzene was 128,000 tonnes, compared to 121,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 618,000 tonnes in the first five months of 2019, up by 0.9% year on year.

May production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) was 107,000 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) versus 103,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of caustic soda totalled 535,000 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 514,800 tonnes a year earlier.

2,098,000 tonnes of mineral fertilizers (in terms of 100% nutrients) were produced in May versus 2,249,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall, Russian plants produced 10,404,000 tonnes of fertilizers in January-May 2019, up by 1.6% year on year.

Last month's production of polymers in primary form decreased to 713,000 tonnes, up 1.1% from April. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 3,497,000,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by only 0.8% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has developed a climate-friendly process for methanol production, which if implemented could eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the entire process – from syngas production to pure methanol, as per the company's press release.

Production of the most basic chemicals is responsible for about 70% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the chemical industries. BASF is developing new technologies to reduce GHG emissions from these processes under its Carbon Management Program.

A team at BASF has now applied to patent an emissions-free methanol production process, marking one of the Carbon Management Program’s first visible successes.

Methanol production begins with syngas, which in a typical plant is produced using steam reformation of natural gas. In this process, steam reacts with methane to produce syngas, which is then pressurised and converted into crude methanol using specialised catalysts. The crude methanol is then purified by distillation.

In BASF’s novel process, syngas is generated by partial oxidation of natural gas, which does not result in CO2 emissions. BASF declined requests for more information regarding the process. It was proven advantageous in a joint study conducted with Linde Engineering. Subsequent methanol synthesis and distillation can be carried out nearly unchanged.

The waste gas streams that arise during methanol synthesis and distillation consist of methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrogen (H2) which can be merged and processed. In BASF’s Oxyfuel process the steams are incinerated with pure oxygen resulting in a small volume of flue gas with maximum CO2 content. The flue gas is then scrubbed using BASF’s OASE gas treatment process for full CO2 recovery.

The recovered CO2 is fed back into the beginning of the process – syngas production. This requires additional H2 which BASF also aims to produce without any carbon dioxide emissions, for example by methane pyrolysis which is also being developed under the Carbon Management Program.

The novel methanol synthesis process is being tested in a pilot plant at BASF’s subsidiary hte (the high throughput experimentation company), in an ongoing project which began in August 2017, according to Maximilian Vicari, Project Manager at BASF’s Intermediates. He added that BASF expects industrial scale production in about ten years.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new high-value silicone resin plant to be located at the Company’s manufacturing site in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new facility will significantly expand Dow’s global high-value silicone resin capacity to meet increased demand for the creation of differentiated silicone products in key industries and emerging markets worldwide.

"This investment demonstrates Dow’s strategy to capitalize on growth and value-add opportunities. It will better position Dow to help customers grow and succeed by addressing their fast-growing needs for our differentiated silicone products," said Mauro Gregorio, business president, Consumer Solutions. "Today’s groundbreaking emphasizes our ambition to collaborate and deliver materials science innovations with customers and partners throughout the global value chain."

The new high-value silicone resin plant is part of a broader investment plan announced by Dow in September 2018 to roll out a series of low capital intensity, high return investments in its silicones franchise to accelerate innovation and support global customers’ demand in high growth markets. It will produce high-value silicone resin, an advanced material critical to the creation of differentiated silicone products in the home and personal care, pressure sensitive adhesives, antifoams, and moldable optics for lighting markets.

Dow senior leaders Jim Fitterling, chief executive officer; Mauro Gregorio; Jon Penrice, president Asia Pacific; and Yoke Loon Lim, president Greater China were joined by customers, government representatives and other Dow employees, for the groundbreaking ceremony.

"We are thrilled to be breaking ground on this latest addition to our integrated manufacturing site in Zhangjiagang," said Yoke Loon Lim. "This new facility is a testament to our commitment to our local customers and partners, and demonstrates the Company’s confidence in the China and Asia-Pacific markets."

As MRC wrote before, in June 2018, The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) announced its plan to invest in an alkoxylation facility on the US Gulf Coast. Upon completion, this new facility will support global growth in Dow’s core end-markets related to infrastructure and home and personal care, as well as additional end-markets where Dow continues to strengthen its position for the TRITON, TERGITOL, ECOSURF and CARBOWAX SENTRY brands.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC