Formosa delays cracker, LDPE plant startup

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics will not start up its new 1.5 million mt/year cracker and 400,000 mt/year low-density polyethylene plant in Texas by year-end as planned earlier, reported S&P Global with reference to a spokesman's statement Friday.

"We encountered some unexpected delays," spokesman Fred Neske said in an email. "Neither the LDPE nor the cracker plant will be running by the end of the year."

He said the company did not have an estimate of when the plants at Formosa's Point Comfort, Texas, complex would come online. A new 400,000 mt/year high density and linear low-density PE plant at Point Comfort started up in August.

As MRC informed before, Formosa Plastics Corp. Louisiana, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, is investing USD332 million to expand its production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin and add production equipment in two other units at the company’s industrial manufacturing site in Baton Rouge, La., on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The project will include installation of new machinery and equipment for the expansion of the PVC resin production unit, expected to result in a 20% increase in production capacity and sales; installation of new machinery and equipment for a halogenated acid production unit for internal use in the production of vinyl chloride monomer; and installation of utilities equipment needed for operations, the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) said. Launch of the new operations is scheduled for late 2021 or early 2022.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International said today that it has been awarded a technology contract for Next Wave Energy Partners’ (Houston, Texas) grassroots alkylate production facility, known as Project Traveler, at Pasadena, Texas, reported Chemweek.

McDermott's Lummus Technology is providing the process design package and license for its ethylene dimerization process. Lummus Technology's proprietary Dimer process converts ethylene to a high-purity butene-2 feed stream ideal for producing an alkylate with a higher-octane value used for blending cleaner-burning gasoline required by the demands of modern and future high-performance engines.

Next Wave Energy announced the project last month. When operational in mid-2022, the facility will have capacity to produce 28,000 bbl/day of alkylate consuming over 540,000 metric tons/year of ethylene feedstock.

As MRC informed before, in late November 2019, McDermott International, Inc. was awarded a sizeable technology contract from Baltic Chemical Company (BCC) and a sizeable Extended Basic Engineering (EBE) contract from China National Chemical Engineering No. 7 Construction Company Limited (CC7). The ethane cracking project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha. McDermott's Lummus Technology will provide both the Process Design Package (PDP) Engineering and the license for its olefin production and recovery technology. Lummus Technology's proprietary ethylene steam cracking process is the most widely-applied process for the production of polymer-grade ethylene, representing approximately 40 percent of the world's capacity.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Our proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Customers rely on McDermott to deliver certainty to the most complex projects, from concept to commissioning. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil major Shell warned Friday of lower earnings and underwhelming output in the fourth quarter of 2019, weighed down by a weaker economic outlook as well as challenging trading conditions at its gas trading division, adding that it expects impairment charges of up to USD2.3 billion, reported S&P Global.

"Based on the macro outlook, post-tax impairment charges in the range of USD1.7-2.3 billion are expected for the quarter," the company said as it released a partial snapshot of results ahead of its 2019 earnings statement. It did not specify which assets it was referring to.

Shell said it expects its upstream production to range between 2.775 million-2.825 million b/d of oil equivalent in the fourth quarter of 2019, fairly stable compared with the 2.809 million boe/d in the fourth quarter of last year.

The warning does however contrast with the company's previous guidance in October, when it said it expected oil and gas production to return to growth, although at the time it also flagged concerns over the health of the global economy, arguing that it was threatening to delay plans to cut debt and boost shareholder returns.

Integrated gas production will average 920,000-970,000 boe/d, while LNG liquefaction volumes will likely range around 8.8-9.4 million mt, down from Q3 2019 but up from Q4 last year.

Shell said the performance of its LNG trading division is expected to be average, adding it will be down from Q3 2019 but it will be approximately in line with Q2 2019.

The LNG market has been experiencing a supply glut this year, putting pressure on trading margins. Spot gas prices in Asia and Europe have nosedived in 2019 amid a wave of new LNG plants coming onstream and subdued gas demand growth in Asia.

On the downstream side, Shell said its refining margins will be impacted by the continued weak macro environment amid slower oil demand growth.

Refinery availability in Q4 will be down to around 91% and 93% compared with 94% in Q4 2018, while oil products sales will be between 6.5 million-7 million b/d.

"Marketing margins are expected to be lower due to seasonal trends, and weaker compared to the fourth quarter 2018 due to crude price movements impacting retail margins," it added.

Shell also said an additional well write-offs in the range of USD100 million-200 million are expected compared with Q4 2018, although no cash impact is expected.

Amid a weaker macro environment, the major said full-year 2019 capital expenditure will be at the lower end of its USD24 billion-29 billion range.

As MRC wrote previously, in the first week of December 2019, Shell Singapore restarted its naphtha cracker in Bukom Island following a two months maintenance shutdown since the beginning of October 2019. Thus, this cracker was taken off-stream for the turnaround on 1 October 2019. The cracker is able to produce 960,000 tons/year of ethylene and 550,000 tons/year of propylene.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR announced it has been awarded the Project Management Consultancy Services contract by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for front-end engineering design (FEED) definition at the NNPC headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR, as co-consultant with the National Engineering and Technical Company Ltd (NETCO) will provide technical consultancy services for four greenfield refineries in the ANOH and Western Forcados area.

This work is expected to be performed over a six-month period with KBR providing strategic advisory consulting on elimination of condensate from oil export streams which will reduce dependency and expense of imported refined products. The work will be conducted from KBR's Leatherhead office in the UK with support from the Middle East and Houston.

The main objective of the project is upgrading gas condensate to valuable refined fuel products. This reduces the country's dependence on costly imported fuels and is well aligned with KBR's gas monetization and asset optimization strategies. Together, these strategies provide a valuable, sustainable solution to Nigeria in matters of fuel security, economic development and regional capacity building.

"We are delighted to be part of this strategic project supporting a prestigious partner to deliver the transition to an increasingly sustainable energy solution for Nigeria," said Jay Ibrahim, KBR President, Energy Solutions - Services. "The work will be undertaken by KBR's consulting team, where our strategic master-planning capability resides to help customers improve their sustainability, energy efficiency and maximize asset performance."

As MRC reported before, in December 2018, KBR, Inc. announced that it had developed a new Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) technology (K-PROTM) that offers high propylene selectivity and conversion. This technology is based on KBR's catalytic olefins technology (K-COTTM) which is a commercially proven fluidized-bed technology for converting low-value olefinic, paraffinic or mixed streams into high-value propylene and ethylene.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

KBR is leading the industry to meet the world's ever-growing energy and chemicals demands. From an expanding portfolio of greener, cleaner solutions to its comprehensive feasibility study solutions, KBR is supporting the world's transition to a clean energy future.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Several companies have announced the formation of a new consortium that aims to address the problem of plastic waste by speeding up the commercialization of BP Infinia enhanced recycling technology that was developed by London-based BP, reported RecyclingToday.

Businesses involved in the partnership include those that manufacture, use, collect and recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging.

BP Infinia is designed to turn opaque and hard-to-recycle PET plastic scrap into recyclable feedstocks that can be used to make high-quality PET packaging with no loss in quality, according to BP.

The new consortium plans to combine the capabilities of its members to develop a circular approach to handling PET scrap, BP Infinia reports. Companies involved in the consortium include Alpla, a packaging and recycling specialist based in Austria; Britvic PLC, a consumer goods producer based in the U.K.; Danone, a consumer goods producer based in Paris; Unilever, a consumer goods producer based in London; Remondis Group, a waste management and recycling specialist based in Germany; and BP, an energy and petrochemicals producer.

Of the PET bottles collected globally, more than 75 percent are recycled but only 12 percent of those collected are used to make new bottles, BP reports in a news release on the consortium.

"The consortium members believe by joining forces they can speed up the commercialization of the technology, infrastructure and demand needed to process billions of opaque and difficult-to-recycle PET bottles and food trays that are currently disposed of each year, including those that are difficult to recycle by current conventional recycling methods," BP states in its news release. "It is the intention that each member of the consortium will contribute resources and distinctive capabilities and experience in areas such as waste management and recycling, technology development, intermediate processing and product design to develop a business model that takes into consideration the infrastructure, supply chain and demand requirements of all parties that will be involved in creating a circular economy for polyester and PET."

"In order to implement material circularity in PET packaging, we need new technologies for packaging that can’t yet be mechanically processed," says Ralf Mandelatz, managing director of Remondis Recycling GmbH & Co. "We want this material resource to return into the circular economy; chemical recycling complements mechanical recycling and provides further possibilities to sustainable resource management. Remondis intends to contribute its specialist experience in the field of sorting and PET processing to the other consortium partners leading this European project."

BP reports that other parties may join the consortium to further complement the expertise of the founding members.

"This is an exciting step towards a circular economy for the polyester industry. BP is experienced in developing and scaling up technology, and we’ll do this again with our innovative BP Infinia process," says Rita Griffin, BP chief operating officer of petrochemicals. "But we know we cannot create circularity on our own. That’s why we are thrilled to be working together with industry leaders to develop and prove a practical business model that can hopefully contribute to making all types of polyester waste infinitely recyclable."

Consortium members have expressed excitement about the new collaboration.

"Joining this consortium is an investment in the future of recycling technology, which is critical to keeping plastic in the loop," says Marc Engel, Unilever’s chief supply chain officer. "By working together, we can help accelerate the industry towards a circular economy.

"We’ve recently committed to halve our use of virgin plastic, reducing our absolute use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 [metric tons] and accelerating the use of recycled plastic," he continues. "We’ve also committed to help collect and process more plastic packaging than we sell by 2025."

In October, BP also announced plans to construct a USD25 million pilot plant in the US to prove its BP Infinia technology on a continuous basis before progressing to full-scale commercialization.

Tufan Erginbilgic, BP downstream chief executive, said in October, "We see our Infinia technology as a game-changer for the recycling of PET plastics. It is an important steppingstone in enabling a stronger circular economy in the polyester industry and helping to reduce unmanaged plastic waste."

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2019, BP announced plans to build a USD25 million pilot plant to test new technology that will allow plastic bottles and food packaging to be recycled again and again.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated PET consumption reached 42,020 tonnes in October 2019, down by 32% year on year. PET consumption in Russia increased to 593,480 tonnes in January-October 2019, up by 5% year on year.

BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. BP’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, BP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
MRC