Air Products Qudra breaks ground on fully integrated industrial gases hub in Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products Qudra, a joint venture (JV) between Air Products and Qudra Energy, in collaboration with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, has held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of work to build a previously announced fully integrated industrial gases hub in the Jubail Industrial City, reported Chemweek.

Air Products Qudra will build, own, and operate a world-scale steam methane reformer (SMR) to produce hydrogen; an air separation unit to produce oxygen and nitrogen; and hydrogen pressure swing adsorption units to recover hydrogen from off-gases. It will also install comprehensive pipeline networks to connect and transport industrial gases to the refinery and chemical customer base in the region. Completion is due in 2023.

The SMR hydrogen production plant to be built, owned, and operated by Air Products Qudra will match the largest ever built by Air Products. It will serve refineries and petrochemical industries. The investment includes building the second hydrogen fueling station in Saudi Arabia at the site. Saudi Aramco and Air Products inaugurated the first hydrogen fueling station in Saudi Arabia at Air Products' new Technology Center in the Dhahran Techno Valley Science Park in June 2019.

As MRC wrote earlier, in December 2014, SIBUR-Khimprom (a subsidiary of SIBUR Holding) and Air Products entered into an agreement to build a new air separation unit in Perm and to supply the facility with locally produced gases. The unit came on-stream in 2016. After the commissioning Air Products will supply industrial gases for SIBUR-Khimprom over the next 20 years.

Besides, we remind that in September 2019, SIBUR, the largest petrochemical comples in Russia and Eastern Europe, and BASF, Geman petrochemical major, agreed to closely cooperate on sustainable development to share their best practices.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc restarted a catalytic reformer at its 211,270 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Convent, Louisiana on Monday after completing repairs, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said, "Startup procedures are underway at Shell Convent for an unspecified process unit."

The 40,000-bpd reformer was shut on Feb. 16 by a fire that broke out from a flange, the sources said.

The refinery is also performing a planned overhaul on the 130,000-bpd crude distillation unit at the refinery.

The reformer converts refining byproducts into octane-boosting components added to unfinished gasoline.

We also remind that, as MRC informed previously, operations were stable on 13 September 2019 at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 340,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, after the upper Houston Ship Channel was closed by protesters from Greenpeace USA. The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint-venture between Shell and Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Shell is the managing partner of the joint-venture. Shell has three crackers at Deer Park site with a combined ethylene capacity of 1,67 mln per year and petrochemical plants.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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) -- U.S. refiner Citgo has reached an agreement with Aruba to transfer control of the San Nicolas refinery to the island’s government, Citgo said, after the two parties last year suspended a contract to overhaul the facility, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Citgo, a unit of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela [PDVSA.UL], has been under the control of the South American country’s opposition for more than a year after Washington slapped sanctions on PDVSA in a bid to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

That transition left the future of the 209,000 barrel-per-day refinery uncertain. Citgo and Aruba in 2016 reached a 25-year, USD685 million deal to refurbish and reopen the facility, which had been idled since 2012, but little progress has been made.

Citgo in a statement said the transfer agreement was the first step in a process that would result in the Aruba government taking full control of the refinery by March 16, following approval by the island’s parliament.

Aruba’s government has said it is looking for outside candidates to take over the refinery.

Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a separate entity, would continue to supply fuel to the island’s airport and gas stations, Citgo said.

As informed before, in May 2019, Citgo restarted larger reformer at its US Corpus Christi 52,000 bbl/day refinery with capacity 225,000 benzene; 180,000 toluene tonnes/year.

Benzene is a feedstock for the production of styrene monomer (SM), which, in its turn, is a feedstock for manufacturing polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 46,260 tonnes in December 2019, up by 8% year on year. The estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 500,660 tonnes in 2019, down by 1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Chemical has completed the restart of its Fife ethylene plant at Mossmorran, Scotland, reported S&P Global with reference to a spokesman's statement Friday.

With its 830,000 mt/year of ethylene production capacity, the plant is one of Europe's largest petrochemical cracker sites.

It has returned to the market after a shutdown of almost six months due to planned and unplanned works since August.

"In re-starting equipment after an extended period, we took the time required to diligently test and re-test processes and safety procedures," the company said in its community announcement.

"While I am sure we would all have liked to have returned to production more quickly, we will never compromise the safety of our staff or the public," ExxonMobil said.

The restart adds to the a lengthy ethylene complex, especially along the Northwest European coast where the market has struggled on the coronavirus fallout impact on downstream demand with Asian exports opportunities also remaining closed, market sources said.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Showa Denko (SDK) received an award from Chairman of the Japan Business Federation for its used-plastic chemical recycling business, said the company.

This award is part of Fujisankei Communications Group’s 29th Grand Prize for the Global Environment Award, and recognizes contributions by the business toward reducing environmental burdens through low-carbon conversion to raw materials for chemicals and resource recycling.

A presentation ceremony will be held on April 8 at Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo with the presence of Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince and Crown Princess Akishino.

SDK has been conducting the used-plastic chemical recycling business since 2003. At its Kawasaki Plant, used plastic collected from home is gasified by thermal decomposition to generate hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide from this process is used for production of carbon-based chemical products. Hydrogen is used as raw material for ammonia production, in fuel-cell vehicles, and for power generation at hotels using fuel cells. Thus, this business is contributing toward promotion of a low-carbon society.

While reducing CO2 emissions by avoiding incineration of used plastic, the business promotes resource recycling on land and reduces marine pollution by plastic.

As MRC informed earlier, Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) decided to establish its subsidiary’s second factory in Shanghai to produce high-purity gases for electronics.

As per MRC, Showa Denko K.K. in March 2018, it stopped production at a cracking unit in Oita (Oita, Japan) for preventive maintenance. Maintenance at this enterprise with a capacity of 691 thousand tons of ethylene per year continued until April 19, 2018.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Showa Denko K.K. Mainly engaged in the petrochemical business. The company's petrochemical division produces and markets industrial gases, olefins, organic chemicals, and others.
MRC