Chinese national oil companies outline early green energy plans

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s top state oil and gas producers - PetroChina, Sinopec Corp and CNOOC Ltd - are working on the following green initiatives, reported Reuters with reference to company executives' statements at earnings briefings and email replies.

Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, Petrochina said in late August it aims for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the first Asian national oil company to set that target.

It plans to spend up to USD1.5 billion annually by 2025 - a more than five-fold increase from current levels, and roughly 4% of its 2020 total spend - on a mix of gas power generation, geothermal, wind, solar and hydrogen projects. It did not provide a breakdown.

The company carried out pilot projects on geothermal and biofuels in northern China, and aims to continue investing in those sectors.

In July, PetroChina’s parent group CNPC revealed its target to slash methane emission intensity by 50% by 2025.

Last month, PetroChina set up a hydrogen joint venture with Shanghai’s Shenergy Group in which it holds a 40% stake.

The world’s largest oil refiner is the most ambitious on hydrogen among domestic rivals, owning annual output capacity of 3 million tonnes, or 14% of the national total, at its refineries. It wants to become the industry leader.

Sinopec plans to build several “hydrogen highway corridors” along China’s east coast by adding hydrogen refueling stations alongside its 30,000-strong petrol stations.

It has created a 6-person new energy office under the group’s planning department and established a R&D center of 48 staff.

Last month, Sinopec announced its first capital investment in solar, by investing in photovoltaic glass maker Fengyang Sillicon Valley Intelligence Co.

China’s leading shale gas developer, Sinopec also aims to nearly double its output of the unconventional fuel to 13 billion cubic metres by 2025.

The offshore oil and gas specialist CNOOC revived activities in offshore wind power in 2019 after closing its renewable unit in 2014, planning to spend 3% to 5% of its annual budget on the sector.

Its first 300-megawatt wind power plant off Jiangsu province is due online at the end of 2020 and it has planned other projects off Guangdong and Shandong provinces.

The company also plans to more than double its natural gas production by 2025 to make up 30% of its total oil and gas output from the current 19%.

As MRC informed earlier, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, a refining subsidiary of Asia's top refiner Sinopec, plans to raise daily crude oil throughput by 7.8% in the second half of 2020. The Chinese company aims to process 7.68 million tonnes of crude oil in July-December, equivalent to 304,700 barrels per day.

We remind that Sinopec Zhongyuan Petrochemical, also part of Sinopec Group, is in plans to bring on-stream its cracker following a maintenance turnaround. The company is likely to resume operations at the cracker by mid-September, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on August 1, 2020. Located at Henan in China, the cracker has a ethylene capacity of 220,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 95,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kemira has signed a multiyear extension of its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy, the Finnish chemicals company said on Wednesday.

Kemira says it has signed a multiyear extension to its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy (Aberdeen, UK). The agreement extends the contract between the two companies, signed in 2018, covering the supply of polymers to enhance oil extraction performance at one of the assets operated by Ithaca Energy in the UK North Sea.

The extended supply agreement is expected to utilize product from an expansion of polymer production capacity for chemical enhanced oil recovery at Kemira's Botlek, Netherlands, site that took place in 2017, the company says.

The financial or volumes details of the supply deal with Ithaca were not disclosed.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

1. Saudi King Salman, Putin express 'satisfaction' with OPEC+

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Russian President Vladimir Putin both expressed "satisfaction" with the implementation of the OPEC+ crude oil output deal and discussed ways to address the global economic slump in a telephone call Sept. 7, according to a statement posted on the Kremlin website, said S&P Global. The call was initiated by King Salman and comes ahead of a key OPEC+ joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting on Sept. 17, which is expected again to focus on compliance. The JMMC is co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and Russia. "Both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress of the implementation of the OPEC+ agreement, which made it possible to stabilize the situation on the world energy markets in general," the statement said. Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to further closely coordinate their work on production cuts, trade and investments. Saudi and Russian leaders have also discussed joint ways to overcome negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the world economy and finances, the statement said.





MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC intends to boost production capacity for its specialty NORYL SA9000 resin to support rapid growth of high-performance printed circuit boards (PCBs) used in 5G base stations and high-speed servers, as per the company's press release.

It is anticipated that this latest expansion, which builds on 2019 increases, will nearly double regional production in Asia and increase overall NORYL SA9000 resin production in Asia tenfold vs. 2018 levels.

The incremental gain in capacity will help to reduce global lead times for manufacturers of high-performance copper-clad laminates (CCLs), which can provide them greater flexibility to meet customer requests for quick turnarounds. Additionally, it provides capability for future product development. The expansion project is currently underway in India, with completion expected by the end of 2020.

NORYL SA9000 resin is an important component in CCLs used worldwide in PCBs for the 5G infrastructure market, which is forecast to register a 53 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2025, as reported by Mordor Intelligence.

“SABIC continues to invest in specialized materials that help advance global adoption of 5G networking,” said Scott Fisher, business director, Specialties, SABIC. “As the wireless networking industry faces rising demand for infrastructure with high expectations for speed, bandwidth and low latency, SABIC is committed to delivering the unique material solutions our customers need to help drive this technology forward.”

Specialized PCBs used in 5G network infrastructure require copper clad laminates that address the need for high speed and low insertion loss at higher frequencies. High-performance NORYL SA9000 resin is a modified, low-molecular-weight, bi-functional oligomer based on polyphenylene ether (PPE). It offers formulators the opportunity to achieve very low loss CCL products while balancing heat resistance, dimensional stability, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and higher layer count capability.

NORYL SA9000 resin provides formulating flexibility in existing CCL production operations. It is soluble in conventional solvents such as toluene and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and can be incorporated into various thermoset resin systems such as styrenics, allylic, acrylic, maleimide, methacrylic and unsaturated polyester monomers and resins.

In addition to NORYL SA9000 resin, SABIC offers other resins that may help thermoset formulators develop solutions for 5G infrastructure. NORYL SA90 resin provides formulating flexibility in solvent-based epoxy systems to achieve improved dielectric performance while balancing heat resistance, improved toughness and improved dimensional stability. SABIC’s BISDA specialty dianhydride resin can improve dielectric performance and lower water absorption in certain polyimide formulations.

Building out 5G mobile networks to deliver up to 10 times faster speeds than 4G networks requires specialized infrastructure, including huge numbers of small cell base stations. Components for traditional and multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) style base stations and antennas, such as radomes, dipole resonators, antennae components, fasteners, screws, stand-offs, fittings, phase shifters and radio frequency filter housings, demand high-performance materials to provide the right balance of mechanical, physical, and dielectric properties. SABIC’s broad portfolio of injection molding solutions including ULTEM resin, NORYL resin, LNP THERMOCOMP compounds and LEXAN EXL copolymer resin can offer tailored dielectric performance, weatherability, weight-out and increased design freedom to help customers optimize performance in 5G infrastructure applications.

As MRC reported earlier, major petrochemicals producer SABIC expects the lifestyle changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to shape the different usage of plastics going forward.

We remind that Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the petrochemicals giant 70%-owned by Saudi Aramco, saw average petrochemical prices in the second quarter plunge by 27% year-on-year as it posted a third consecutive quarterly loss, according to CEO Yousef al-Benyan's statement Aug. 6.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, once again increased this month's list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Asia outside China (AOC), as per the company's press release.

The price increase is effective for orders shipped on or after 15 September, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, September VAM prices rose by USD100/mt - for AOC.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese already raised its VAM prices for this region on 2 September, 2020. The price increase was also USD100/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, June EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,5% year on year to 2,940 tonnes from 3,800 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation dropped in January-June 2020 by 8,16% year on year to 17,440 tonnes (18,980 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC