Shell invests in new furnaces to reduce emissions from its Moerdijk chemicals plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell has announced that it will replace the ethylene steam cracker furnaces at its Moerdijk petrochemicals complex, The Netherlands, in a move that will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shell will install eight new furnaces in place of 16 older units without reducing capacity at the facility. The investment significantly reduces both the site’s energy consumption and its operational greenhouse gas emissions. The CO? emissions reduction is about 10 percent of Shell Moerdijk’s annual total.

The cracker unit produces base chemicals which are used to make finished products that people use every day, from smart phones, clothing, packaging and medical equipment, to insulation and light-weight components in cars and planes. The new furnaces will be shipped to the site in modules, enabling the cracker to continue to operate throughout the upgrade project. Work is expected to be completed in 2025.

Thomas Casparie, Executive Vice President of Shell’s global chemicals business, said: “We continue to invest in innovation, even in difficult economic times. Steam cracking makes base chemicals, which are transformed into a range of finished products that help society live, work and respond to climate change. This investment at Moerdijk contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions from our manufacture of chemicals and to Shell’s ambition of becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner. We aim to achieve our ambition in step with society.”

As MRC reported earlier Shell will announce a major restructure by the end of the year as the company prepares to accelerate its shift toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, said CEO Ben van Beurden to employees. The restructuring will include workforce reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures, although no figures have been decided yet, the CEO reportedly said during an internal webcast.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

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

Indian Oil Corp VLCC catches fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A very large crude carrier New Diamond, chartered by India’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp, caught fire in the morning off Colombo, sources with knowledge about the matter told Reuters.

The full loaded vessel was heading to Paradip in eastern India from Mina Al Ahmandi in Kuwait, Refinitiv’s ship tracking data shows.

No immediate comment was available from IOC.

As MRC informed previously, Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, is close to winning its first contract to export up to 720,000 tons of clean products to Mauritius under an annual deal from November.

We remind that Indian Oil says it will build an integrated paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) facility at Paradip in Odisha State, India, at an estimated investment of 138 billion Indian rupees (USD1.84 billion). The project will be completed by early 2024, with the complex planned to produce 800,000 metric tons/year of PX and 1.2 million metric tons/year of PTA, it says.

PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 367,720 tonnes in the first six months of 2020, up by 19% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes of material in June.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

Citgo has no plans to idle damaged Lake Charles refinery, furlough workers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Citgo Petroleum Corp said it is not planning to idle its 418,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery damaged by Hurricane Laura, reported Reuters.

Rumors have circulated since Laura’s passage over the Lake Charles area on Aug. 27 that Citgo was considering shutting the refinery for an indefinite period because of the extent of the damage and continuing low demand for motor fuels in the COVID-19 pandemic.

As MRC informed previously, Citgo Petroleum Corp said an early assessment of its 418,000-bpd Lake Charles refinery revealed “no major structural damage to operating equipment”. Sources familiar with plant operations have said that significant damage was done by the winds of deadly Hurricane Laura, especially to cooling towers, and it would be four to six weeks before the refinery restarts.

We remind that in the first week of July, 2020, Citgo restarted the large gasoline-producing fluid catalytic cracker at its 167,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

Borealis to restart Stenungsund cracker in Q4 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The light-feed 625,000-metric tons/year Borealis steam cracker at Stenungsund, Sweden, is expected to restart operations in the fourth quarter this year after a fire broke out at the plant in May, reported Chemweek with reference to the company's statement Friday.

The cracker has been under force majeure for almost four months after the blaze at the plant on 10 May, which was subsequently brought under control the following day.

"The restart will be in Q4 this year," a Borealis spokesperson told OPIS Friday.

The Stenungsund cracker is known to have substantial cavern storage for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as feedstock, believed to be in excess of 300,000 metric tons for propane alone, according to sources. Borealis has continued to import cargoes while the steam cracker is offline, with an estimated 270,000 metric tons of LPG imported to the site in the months following the declaration of force majeure, according to OPIS records. The restart could begin in November, according to trading sources.

Borealis also operates a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at Kallo, Belgium, and has started construction on a second PDH unit at the same location, with a last known start-up date pegged for the second quarter of 2022, according to the company. The PDH plant was said at the time to cost USD1 billion and have the capacity to produce 750,000 metric tons/year of propylene.

OPIS is an IHS Markit company.

As MRC informed earlier, Borealis said Monday (11 May, 2020) that it was still investigating a fire that broke out late Saturday at its Stenungsund steam cracker in Sweden. Borealis said in an initial public statement issued Sunday that "its emergency plan was immediately activated by the local crisis team." The fire broke out on 9 May, at 20:45 CEST.

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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

LyondellBasell JV starts up USD2.6-billion petchem complex in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell and Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group have commenced operations at their 1.1-million metric tons/year ethylene plant and associated polyolefins complex at Panjin in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, reported Chemweek.

The cost of the project is approximately USD2.6 billion.

The two companies in September 2019 established a 50/50 joint venture (JV), Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical Co., for the project.

The ethylene plant has the flexibility to consume naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. The downstream complex includes units producing 800,000 metric tons/year of polyethylene (PE) and 600,000 metric tons/year of polypropylene (PP) using LyondellBasell’s Hostalen ACP PE technology and the company’s Spheripol and Spherizone PP processes.

The complex will supply the packaging, transportation, building and construction, and healthcare and hygiene industries. The materials produced at the facility will be sold for use within China.

The two companies are planning medium-to-long-term collaboration on additional petchem projects that could be deployed in multiple phases over the next 10 years.

"The northeast is on the forefront of China's next round of regional revitalization. It is an attractive destination for investment, with abundant natural resources, upgraded infrastructure, and improving business environment, supported by the government's long-term development vision," says Qu Baoxue, the controlling shareholder of Bora.

Demand for polyolefins "has returned in China after the pandemic-related economic slowdown earlier in the year, and the long-term growth trends are very favorable for this project," says Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell. "We look forward to potential future opportunities that would allow us to expand our local manufacturing footprint."

The Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical ethylene plant is one of four steam crackers scheduled to start up in China by the end of this year.

According to IHS Markit, Asia is the largest and fastest-growing polyolefins market in the world. China accounts for more than 60% of the Asian polyolefins market and represents 40% of worldwide polyolefins growth.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell has already invests in several chemical plants in China, including a joint venture with a unit of state refiner Sinopec Corp.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Bora is one of more than 40 independent Chinese refiners that have grown rapidly since late 2015 to account for a fifth of China’s total crude oil imports.

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