Xodus selected for landmark Australian green hydrogen project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global energy consultancy Xodus Group has been selected by Infinite Blue Energy (IBE) Group to carry out initial phase one work for Australia’s first, large scale 100 percent green hydrogen plant, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The USD300 million Arrowsmith Hydrogen Project secured investment earlier this year. Located 320km north of Perth, it is projected to produce 25 tonnes of green hydrogen a day using solar and wind energy. Xodus’ Perth team will use its previous international experience to deliver a preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental impact identification (ENVID) as well as ad hoc environmental support, including stakeholder consultation.

Xodus will also offer GIS support and manage permits and the flora and fauna surveys for the proposed site, undertaken by a third party. Naomi Kerp, Principal Environmental Consultant at Xodus said: “IBE Group is at the forefront of green energy in Australia and having worked with the senior team on previous projects, we are excited to be supporting them again with our energy experience and expertise. Projects like this can help establish Australia as a global leader in the production and supply of zero-emissions hydrogen fuel so it’s fantastic for us to be part of it from the very beginning."

Green hydrogen production uses renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, biogas) and water, and emits oxygen as a by-product. IBE Group will be a true zero carbon commercial green hydrogen producer, the first of its kind in Australia, as opposed to existing projects that use traditional fossil fuels to produce liquid hydrogen.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) received 36 expressions of interest to develop green hydrogen projects totalling almost 500MW in response to a A$70million funding round launched in April. It is expected that funding will be allocated by the end of 2020.

Naomi added: "The ARENA funding round generated significant interest right across Australia, in every state and territory. We’re seeing records of renewable generation broken on a regular occurrence and highlights the changing supply mix throughout the energy market as the country goes through a fairly rapid energy transition."

As MRC informed earlier, Europe, one of the world’s biggest diesel consumers, faces a major glut which combined with weak demand is weighing heavily on the ability of the region’s refineries to keep running. Having hit record lows at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April and May, European diesel margins are trending lower again after posting a modest recovery in July. "Gasoil and diesel is 40%-50% of refining output so it has to be profitable otherwise refineries just burn cash and must shut down,” Hayal Ahmadzada, chief trading officer at Azerbaijain’s SOCAR Trading said.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil has completed the restart of its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas refinery following a shutdown for the passage of Hurricane Laura in late August, said sources familiar with plant operations, reported Reuters.

The refinery is the first of six on the US Gulf coast, shut by the storm, to completely restart. Exxon shut the refinery on Aug. 25.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil has put off for a year work on its refinery expansion in Beaumont, Texas. The expansion project is now slated to be online sometime in 2023, versus the original 2022 proposal. Bloomberg first reported the delay. ExxonMobil declined to confirm the story, noting that it does not comment on the status of individual projects. The company "is evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term as a result of market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and commodity price decreases," the company said in a statement.

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.

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) -- LyondellBasell says it has started up a small-scale pilot facility at its Ferrara, Italy, site for the molecular recycling of post-consumer plastic waste, said Chemweek.

The company announced the construction of the pilot plant in October last year and says R&D teams in Germany, Italy, and the US are now “actively working to explore potential commercial-scale applications.” The plant is capable of processing up to 10 kilograms/hour of household plastic waste, with the aim to help build understanding of the interaction of various waste types in the molecular recycling process, test various catalysts, and “confirm the process temperature and time needed to decompose plastic waste into molecules," LyondellBasell says.

The goal is to complete this process "over the next couple of years and then plan for an industrial scale unit," it says. The chemically recycled product will be used as feedstock for new plastic materials.

"Ending plastic waste in the environment and advancing the circular economy are key sustainability focus areas for our company," says Jim Seward, LyondellBasell’s senior vice president/R&D, technology, and sustainability. “With our advanced plastics recycling technology, we return larger volumes of plastic waste back into the value chain and produce new materials for high-quality applications, retaining their value for as long as possible," he says.

Plastic materials from the recycling process will be able to be used in food packaging and healthcare items, according to LyondellBasell.

The company announced a collaboration mid-2018 with Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to advance its molecular recycling efforts, first proving the concept at laboratory scale before moving into the pilot testing stage.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced that Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC (DRPIC) has selected LyondellBasell’s world-leading polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) technologies for a new facility. The new plants will comprise of a polypropylene (PP) plant that will utilize LyondellBasell’s Spheripol PP process technology to produce 280,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of PP and a 480-m.t./yr high-density polyethylene plant which will utilize LyondellBasell’s Hostalen ACP process technology and will be built in Al Duqm, Oman.

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.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total has decided to resign its operatorship of five exploration blocks, in the environmentally sensitive the Foz do Amazonas Basin, 120 km offshore Brazil, reported S&P Global with reference to the French oil major's statement Sept. 7.

Total said it notified its partners BP and state-run Petrobras of its decision on Aug. 19 of blocks FZA-M-57, FZA-M-86, FZA-M-88, FZA-M-125 and FZA-M-127.

No reason was given for the decision but exploration projects in Foz do Amazonas have been facing strong resistance from environmental groups following the discovery of a previously unknown coral reef in the turbid waters of the Amazon River delta.

Total has been looking to drill seven exploration well on the acreage in the area in a long-running struggle to secure approval from Brazilian federal environmental regulator IBAMA. Total first started licensing the exploration drilling project in 2014.

The move also comes amid rising public sensitivity over new oil exploration. BP last month pledged to undertake no new oil exploration in new countries as part of its transition to cleaner energy.

Total said it now has six months to appoint a new operator for the blocks, which it was awarded in 2013. Until then, Total said it has a duty to continue monitoring all regulatory processes on behalf of its partners Petrobras and BP.

Total's portfolio in Brazil currently includes 24 blocks, with 10 operated. In 2019, its production in the country averaged 16,000 b/d.

As MRC wrote before, in November 2019, Total disclosed that itis evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

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.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Daniel Obajtek, the CEO of the Polish state-run fuel giant PKN Orlen, has been awarded the title of Man of the Year of the 2020 Economic Forum 2020, now underway in Karpacz, southern Poland, said Thefirstnews.

During the award ceremony held on Tuesday evening during the forum, an annual international conference that brings to Poland top politicians and economic decision makers, a congratulation letter from the head of Poland's ruling party Jaroslaw Kaczynski was read by Deputy PM and State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin.

The PiS leader described Obajtek as "one of the helmsmen of Polish business" and "not only a man of economic success, but also a man of mission." "What he does as the head of Orlen is a mission serving the development of the Republic of Poland and strengthening our position in the international arena," Kaczynski wrote.

In his opinion, Obajtek's and Orlen's activities are part of the strategy to stimulate the Polish economy so as to build "the Polish version of the welfare state". In his thank you for the award, the Orlen CEO pointed to a decision-making process as the key element of business. "At Orlen, we make decisions and look ahead. The acquisitions we make are not to satisfy someone else's ambitions, but are very important for the entire economy," he said.

Obajtek was appointed PKN Orlen CEO in 2018. He has often repeated that it is his mission and goal to build a multi-energy company based on diversified sources of income and profit. Two years ago, he initiated PKN Orlen's merger with another Polish oil company, Lotos. In July 2020, the European Commission issued conditional consent to this takeover. Around the same time Orlen had signed a letter of intent with the State Treasury to gain control over the country's gas monopolist PGNiG. On April 1, 2020, Orlen secured an unconditional consent from the European Commission to take over Polish energy firm Energa.

In 2018, Orlen finalised the purchase of 100 percent of shares in Unipetrol, the largest refining and petrochemical concern in the Czech Republic. Another important element of the company's strategy is investing in the Lithuanian Mazeikiu oil refinery.

As MRC informed earlier, in H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN Orlen facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

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.

PKN Orlen would be the first refining and petrochemicals company in Europe to use the Honeywell UOP MaxEne technology for molecule management of a naphtha stream to produce high-quality products including olefins, aromatics and gasoline.
MRC