ADNOC and Total sign agreement to jointly explore CO2 emissions reductions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a strategic framework agreement with Total to explore joint research, development and deployment partnership opportunities in the areas of CO2 emission reductions and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), where ADNOC is an industry leader, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement brings together the best-in-class in low carbon technologies from ADNOC and Total and expands on the long-standing partnership and collaboration between the two leading energy producers across the full value chain.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Group CEO, and Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of Total.

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership and alliance with Total as we work towards a low carbon future. The agreement builds on our sustainability goal to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity by 25 percent by 2030, and reinforces ADNOC’s commitment to responsible oil and gas production as we deliver on our 2030 smart growth strategy. We look forward to leveraging this expertise and collaborating with Total to further research and develop low carbon technologies and sustainable growth opportunities."

Under the terms of the agreement, ADNOC and Total will jointly explore opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions, improve energy efficiency and use renewable energy for oil and gas operations. In the area of CCUS, the companies will further develop joint research into new technologies covering carbon capture, storage solutions and enhanced oil recovery projects based on CO2 usage.

Patrick Pouyanne, chairman & CEO of Total, said: "We are very pleased to start this new cooperation with ADNOC, our long-term partner in the United Arab Emirates. This initiative will allow the two companies to join forces in several domains such as the reduction of carbon emissions on industrial sites, improvement of the energy efficiency in operations, and the development of innovative solutions and business models towards the CCUS chain. This is a perfect example of Total’s commitment to leverage its global presence and expertise to act towards its 2050 net-zero ambition alongside its long-standing key partners."

The potential for collaboration in CCUS by ADNOC and Total complements ADNOC’s CCUS program which has seen the company establish the Al Reyadah facility, the first commercial-scale CCUS facility in the Middle East. Currently, the facility has the capacity to capture 800,000 tons of CO2 annually. ADNOC plans to expand the capacity of this program six-fold by capturing CO2 from its own gas plants, with the aim of reaching 5 million tons of CO2 every year by 2030 – the equivalent of the annual carbon capture capacity of over 5 million acres of forest.

Total currently collaborates with ADNOC across the full value chain, from offshore and onshore exploration, development and production of oil and gas, to gas processing and liquefaction, product marketing, research and development (R&D), and National Talent development.

As MRC informed earlier, ADNOC announced it has completed the first phase of its large-scale multi-year predictive maintenance project to maximize asset efficiency and integrity across its upstream and downstream operations.

As MRC reported previously, in early May, 2020, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) began a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown. The Ruwais complex, which has capacity of 835,000 barrels per day, was shut down early this year, the ADNOC spokesman said.

And in late July 2019, ADNOC said its Ruwais refinery west cracker was offline for maintenance.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has broken ground on a new cathode active materials production plant, said Chemweek.

The plant in Schwarzheide, Germany is scheduled to come online in 2022, creating 150 new jobs and will enable the supply of around 400,000 full electric vehicles a year. This new site will complement BASF’s multi-step investment plan in the European battery materials market, using precursors from the company’s previously announced plant in Harjavalta, Finland.

The German government are putting €175m towards the project which is part of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) approved by the European Commission in December 2019, under the EU State aid rules.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF has restarted toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production at its 300,000-metric ton/year plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, although output has not yet increased sufficiently for the company to lift a force majeure (FM) it declared in August.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF had put a project to build a petrochemicals complex in India worth up to USD4 billion on hold due to the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by 6.1% year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On 10 November 2020, Momentive Performance Materials Inc. announced it will invest USD13 million for the expansion of its existing Termoli, Italy, plant to create a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub for its Niax polyurethane additives, reported GV.

The site, which currently produces high performance additives for rigid foam applications among other silicone-based products, will undergo a comprehensive technology upgrade to expand services to the EU slabstock foam industry.

The modernised facility will supply customers in Europe, Russia and Turkey with full production ramp-up expected by the middle of 2022. Momentive said this investment is part of its broader plans to optimise its global manufacturing footprint, whereby a silicone plant in Antwerp, Belgium, ceased operations earlier this year with long-term manufacturing shifting to the Italy plant.

“This investment expands our commitment to in-region manufacturing and supply, which will help us to serve our customers even better – providing a high level of flexibility and consistent, high quality products,” said Dr. Alberto Melle?, Global Business Segment Leader for Polyurethane Slabstock Additives.

To further underscore its commitment to serving European customers within the region, Momentive recently established a new customer service support centre in Milan (Italy). The transition from a third-party supplier to the new centre began in October 2020 and will be completed by year’s end.

“We continually seek new ways to improve and enhance our production and manufacturing capabilities and capacity to meet the growing needs of our customers. These investments position us for long-term sustainable growth and enable us to remain a valued supplier to those European-based customers who are seeking a trusted source of additives,” added VP Nalian, President and General Manager for Momentive’s Performance Additives business unit.

In addition to the Termoli (Italy) site, Momentive serves the polyurethane foam industry through its Sistersville, WV, USA, Itatiba, Brazil, Nantong, China, and Chennai, India, operations.

As MRC wrote earlier, in August 2020, Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (Waterford, N.Y.) outlined a series of steps to accelerate its global transition from commodity basics chemicals to specialty silicones – actions that will focus the company’s strengths and expertise on advanced technologies. The steps include a USD15-million investment in specialized Electronic Materials Production and the sale of its Consumer Sealants Business. The company also envisions a two-year transition away from basics chemicals production at its Waterford facility, which began operations in 1947.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year.
At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 6.1% in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-September output. September production of primary polymers decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan expects higher gasoline and diesel exports in the October-March half of its financial year as its run rates are likely to recover to 85%-89% from 70% in the first half, said Chemweek.

But Idemitsu also expects a weak market for petroleum products in Asia to continue over the six-month period, Munehiro Sekine, general manager of investor relations for Idemitsu, told a news conference. Idemitsu forecast its annual domestic fuel sales in the year to March 31 to fall 13.1% from a year earlier to 35.26 million kilolitres, hit by collapsed demand from the COVID-19 crisis.

But it predicted that its fuel export will rise 10.5% on year to 4.21 million kilolitres. "As we expect to boost the run rate to meet higher kerosene demand during the winter, there will be some surplus in other products which we plan to export," Sekine said, pointing to gasoline and diesel.

For the April-September half, gasoline sales slid 14.6% from a year earlier, while jet fuel sales plunged 67.8%. The company revised down its annual earnings forecast, now predicting a net loss of 20 billion yen, instead of its May estimate of a profit of 5 billion yen, blaming a hefty appraisal loss on its oil inventories due to lower-than-expected oil prices.

As MRC informed earlier, Idemitsu Kosan plans to close the cracking unit in Chiba (Chiba, Japan) in April 2021 for scheduled maintenance. This cracking unit with a capacity of 413,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and 180,000 tonnes/year of propylene per year will be closed for scheduled work for two months.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese oil company that owns oil platforms and refineries. The company manufactures and markets oil and petrochemical products. She operates two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The capacity of the two cracking units is 997 thousand tons of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical companies across the UK are “battling through the pandemic and the threat of a Brexit no deal,” says the Chemical Industries Association (CIA; London), reported Chemweek.

According to the CIA’s latest quarterly survey of its members, chemical businesses saw a modest expansion in the third quarter with the survey’s sales diffusion index reaching 55.4 and export growth to non-EU countries registering 56.5. Any figure above 50 represents growth. The overall performance index was 51.5, beating forecasts, CIA says.

Despite new COVID-19 restrictions in the UK, the increases in sales and exports are predicted to continue into the fourth quarter, CIA says. For 2021, 57% of UK chemical businesses expect to see sales climb further, with more global export growth anticipated.

CIA says the industry’s resilience is demonstrated by the fact that 98% of its member companies have no plans to utilize any of the UK government’s Winter Economic Plan financial support measures, although “any prolonged impact from the latest COVID restrictions may see some reduction in this number.” The industry believes that from a business angle, there has been access to adequate levels of government support, including non-financial, throughout the crisis, it says.

Steve Elliott, CIA chief executive, says, “this performance shows the strength of chemical businesses in adapting to pressures from all angles. Since March, the industry has continued to deliver essential solutions for society such as hand sanitizer, PPE and, most recently, an exciting contribution to the vaccine breakthrough to help fight coronavirus.”

The UK chemical industry is “still far from out of the woods,” Elliott says. “Further and necessary COVID restrictions may impact negatively and the looming threat of a ‘no’ or inadequate UK/EU trade deal remains. Avoiding tariffs, minimizing customs and border delays, and securing a cost-effective agreement on our future EU and UK REACH requirements are all critical outcomes from the current negotiations.”

As MRC informed before, SABIC Europe declared a force majeure on its low density polyethylene (LDPE) supplies from Wilton, the UK on November 3, 2020. The company had shut its LDPE plant for a maintenance work in the first half of October. The Wilton unit is able to produce 400,000 tons/year of LDPE.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, September estimated LDPE consumption in Russia fell to 23,930 tonnes from 47,610 tonnes a month earlier. Russian producers reduced their domestic LDPE shipments due to shutdowns for maintenance at production capacities in Ufa, Tomsk and Kazan. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption totalled about 406,500 tonnes in January-September 2020, which virtually corresponded to the last year's figure.
MRC