Chevron invests in carbon capture startup

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil major Chevron Corp said it has invested in Blue Planet Systems Corp, a startup that manufactures and develops carbon capture technology to reduce carbon footprint, reported Reuters.

"This investment is made through our Future Energy Fund which focuses on startups with lower-carbon technologies that can scale commercially," said Barbara Burger, president of Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital division of the company.

Chevron and San Jose-based Blue Planet also signed a letter of intent to collaborate on potential pilot projects and commercial development in some geographies.

Last year, Chevron said it was investing in nuclear fusion start up Zap Energy Inc as energy companies face increasing pressure from investors to reduce emissions, spend more on low-carbon energy and disclose the impact of their fossil fuel production on climate change.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2018, Chevron Phillips Chemical, part of Chevron Corp, successfully introduced feedstock and commenced operations of a new ethane cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas. At peak production, the unit will produce 1.5 million metric tons/3.3 billion lbs. per year. This unit is one of the largest and most energy efficient crackers in the world. In September 2017, the company announced the successful commissioning and start-up of two new Marlex polyethylene (PE) units in Old Ocean, Texas, based on the company’s proprietary MarTech technologies. Together, these assets form the bulk of the company’s US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project (USGCPP), which was first announced in 2011.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude prices settled higher Jan. 14 as a weaker US dollar offset reports of weakened Chinese crude demand, reported S&P Global.

NYMEX February WTI settled 66 cents higher at USD53.57/b, and ICE March Brent was up 36 cents at USD56.42/b.

The US dollar turned lower in US trading after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed the Fed's commitment to lower interest rates. Powell also said any tapering of asset purchases would be telegraphed in advance.

"Fed Chair Powell affirmed the Fed's playbook and has tentatively put an end to any taper talk," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said in a note. "Dollar weakness resumed following Fed Chair Powell's dovish commitment and on nervous anticipation over Biden's stimulus package announcement later today."

President-elect Biden is expected to present a sweeping pandemic relief and stimulus plan later Jan. 14 he has said previously would be worth "trillions."

NYMEX February RBOB settled 51 points higher at USD1.5539/gal, and February ULSD finished up 2.05 cents at USD1.6194/gal.

In its closely watched oil market report released Jan. 14, OPEC kept its 2021 global demand forecast little changed at 95.91 million b/d, compared with 95.89 million b/d last month. The forecast is still 5.9 million b/d higher than 2020.

While rising COVID-19 infections and additional lockdown measures are affecting most major OECD countries, "the situation in emerging economies seems to have improved lately," OPEC said.

But pandemic risks continue to stalk the market. Initial US unemployment claims jumped to a five-month-high 945,000 in during the week-ended Jan. 9, Labor Department data showed Jan. 14, exceeding market expectations of around 800,000 claims.

A weak labor market is likely to create headwinds for refined product demand recovery, especially gasoline. US driving activity edged 0.2% higher in the week ended Jan. 8, according to Apple mobility data, but was still near levels last seen in late May.

The ICE New York Harbor RBOB crack against Brent narrowed to USD8.81/b in afternoon trading, in from USD8.90/b the session prior.

China's crude imports fell to a 27-month low of 9.096 million b/d, or 38.47 million mt, in December, according to General Administration of Customs data released Jan. 14.

The more than 15% year-on-year and month-on-month fall was sharper than had been expected, with analysts pointing to a shortage of crude import quotas and destocking activity as the key reasons for the decline, even as they forecast a strong rebound for January imports.

Having imported record volumes earlier in the year when crude prices were lower, the drop in December indicated that the country was well stocked and imports could fall back this year, some analysts said.

Total imports over 2020 were up 7% year on year to 10.86 million b/d, data showed.

As MRC informed previously, global oil demand may have already peaked, according to BP"s latest long-term energy outlook issued in September 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic kicks the world economy onto a weaker growth trajectory and accelerates the shift to cleaner fuels.

Earlier last year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40% in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

And in September 2019, six world"s major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Denka Singapore Co Ltd has announced that it would discontinue the production of DENKA STYROL GPPS after 22 years in business, according to CommoPlast with reference to the company's official statement.

The production of the seven (7) grades had been suspended by the end of November 2020. The final sales of these cargoes took place by the end of December 2020.

Denka cited the cease of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) production in order to optimize the overall operation of the plastic business. The company would switch to produce Ms resin (Methyl. Methacrylate Styrene Copolymer).

Denka Singapore Co Ltd is one of the major polystyrene (PS) producers in the Southeast Asia region with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons of GPPS.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Denka Company Limited announced that as part of its initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on its ESG management policy, it had decided to invest approximately 3.7 billion yen in the installation of high-efficiency gas turbine power generation facilities for private power generation at its Chiba Plant (Ichihara-shi, Chiba), its core petrochemical production plant. Through the introduction of facilities such as these, Denka will facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by at least 12,000 tons annually and accelerate its efforts to realize a sustainable society.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 454,990 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, which corresponds to the last year's figure. November estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in Russia grew by 4% year on year to 45,830 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- RadiciGroup is investing EUR15m to purchase a production line for meltblown nonwoven, a material used in protective face masks, said the company.

The move follows a shortage of the material in Italy. The synthetic fibre producer will manufacture meltblown nonwoven polymer filaments, the key component in personal protective equipment (PPE), saying that current supply in Europe is insufficient to keep up with the heightened demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the midst of the pandemic crisis, the lack of meltblown nonwoven became evident," said Maurizio Radici, COO of RadiciGroup.

"We kept receiving tens of requests from potential customers. A very small quantity of meltblown material is produced in Europe, which is certainly not sufficient to meet demand in a health emergency," he added.

The production line, which will be installed at the company’s site in Bergamo, Italy, can be utilised to manufacture materials based on polypropylene (PP), polyester, polyamide and thermoplastic polyurethane.

As mRC informed earlier, Radici Group announced force majeure for the supply of polyamide (PA 6.6) from its plant in Novara (Novara, in the Italian region of Piedmont) in 2018. The company was forced to declare force majeure for supplies from this enterprise with a capacity of 90 thousand tons of PA per year in February 2018 due to a lack of raw materials.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, negotiations over January prices of European PP began in the first days of the month. All market participants reported that European producers have gone for a significant increase in export prices for propylene polymers. Moreover, some producers adjusted their export prices twice in the first two weeks of January.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Centre (YNCC) has pushed back the restart of its No. 2 naphtha cracker in Yeochun, Yeosu, South Korea to 18 January, 2021, after completing the expansion work, reported Chemweek.

The company took the cracker off-stream around the third week of October 2020 for two months of maintenance, YNCC has been also expanding the cracker's capacity to 915,000 tons/year of ethylene from the existing 580,000 tons/year.

YNCC is a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim. The new ethylene capacity would be supplied to Daelim’s new mPE plant at the adjacent location.

YNCC owns two other naphtha crackers in Yeosu with a combined capacity of 1.325 million tons/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

South Korea’s Yeochun NCC (YNCC) pyrolyzes naphtha to produce basic feedstock materials for the petrochemical industry. YNCC, a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim, is a key exporter of ethylene and propylene in the country.
MRC