Energy companies ally to combat methane emissions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Scientific Aviation today announced the launch of Project Falcon, a 6-month joint industry partner study that aims to determine the best way to deploy continuous methane monitoring technology that will allow energy companies to find, detect, and repair methane leaks faster, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, Shell and TRP Energy will test Scientific Aviation’s SOOFIE (Systematic Observations of Facility Intermittent Emissions) system, an affordable ground-based technology that measures methane emissions 24 hours a day, in real-world environments, and immediately alerts operators about issues. The tests will be conducted in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas starting in March 2021. The data and results will be made available to the industry, regulators and the public through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

"As the scientific community, the United Nations, and countless others have issued dire warnings about the impact of greenhouse gases on earth’s environment, the fight to combat this problem will take energy and technology companies working together to accelerate change,” said Dr. Stephen Conley, president of Scientific Aviation. “These companies have determined that doing all they can to protect the environment requires collaboration. We are excited to see how much can be done when the energy industry joins together to tackle a problem as important as protecting the environment."

The foundation of Project Falcon is Scientific Aviation’s SOOFIE system: a self-contained leak detection system in which each sensor contains its own solar panel, battery, cellular or WiFi connectivity, and the ability to take five methane measurements per second. SOOFIE also captures atmospheric conditions that are essential to the calculation of actual emission rates, rather than measuring concentration levels which can be susceptible to producing many false alarms. SOOFIE is also able to measure other gases, such as H2S, NO and NO2.

"Methane emissions detection and reduction should be a shared goal that industry works proactively and collaboratively to achieve, which is why we are proud to support efforts like Project Falcon” said Vanessa Ryan, manager of carbon reduction. “At Chevron we believe the future of energy is lower carbon, and we are actively addressing the reduction of methane emissions by using data, technology and innovation to prioritize the most efficient detection and reduction strategies."

ConocoPhillips has long been committed to reducing emissions from its facilities, including the development of new technologies designed to better detect where the sources of these emissions are and allowing them to prioritize their resources to address larger leaks faster. “To battle fugitive methane emissions from our facilities more effectively, we knew we had to employ the latest technologies and use the best tools available to us” said Khalid Soofi, Geoscience Fellow at ConocoPhillips. “We needed a way to reliably monitor our facilities more effectively, including facilities that aren’t regularly staffed and are often very remote."

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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PQ Group to sell sodium silicates business for USD1.1 billion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PQ Group Holdings has announced an agreement to sell its sodium silicate and silica derivatives business, called performance chemicals, to a partnership established by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management (New York, New York) and Koch Minerals and Trading for USD1.1 billion, according to Chemweek.

Proceeds from the deal will fund a special dividend of USD2.50-3.25/share that will be paid to PQ shareholders when the deal closes, which is expected later this year.

The divestiture is part of a plan by PQ to focus on the company’s catalysts and refining services businesses. Last year, as part of the plan, PQ sold its microspheres unit, called performance materials, to private equity firm The Jordan Company.

“The plans we set in motion are now coming to fruition,” says PQ Group chairman and CEO Belgacem Chiareg. “At year-end 2020, we completed the sale of the performance materials business as a first step. With this agreement to divest the performance chemicals business, we are accelerating the next and most critical step in our strategic transformation. Our core refining services and catalysts technologies businesses represent a unique opportunity to reposition PQ as a pure play, high growth company.”

The performance chemicals business is PQ’s largest reporting segment. It generated USD685.1 million in revenue and $154.3 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2019. The business operates in diversified end markets, including food and beverage, coatings, and personal care.

Meanwhile, PQ says that on 25 February it agreed to acquire Chem32, a supplier of catalyst pre-activation services, for USD44 million. The deal will complement PQ’s refining services business. Chem32’s products and services are used in traditional and renewable fuels production.

“Chem 32 diversifies our service offerings while giving us exposure to the rapidly growing renewable fuels industry,” says Kurt Bitting, president/refining services at PQ Group.

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2019, PQ Group Holdings Inc., a leading, global provider of specialty catalysts, materials, chemicals and services, announced an agreement with INEOS Polyolefin Catalysts to commercialize certain polyethylene (PE) catalysts to customers of selected processes.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased.
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Norwegian and Swiss partners to explore capturing CO2 from air

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equinor-led Northern Lights venture and Swiss start-up Climeworks will explore the potential for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere in Norway, the partners said, said Hydrocarbonprocesing.

Climeworks provides direct carbon capture technology, while Northern Lights, which also includes Shell and Total , plans to store CO2 in a geological formation under the seabed off Norway's coast.

Norway's Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru said the plan responded to a growing list of potential customers for the Northern Lights site which could store up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year from 2024.

Direct carbon capture could help to offset unavoidable emissions, such as from agriculture, which cannot be captured by using another method, Climeworks Chief Executive Christoph Gebald said in an online presentation. Northern Lights is a part of Norway's ambition to develop a full-scale carbon capture and storage chain, dubbed Longship after the vessels used by Vikings.

The government will cover about two-thirds of the 25.1 billion crowns (USD2.96 billion) costs. The plan includes a 400,000 tonne-per-year carbon capture installation at a cement plant run by Germany's HeidelbergCement in southern Norway and potentially a second capture plant in Oslo operated by Finnish utility Fortum.

The Northern Lights venture said CO2 storage capacity could be potentially expanded to 5 million tonnes per year in the future, depending on demand. Bru said Norway had hoped the Northern Lights storage could encourage more CO2 capture projects in Europe, helping achieve the climate goals.

As per MRC, Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) confirmed that a fire broke out on Wednedsday at 2.40pm local time in a compressor house at the company's methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway. Emergency services were dispatched and police, fire, and health services are at the scene, the company says. The fire was put out at 3.40pm, it says.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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Marathon Galveston Bay refinery in Texas preparing crude unit for restart

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marathon Petroleum Corp is preparing to restart a CDU by early next week at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The restart of the 225,000-bpd Pipestill 3B CDU will be the second crude unit restart since the refinery was shut on Feb. 15 by severe cold weather, the sources said. Marathon restarted the 225,000-bpd Pipestill 3A CDU on Sunday.

As MRC informed earlier, most units were shut on Sunday night and Monday morning (15-16 February) at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 585,000 barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, as temperatures plunged due to a Arctic cold front reaching the Gulf Coast.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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Shell pushes back refinery restart

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc pushed back the restart of its 318,000 bpd joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery to March 13, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith declined comment.

Shell had planned to restart the 270,000-bpd DU-2 crude distillation unit (CDU), the largest at the refinery, by early this week, the sources said.

Shell is continuing repairs at the refinery to enable it to restart from the Feb. 15 shutdown because of cold weather, the sources said. Repairs could last until April.

The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint venture between Shell and Mexican national oil company Pemex. Shell is the managing partner.

As MRC informed previously, in early November 2020, Royal Dutch Shell announced it was closing its refinery in Convent, Louisiana, the largest such US facility and first on the US Gulf Coast to shut down since the coronavirus pandemic devastated worldwide demand.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

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.
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