Occidental Petroleum plans to construct bio-ethylene plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum's low-carbon unit said it plans to construct and operate a pilot plant that would use human-made carbon dioxide, instead of hydrocarbon-sourced feedstocks, to produce bio-ethylene, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The pilot plant will be jointly developed by Occidental's venture capital arm, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, and bio-engineering startup, Cemvita Factory. It is expected to start functioning in 2022. Bio-ethylene is currently made from bio-ethanol, which is made from sugarcane.

The new technology produces bio-ethylene from carbon dioxide, water and light, which helps lower costs and carbon emissions, Cemvita's Chief Executive Officer Moji Karimi said. Ethylene, widely used in the chemical industry, is a component of products ranging from plastic films to PVC piping and coolants.

Interest in low-carbon initiatives has grown in recent years, ranging from companies seeking to offset their climate impact to public officials worried about the slow pace of international agreements to cut emissions.

Oxy Low Carbon Ventures in 2019 had invested in Cemvita to look at bio-manufacturing for Occidental's chemical unit.

As per MRC, OxyChem, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), a major international petrochemicals manufacturer, resumed production of caustic soda, chlorine and VCM in Corpus Christi, Louisiana, USA, which had previously been closed due to a winter storm. This production with a capacity of 678,000 tonnes/year of caustic soda, 605,000 tonnes/year of chlorine per year was closed in mid-February due to severe frosts in the region.

According to MRC ScanPlast, March production of unmixed PVC in Russia was 90,200 tonnes from 79,400 tonnes a month earlier, all producers increased capacity utilisation in March. Total PVC production in Russia reached 259,400 tonnes in January - March 2021 against 266,900 tonnes a year earlier, a decrease in production volumes was seen from all producers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde Engineering to design and build an integrated hydrogen fueling station and electrolysis plant for German waste-to-energy recycling company AGR Abfallentsorgungs-Gesellschaft Ruhrgebiet, said the company.

The project comprising hydrogen production and high-performance fueling technology is receiving funding of up to EUR6.2 million from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the framework of the National Innovation Program Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). The funding guidelines are being coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the company Project Management Julich (PtJ).

The project encompasses proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, compressors, storage tanks and high-performance fueling stations. The contract also includes provisions for Linde Engineering to provide maintenance and service. The electrolyzers will have an annual capacity of around 440,000 kg of hydrogen. The electricity will come from AGR’s waste-to-energy thermal power plant, where municipal and commercial waste with a biogenic content of around 50 percent serves as the primary fuel source. The electricity required for the production of green hydrogen will come from AGR’s energy efficiency measures, while securing the feed of green electricity and environmentally friendly heat into the public grids.

As MRC informed earlier, Ruskhimalliance, a parity joint venture between Gazprom and Rusgazvydobuvannya, on March 26 signed an agreement of intent with the Linde Engineering holding, part of the German The Linde Group, on the project for the implementation of a gas processing plant (GPP) in Ust-Luga. Ruskhimalliance intends to approximately halve the cost of the contract for the creation of a gas processing plant in Ust-Luga. The contract price will be EUR5 billion against EUR10 billion with the previous contractor, one of the interlocutors said.

According to the ScanPlast by MRC, the estimated consumption of PE in Russia amounted to 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 against 217,890 tonnes in the same period a year earlier. Only high-density polyethylene (LDPE) and low-density polyethylene (HDPE) supplies have grown.

Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2020 sales of USD27 billion (EUR24 billion). We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish energy firm Repsol said it will furlough up to 830 workers at its A Coruna and Puertollano refineries in Spain as pandemic restrictions have led to an "unprecedented" slump in demand for fuels, reported Reuters.

"It is a sustained situation that has kept fuel consumption for transport much lower than expected," Repsol said in a statement.

In Q1 2021, the profit Repsol makes on refining products that come into its refineries in Spain decreased to USD0.2 per barrel from USD4.7 in the first three months of 2020, its trading statement released on Thursday showed.

Uncertainty generated by the broad global shift towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels contributed to the decision to furlough the workers, Repsol said.

As MRC informed previously, Repsol is seeking European pandemic recovery funds to support projects including new biofuel plants and 'green' hydrogen production made from renewable sources in a pivot away from oil and gas to supplying low-carbon energy.

We remind that Repsol's refinery at Puertollano in central Spain has recently carried out an upgrade of its olefins unit. The modernization was a part of planned maintenance of the cracker and chemical derivative plants at the end of 2020.

We also remind that Spain’s Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Danaflex (Tatarstan) plans to build a new plant on the territory of the special economic zone "Alabuga" in Tatarstan, Tatar-Inform reports.

The launch of the production capacity of Danaflex was discussed on 5 April during a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the SEZ. It is planned to create a new packaging plant on the territory of the special economic zone. The volume of investments is over 4.5 billion rubles The commissioning of the plant is scheduled for the first half of 2022.

In 2018, the Danaflex group of companies opened a plant on the territory of the special economic zone "Alabuga" for the production of up to 22,000 tonnes of flexible packaging materials for food and non-food products. Investments exceeded Rb3 bn.

In addition, Danaflex launched the production of IML labels for food and non-food products in February 2020. Danaflex has created a product that meets the most important requirement of the time - recycling, since the product and packaging consist of mono-raw materials. This is the reason for the general trend of transition of other types of marking (self-adhesive, dry label, direct printing, etc.) to IML label.

According to the ScanPlast by MRC, the estimated consumption of PE in Russia amounted to 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 against 217,890 tonnes in the same period a year earlier. Only high-density polyethylene (LDPE) and low-density polyethylene (HDPE) supplies have grown.

Danaflex Group of Companies was founded in 2001. The main activity is the production of flexible packaging materials for various industries. The group positions itself as the largest manufacturer of packaging materials. The structure of the GC includes four production facilities: CJSC Danaflex, LLC Danaflex-Nano, LLC Danaflex-Alabuga and DGPack s.r.o (in the Czech Republic). In 2018, the group's revenue amounted to RUB 12.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Firefighters responded to a large fire at a chemical warehouse in the Channelview neighborhood of Houston, Texas, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Local media reported residents heard loud noises followed by a huge plume of smoke filling the air above the K-Solv facility, which stores chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, acetone, ethanol, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and other acids.

K-Solv director of environmental health, safety and security, Mikie Sopczak, said the fire started during a dump transfer operation in which one product is transferred into a smaller container. An ignition source caused the fire during a transfer, although it is unclear which chemical was burning.

The company said all employees were safe and accounted for. One person was transported to an area hospital for respiratory issues as a precautionary measure.

The Houston ship pilots association said vessel traffic along the Houston Ship Channel was not affected by the blaze. The fire happened north of the waterway through which crude oil, motor fuels and petrochemicals move in and out of the nation’s busiest energy port.

As MRC reported before, earlier this year, another US petrochemical producer - Delek US - issued a statement regarding the fire over the weekend at their El Dorado refinery. According to Delek US, the fire at the Penex unit occurred on Saturday, February 27. An on-site emergency response team along with the El Dorado Fire Department were able to extinguish the fire. The air quality was monitored following the fire and Delek US says they have not detected any adverse impacts.

EDC is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production reached 169,200 tonnes in the first two months of 2021, down 4% year on year. All producers decreased production volumes over the reported period.
MRC