ExxonMobil is advancing a carbon capture and storage project in US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil is advancing a carbon capture and storage project along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico through talks with rivals and government officials, Chief Executive Darren Woods said in an interview, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The largest U.S. oil producer this month floated a public-private initiative that would collect and sequester planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from petrochemical plants along the Houston Ship Channel, a 50-mile (80-km) long waterway that is part of the Port of Houston.

Woods declined to identify by name the businesses Exxon hopes to attract to the project, saying he aims to lure the region's top 50 CO2 emitters, and is lobbying federal, state and local officials for support. "I've been very involved with conversations with the mayor and the local government officials in Houston, with the governor and officials here in Texas, and at the federal level in the administration on this opportunity," Woods said in an interview.

It would cost at least USD100 billion from companies and government agencies to finance a project that could store 50 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 and double that amount by 2040, Exxon has said. Exxon and U.S. rivals Chevron Corp and Occidental Petroleum are "uniquely positioned to scale" carbon capture and storage technology, said Morgan Stanley analyst Devin McDermott in a report on Friday. The Houston Ship Channel proposal would require "new policies to drive investment," he said.

The project faces enormous hurdles, including financing and support from government agencies for permitting and carbon regulations. Woods compared the project to "starting a new business, like we did in Papua New Guinea, like we're doing in Guyana, where you've got to bring together a lot of different factors to make those concepts work," Woods said.

The proposal arose as Exxon faces a proxy fight over its plan to increase fossil fuel production that could greatly expand its carbon emissions. Activist hedge fund Engine No. 1 is battling the company over four board seats and the company's strategic direction.

"We're basically working and using the channels that we've exercised real well over the years in terms of how do you bring together these large scale, complicated project opportunities to move the needle," Woods said.

As per MRC, two senior crude oil traders will be leaving ExxonMobil Corp's trading team in Singapore next month. Ruddin Dhilawala will join Norwegian energy major Equinor, while Edward Ang will go to Hengyi Petrochemical, which runs a refinery in Brunei, the sources said. Exxon Mobil said it does not comment on personnel matters. Equinor and Hengyi did not respond to requests for comment.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of PE and PP, respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

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

1. Idemitsu halves its profit outlook for 3 years to March 2023 as COVID-19 pandemic hits fuel demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co more than halved its profit forecast for the three years to March 2023 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit fuel demand, forcing it to make a tougher assumption for longer-term demand, reported Reuters. Idemitsu revised its 3-year business plan unveiled in November 2019, now predicting an accumulated net profit of 220 billion yen (USD2 billion) for the three years ending March 2023, instead of its earlier target of 480 billion yen. “It has only been a year and a half, but the environment has undergone tremendous changes with the unprecedented crisis of coronavirus pandemic, green recovery and carbon-neutral declaration by the Japanese government,” Idemitsu President Shunichi Kito told a news conference.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were rangebound during mid-morning Asian trade May 20, following an overnight slide, on increasing prospects of the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the strengthening US dollar and bearish Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, reported S&P Global.

At 10:49 am Singapore time (0249 GMT), the ICE Brent July contract rose 5 cents/b (0.08%) from the May 19 settle at USD66.71/b, while the June NYMEX light sweet crude contract was up 6 cents/b (0.09%) at USD63.41/b.

According to media reports, the EU official leading the nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran, Enrique Mora, was optimistic that the JCPOA will soon be reinstated. He told reporters at the end of a fourth round of negotiations in Vienna: "I am quite sure that there will be a final agreement... I think we are on the right track and we will get an agreement."

With a fifth round of talks expected to begin early next week, the market grew anxious of the prospects of the restoration of the JCPOA, which could lead to Iran increasing oil production to pre-sanction levels of about 3.9 million b/d next year, analysts said. Margaret Yang, DailyFX Strategist, told S&P Global Platts May 20 that the progress towards the JCPOA negotiations was one of the main factors pressuring crude, with the risk-off sentiment in the broader financial markets and a rapidly strengthening US dollar also providing headwinds for prices.

The US Federal Open Market Commission's meeting minutes on May 19 showed that some Federal Reserve officials think it might be appropriate at some point "in the upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases." This slightly hawkish slant to the FOMC minutes sent Treasury yields higher, putting upward pressure on the US dollar.

The June contract for the ICE US dollar index was trading at 90.150 at 10:37 am, 0.46% higher than the previous settle.. A stronger US dollar makes dollar denominated assets such as oil more expensive for buyers holding foreign currency.

Adding to the bearishness in the market was the EIA data released on May 19, which showed US crude inventories rising 1.32 million barrels in the week ended May 14.

As MRC wrote earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- GS Caltex, a major South Korean petrochemical producer, is planning to start up its new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Yeosu this June 2021, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

This schedule is earlier than the initial plan of 2022.

The HDPE unit has an annual capacity of 500,000 tons/year that would concentrate on producing the film (TR-144, TRB-115), blow molding (5520BN or BM593), and injection (6060 or 6060UV) grades.

The company also operates the new mixed-feed cracker that produces 700,000 tons/year of ethylene and 180,000 tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at the same complex.

The project is a 50-50 joint venture between GS Energy Corp. and Chevron Corp., costing 2 trillion won (USD1.84 billion) that started construction work in 2019.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall HDPE production of totalled 505,800 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, up by 15% year on year. At the same time, only one Russian producer increased its output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) announced the successful startup of a 100% renewable base oil unit in Novvi's Deer Park, Houston facility that employs CLG's patented state-of-the-art ISODEWAXING catalyst and technology, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chevron, one of the joint venture parents of CLG, is an equity partner in Novvi LLC (Novvi), a California-based company that engages in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of high-performance base oils from renewable sources.

Chevron's Richmond Technology Center is home to CLG's revolutionary ISODEWAXING technology. A research and development facility that has led the development of various technological advancements to bring cleaner fuels, premium base oils, and now renewable base oils to the market to continue to enable cleaner, more sustainable, and affordable energy across the globe in both fuels and lubricants.

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2020, Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) was awarded a contract by China's largest oil and gas producer and distributor, PetroChina Company Limited, for the supply of its proprietary ISOMIX-e reactor internals for two of their RDS units in Liaoning Province.

We remind that in September 2020, Chevron Phillips Chemical, part of Chevron Corporation, deferred a final investment decision on a USD8 billion joint venture petrochemical complex project along the US Gulf Coast that was expected in 2021. The project, in partnership with Qatar Petroleum (QP), was announced in July 2019. It is slated to include a 2 million mt/year cracker and two 1 million mt/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plants. The FID delay will also push the original target startup date past 2024.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and HDPE shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

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