BP signs memorandum with CEMEX to decarbonise concrete industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with materials major CEMEX to decarbonise the concrete industry, said the company.

BP is partnering with Cemex to reduce carbon emissions from the cement industry, one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize globally.

The British oil major on Thursday said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mexico-based cement giant to develop solutions to decarbonize the cement production process and transportation. Potential solutions include using low-carbon power and transport, improving cement production’s energy efficiency and using carbon offset and carbon capture and storage to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We're proud to collaborate with a global company that shares our goal to transition to a more sustainable future,” Angelica Ruiz, BP's senior vice president for Latin America said in a statement. “Our collaboration with Cemex is another step towards our ambition to be a net-zero company by 2050 or sooner and help the world to get to net-zero."

Oil companies are under increasing pressure to lower harmful greenhouse gas emissions not only from their own operations, but from other fossil-fuel intensive industries such as cement manufacturing, commercial aviation and maritime transportation. Cement manufacturing is one of the world’s largest producers of carbon dioxide, emitting the greenhouse gas both from the burning of fossil fuels and as a byproduct of the production process.

Other oil majors have partnered with their clients to tackle the global problem of climate change. Chevron last month said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Toyota North America, headquartered in Plano, to develop hydrogen fuel stations and storage facilities to expand the market for hydrogen vehicles.

Cemex, whose North American headquarters is in Houston, said it expected the world will continue to rely on concrete even as societies shift toward a low-carbon future. Concrete is the primary building material for residential and commercial construction and highways and roads.

As per MRC, Rosneft, the largest state oil company in the Russian Federation, was the first Russian oil company to decide to develop its hydrogen business. British BP will act as a partner. Together they will study the prospects for new projects using renewable energy sources (RES), as well as the use of technologies for capturing, utilizing and storing CO2. Earlier in Russia, Gazprom and Novatek spoke about their intention to create a hydrogen business and new technologies for the disposal of harmful emissions.

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.

BP plc (until May 2001 - British Petroleum) is a British oil and gas company, the second largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) will use Honeywell UOP technology to produce cleaner-burning diesel fuel in compliance with India’s BS-VI emission standards and increase crude oil conversion, said Hydrocarbonengineering.

The Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) will facilitate economic development in the north-eastern states of India by expanding the region’s crude processing capacity from the present 3.0 million tpy to 9.0 million tpy in Numaligarh, located in the Indian state of Assam.

The UOP Distillate Unionfining™ process will enable NRL to produce diesel that complies with India’s BS-VI emission standards, which were implemented last year. The process removes impurities to improve the quality of middle distillate feedstocks that meet increasingly stringent regulations for fuels such as diesel.

“This project with Numaligarh marks the first-ever UOP licensed process unit in an NRL refinery, and it’s the first grassroots diesel hydrotreating unit in India using a latest-generation UOP catalyst,” said Mike Banach, Managing Director, UOP India. “The Unionfining technology will help NRL increase crude processing capacity and comply with ever-stricter standards for diesel production.”

UOP Unionfining technology provides flexible solutions to gas oil conversion for ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and kerosene production. UOP has licensed more than 370 Unionfining units globally.

The NREP expansion is part of the Government of India’s Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the northeast Indian states. It also is integrated with a new crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh in Assam, and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri in West Bengal where NRL has its own marketing terminal for product distribution.

NRL, one of the four refineries in oil- and gas-rich Assam, was set up at Numaligarh in Golaghat district of Assam in accordance with the provisions made in the historic Assam Accord signed on 15 August 1985. It was created as a vehicle for speedy industrial and economic development of the region.

As per MRC, Honeywell announced that Lotte GS Chemical Corp. will use Honeywell UOP Q-Max, Phenol 3G, and Evonik MSHP technologies to produce more than 565,000 metric tons per year of phenol and acetone at its petrochemicals facility in Yeosu, Korea. UOP is providing a license for the technology, in addition to basic engineering design services, key equipment, catalysts and adsorbents and technical services.

Along with phenol, acetone is largely used to produce bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used in the production of plastics such as polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall consumption of PC granules (excluding exports from Belarus) totalled 8,100 tonnes in January 2021, up by 20% year on year (6,800 tonnes a year earlier).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The largest US refinery shut two crude distillation units because of the Colonial Pipeline outage, according to Reuters with reference to people familiar with the matter.

Motiva Enterprises LLC's 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery shut the 195,000-bpd VPS-4 CDU and the 80,000-bpd VPS-2 CDU along with the 49,000-bpd reformer and 19,200-bpd lube oil hydrocracker, the people said.

Temporary idling production on the two CDUs reduces production at Motiva's refinery by 45%. Motiva's refinery has three CDUs. The largest of the three, the 325,000-bpd VPS-5, remained in operation on Monday, the sources said. CDUs break down crude oil into the feedstocks for all other units in the refinery.

Motiva declined to discuss the status of individual units at the Port Arthur refinery.

As MRC reported previously, in early March, 2021, Motiva Chemicals was resuming operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and is expected to finish in the first week of March 2021. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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

1. Sadara first quarter profit surges on chemical prices increase

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sadara Basic Service’s first-quarter profit jumped year on year on the back of firmer pricing and debt re-profiling, the Saudi-based joint venture producer said. Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced its first quarter financial performance for 2021, stating that the company’s revenues reached more than SR4.4 billion — 30.5% higher compared to the previous quarter in 2020 and an increase of more than 80% compared to the same quarter last year. For the first time in its history, Sadara’s net profits after Zakat & Tax in this first quarter exceeded SR1.6 billion compared to net losses of more than SR1.27 billion and SR24 million in the same quarter of 2020 and last quarter, respectively.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil futures prices fell in midmorning London trading May 13 on news that the key Colonial Pipeline in the US has restarted operations following a cyberattack on May 7, reported S&P Global.

At 11:04 am London time (1004 GMT), the ICE July Brent contract was down USD1.74/b (2.5%) from the May 12 settle at USD69.32/b while the NYMEX June light sweet crude contract was down USD1.79/b cents/b (2.7%) at USD66.10/b.

"Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal," Colonial said in a statement. "Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal."

As MRC informed earlier, Colonial had halted all pipeline operations May 7 because of a ransomware attack. The halt restricted flows of gasoline and other refined products for much of the US South and East Coast, preventing the pipeline from delivering more than 100 million gallons/d of fuel and heating oil. The shutdown and subsequent market reaction raised gasoline prices above USD3/gallon - the highest level since 2014.

While Colonial's announcement was an "encouraging development," the pipeline will take several days to completely return, and "there is significant panic buying in the United States (even in locations not served by the pipeline) which exacerbates the impact of the shortfall," according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.

We remind that Marathon Petroleum, the largest US refiner, can meet its supply commitments for now but is working to find alternative ways to ship motor fuels to the eastern United States if the Colonial Pipeline shutdown is extended.

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