Workers will return to work at Marathon refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unionized workers will return to work at a Minnesota refinery after reaching a six-year contract agreement with Marathon Petroleum that ends a months-long work stoppage, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Teamsters Local 120 in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, approved a revised contract offer from Marathon Petroleum after fighting proposals that could have cut jobs and subcontracted maintenance work. The local, which represents nearly 200 jobs, will return to work at Marathon's 104,000 barrel-per-day refinery on July 6, ending a stoppage that began in January.

The company is the second-largest independent U.S. refiner behind Valero, with plants in Illinois, Minnesota, and other states. Marathon had brought in out-of-state workers to operate the facility while the workers were locked out.

The revised agreement does not address all of the union's concerns, and the Teamsters will continue to advocate for refinery safety through its grievance process and legislatively through policy change, according to business manager Scott Kroona.

He said a major factor in the union's decision was the inclusion of language in a state public safety bill requiring Minnesota refineries to maintain a full-time paid fire department to respond to emergency situations. "The ratified contract focuses on safety, the continuous improvement of our refinery, fair wage increases for our employees, and contracts out only one, non-safety sensitive job," a Marathon spokesperson said.

Union workers repeatedly argued that Marathon's proposals jeopardized safety, and various members accused the company of fostering an unsafe work environment at the refinery, which Marathon denied. read more. The Teamsters and Minnesota building trades pushed for a bill requiring state refinery workers to undergo training similar to a union apprenticeship. Legislators stripped out that provision from a state jobs bill last month.

As MRC informed earlier, Marathon Petroleum shut down a catalytic cracking unit in Galveston Bay on 18 June for scheduled maintenance. Maintenance at the 250,000 tonnes of propylene per year cat cracking unit will continue for 14 days.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Marathon Petroleum was founded in 2005 as the oil transportation, refining and marketing division of Marathon Oil. In 2011, the division became completely independent from the parent company.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum entered into a long-term Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Shell for the supply of 1 million tons per year of LNG to the People's Republic of China for ten years, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

LNG deliveries will commence in January 2022 to various LNG terminals in China. Commenting on this occasion, His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said, “We are pleased to enter into this new LNG SPA with our trusted partner, Shell. I am especially delighted that this agreement will meet part of the demand of Shell’s end customers in China, thereby further supplementing Qatar’s contribution to meeting China's growing energy needs."

H.E. Minister Al-Kaabi concluded his remarks by saying, “This SPA further highlights our ability to meet the requirements of our customers and partners across the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the management and staff of Shell for the successful conclusion of this SPA, which is another testament to our long and fruitful partnership. I would also like to thank Sheikh Khalid Khalifa Al Thani, the CEO of Qatargas, and his team for their valuable contributions to reinforce Qatar’s position in the LNG market, and meet the needs of our customers."

Qatar Petroleum plans to supply the LNG volumes contracted under this agreement from its Qatargas 1 venture, which will become 100% owned by Qatar Petroleum as of January 1st 2022.

China is considered a major customer for the State of Qatar and a strategic partner in the energy sector. With the conclusion of this agreement, China will be supplied with approximately 12 MPTA of LNG under long term SPAs from Qatar.

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2020, the Chevron Phillips joint venture postponed final approval for a USD8 billion Gulf Coast plant, which it planned to approve next year with Qatar Petroleum. Chevron Phillips Chemical and Qatar Petroleum signed an agreement to build a 1.9 MTPA ethane cracker and 1.68 MTPA HDPE in the industrial city of Ras Laffan in Qatar.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huizhou QuanMei Petrochemical Terminal Co. has awarded a contract to Vopak for storage and services of a liquid products terminal that would be constructed and operated as part of ExxonMobil?s proposed Huizhou chemical complex project in China, according to Apic-online.

The complex, to be located in Daya Bay Petrochemical Park, will include a 1.6-million-t/y flexible feed ethylene steam cracker, two performance polyethylene (PE) lines and two differentiated performance polypropylene (PP) lines.

The project was earlier scheduled to start up in 2023.

The new 560,000 cu m terminal would serve the steam cracker, and would include pipelines to connect a jetty to the chemical complex, which is still subject to a final investment decision.

Under Vopak?s contract, it would obtain a 30% ownership interest in the terminal and pipelines.

As MRC informed previously, in June 2021, Gov. John Bel Edwards and ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery Manager David Oldreive announced the company’s final investment decision for more than USD240 million in capital improvements at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell launched Europe's biggest hydrogen electrolysis plant of 10 megawatts (MW) called Refhyne at the Wesseling site of its Rheinland refinery after two years of construction, expanding further into alternative energies, reported Reuters.

The plant will produce green fuels within a European Union-funded consortium which is already setting sights on a facility of 100 MW at the site near Cologne to scale up its commercial operations.

Hydrogen is considered "green" when it is produced from renewable power from wind or solar through electrolysis whereas "grey" hydrogen from fossil fuels is a feedstock in many standard industry processes today. Hydrogen has a high energy content by mass, but conversion losses from electrolysis and high costs involved in readying it for delivery pose challenges.

Under the EU Green Deal's climate targets, green quality hydrogen is expected to play a role in energy, but also in mobility, heat provision, and hard-to-decarbonise industries such as steel or cement.

Shell also aims to produce sustainable aviation fuel from renewable electricity and biomass at Wesseling as well as developing a plant for liquefied renewable natural gas (bio-LNG).

The polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyser will use renewable power to produce up to 1,300 tonnes a year of green hydrogen, initially to be used to produce fuels with lower carbon intensity and later to decarbonise other industries.

The plant has cost around EUR20 million (USD23.72 million) of which half came from EU funds.

As MRC informed earlier, following the announcement of a joint development agreement in June 2020, Dow and Shell have recently reported progress on their technology programme to electrically heat steam cracker furnaces. This new route has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from one of the central processes of the chemical industry.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kumho Petrochemical has recently agreed to purchase the 50% stake of Kumho Polychem held by its joint venture partner, JSR, making Kumho Petrochemical the sole owner from July 2021 onward, according to Apic-online.

Kumho Polychem, established in 1985, has a production capacity of 220,000 t/y of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). It also produces thermoplastic vulcanizate, and other materials used in automotive and other industries.

Value of the transaction was not disclosed.

"This decision was made to enhance the group's compet-itiveness as a whole, based on the competence that Kumho Petrochemical has built in the synthetic rubber industry over the years," Kumho Petrochemical noted.

As MRC wrote before, in April 2021, Kumho Mitsui Chemicals Inc. said it will invest about 400 billion won (USD358.1 million) to expand its chemical manufacturing factory in South Korea's southwestern region. The joint venture between Korean synthetic rubber maker Kumho Petrochemical and Mitsui Chemicals of Japan said its shareholders approved the investment plan to scale up a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) factory in Yeosu, 455 kilometers southwest of Seoul. MDI is a core material of polyurethane, which is used in various products, including refrigerators, building materials, car interior and exterior materials, and LNG vessels.

EPDM is used in the production of block comopymer of propylene (PP-block), rubber products, spongy products, for insulating wires and cables; EPDM in combination with other rubbers is also used for the manufacture of tires and a number of polypropylene (PP) parts; in housing construction - as a sealant, waterproofing and roofing (roll) material.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PP production increased to about 851,100 tonnes in first five months of 2021, up by 13% year on year. Three producers increased their output.
MRC