U.S. renewable diesel capacity could increase due to upcoming projects

U.S. renewable diesel capacity could increase due to upcoming projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. production capacity for renewable diesel could increase significantly through 2024, based on several announcements for projects that either are currently under construction or could be in development soon, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This growth is driven by higher state and federal targets for renewable fuel, favorable tax credits, and the conversion of existing petroleum refineries into renewable diesel refineries. As of the end of 2020, U.S. renewable diesel production capacity totaled nearly 0.6 billion gallons per year (gal/y), or 38,000 barrels per day (b/d). Several projects currently under construction could increase this capacity by 2.4 billion gal/y; proposed and announced projects would add another 1.8 billion gal/y by 2024. If all projects come online as intended, U.S. renewable diesel production would total 5.1 billion gal/y (330,000 b/d) by the end of 2024.

Despite growth in renewable diesel production, renewable diesel will make up about 5% of current U.S. diesel production capacity by 2024 if all estimates of proposed renewable diesel capacity expansions occur as planned and petroleum diesel refinery capacity remains largely unchanged.

Renewable diesel is a renewable fuel that is chemically the same as petroleum diesel and nearly identical in its performance characteristics. Renewable diesel can be blended into petroleum diesel at any level, making it different from biodiesel, which can only be blended at rates between 2% and 20% of diesel fuel by volume.

Renewable diesel receives some of the most favorable greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction scores among existing programs, such as the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). As a result, participants in those programs are increasingly using renewable diesel to meet rising renewable fuel targets.

Although most new capacity for renewable diesel will be on the West Coast, some announced projects are on the Gulf Coast. California and other western states such as Oregon and Washington will likely consume the majority of renewable diesel produced on the Gulf Coast to meet future LCFS program targets in those states.

Several former petroleum refineries plan to begin producing renewable biodiesel. Marathon Petroleum’s refinery in Martinez, California, plans to start producing renewable diesel in 2022 and could reach its full production capacity of 730 million gal/y (48,000 b/d) in 2023. Phillips 66’s Rodeo Renewed project in San Francisco, California, plans to produce 800 million gal/y (52,000 b/d) of renewable fuels when completely converted in 2024. If realized, this project would be the world’s largest facility of its kind.

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.
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Shell raises dividend by almost 40% amid soaring oil prices

Shell raises dividend by almost 40% amid soaring oil prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has raised its dividend almost 40 per cent and launched a USD2bn share buyback scheme, as the energy major takes advantage of stronger energy prices to try to attract back investors, said The Financial Times.

Thursday’s moves, which came as the group reported a jump in second-quarter earnings helped by oil’s recovery above USD70 a barrel, were more aggressive than analysts had anticipated and show the pressure on energy majors to resurrect flagging share prices.

France’s TotalEnergies also reported strong results on Thursday with its highest half-year earnings in five years, and will use some of its cash flow for share buybacks. Investors remain wary of a sector that has been hard hit by two price slumps since 2015 while facing the long-term challenge of a possible peak in oil demand and increasing government action to tackle climate change.

Shell’s shares rose 3.5 per cent on Thursday but remain more than 40 per cent down from where they were two years ago, when oil prices were marginally lower. The company had said in April the dividend would probably remain unchanged for the rest of 2021 after raising it slightly at its previous earning report.

“There is an element of confidence in raising the dividend,” said Ben van Beurden, chief executive. "We felt that our dividend needed to be reset as the gap between our dividend payout and free cash flow was simply too large. We wanted to signal to the market the confidence we have in our prospects and cash flows by making it permanent."

Analysts said the focus on returning cash was an effort to demonstrate that the energy majors remain huge generators of free cash flow when energy prices are strong, with the ability to bolster payouts to yield-hungry investors. "Shell’s stepping up distributions is extremely positive," said Biraj Borkhataria at RBC Capital Markets.

Shell’s dividend will rise to 24 cents a share from the second quarter, although it remains well below its pre-pandemic level. Last year the company slashed it by two-thirds to 16 cents, the first reduction since the second world war, as pandemic-induced lockdowns hit energy demand and pushed oil prices below USD20 a barrel. The policy of increasing dividends 4 per cent a year “remains unchanged”, the company said.

The buybacks were more widely anticipated, with investors keen to see energy companies returning cash rather than raising investment. Many had predicted, however, that the buyback would be closer to USD1.5bn. Shell said it would keep holding capital expenditure below USD22bn for the year. Oil and gas majors in Europe are trying to balance investor demand for higher returns and pressure to adjust their business models to align with climate goals.

Van Beurden said he was increasingly confident oil prices would remain strong in the medium term, partly resulting from under-investment in the sector, but indicated any increases to planned capital expenditure would be weighted towards the company’s strategy of boosting cleaner fuels such as hydrogen.

In the second quarter, Shell reported adjusted net profit of $5.5bn, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of USD5bn and up from USD3.2bn in the first quarter. Cash flow from operations, excluding working capital movements, hit USD14.2bn in the second quarter, exceeding analyst expectations for USD12.1bn. Total’s adjusted net income rose 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to USD3.5bn.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell closed the FCC unit at its Deer Park, TX facility on 18 July due to a fire. It is not known how long this facility will be closed with a capacity of 340,000 barrels per day and 90,000 tonnes of propylene per year.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries 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

Trinseo releases its 2021 Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Trinseo releases its 2021  Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Report

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, announced the release of its 2021 Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, which showcases how Trinseo is meeting or exceeding the highest standards of safety and environmental performance, while advancing innovative solutions to shape a more sustainable world, as per the company's press release.

This is the 11th report since the company’s formation in 2010 and has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards Core Option. GRI is the leading independent organization providing a common language and framework for public sustainability reporting, allowing more global comparability and better quality of information about company sustainability impacts. In addition, for the first time this year, Trinseo integrated disclosures aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards into its report. These additional disclosures enhance the Company’s reporting of financially material sustainability information to investors.

The report documents Trinseo’s progress through 2020, including steps taken toward achieving the Company’s 2030 Sustainability Goals. Highlights from the report include:

Advancing efforts to achieve circularity for polystyrene (PS): Trinseo made great strides toward unlocking the sustainable potential of polystyrene and working to close the loop on PS recycling. In 2020, the company participated in numerous initiatives and collaborations, including pursuing projects to advance the industrial validation of Recycling Technologies’ depolymerization technology in partnership with INEOS Styrolution.

Achieving Mass Balance Certification: Trinseo secured Mass Balance certification in 2020 for four families of products manufactured in Europe from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC), including PS, polycarbonate (PC), synthetic rubber, and styrene. Mass balance is a model designed to track the total amount of input of sustainable raw materials throughout the production cycle and ensure an appropriate allocation to the output of finished goods - thus enabling the tracking of sustainably advantaged materials through complex value chains.

Prioritizing Workplace Safety and Employee Health: Given the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and safety, Trinseo prioritized Employee Health & Safety in 2020 and implemented new and enhanced safety protocols, safety trainings, and wellness programs. Trinseo’s injury rate for the year was 0.28, significantly lower than the average rate for U.S. manufacturers of 3.3i and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) member companies’ average injury rate of 0.73ii, and there were no cases of work-related COVID-19 illness for employees or contractors in 2020.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price decrease for polystyrene (PS) in Europe in July. Thus, effective July 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR190 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR170 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, market players expected August prices for Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material to be announced this week. By the end of the week, Nizhnekamskneftekhim reported a reduction of Rb5,000/tonne in its next month's PS prices, siad several major market players.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

BASF reports second-quarter net profit beat on increased volumes, prices

BASF reports second-quarter net profit beat on increased volumes, prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The world’s largest chemical producer BASF reported a better-than-expected second-quarter net profit as it managed to increase volumes and prices thanks to strong demand, said the company.

Low commodity prices during the coronavirus pandemic weighed on BASF’s earnings last year, but the German group recorded a rapid recovery so far in 2021 as the global economy picked up faster than expected.

“We achieved volumes growth and price increases across all regions and all segments compared with the second quarter of 2020,” BASF’s Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said in a statement.

The Germany-based giant reported a second-quarter net income of 1.7 billion euros (USD2.01 billion) compared to the 1.4 billion euros expected on average by analysts in a company-provided poll.

The diversified group said price and volumes increased especially in its surface technologies, chemicals, materials and industrial solutions segments.

The company confirmed the preliminary figures for second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and sales as well as the 2021 guidance it announced on July 9.

As per MRC, BASF, the world leader in the production of chemical products in the world, keeps the capacity utilization at its expandable polystyrene plant (EPS) at its complex in Ludwigshafen (Ludwigshafen, Germany) at a reduced level in July due to technical problems. Thus, a technical malfunction at the reactor of one of the lines of this enterprise with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year, discovered on 11 July, led to a reduction in the production of Styropor F95, Peripor and F15 grades.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, EPS consumption in Russia amounted to 40,690 tonnes in the first five months of this year, an 18% increase over the same period last year. In May, the consumption of EPS in the country increased by 35% compared to the same month a year earlier and amounted to 8,790 tonnes.

BASF SE (headquartered in Ludwigshafen) - the world's largest manufacturer of chemical products for the industry, including the extraction and processing of oil and gas; has more than 150 production sites in the world, including a number of production lines in the Russian Federation.
MRC

PKN Orlen selects KBR technologies for its Plock refinery

PKN Orlen selects KBR technologies for its Plock refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR has been awarded technology licensing contracts by PKN Orlen for KBR's leading Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) and Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) technologies as part of PKN's Bottom-of-the-Barrel project for its Plock Refinery in Poland, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the contracts, KBR will provide technology licensing and basic engineering design for the SDA and RFCC units. Following a PKN Orlen final investment decision, the SDA unit will be based on KBR's market-leading supercritical solvent recovery ROSE technology and will help PKN Orlen achieve its operating objectives, producing cleaner upgraded feedstock for the new RFCC unit. For the RFCC unit, KBR will provide its innovative, dual-riser MAXOFIN technology, which uses conventional FCC operating conditions, KBR's proprietary catalyst additives and state-of-the-art equipment to help PKN Orlen maximize propylene production from traditional FCC feedstocks and naphtha streams.

The combination of both proprietary technologies would allow PKN Orlen to upgrade crude residue and naphtha streams to petrochemical feedstocks and clean transportation fuels to address market demands.

"Selection of KBR's energy-efficient and sustainable technologies by PKN represents continued trust in our industry-leading refinery technologies," said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology. "Our ROSE technology delivers 50% energy saving over conventional solvent deasphalting technologies and MAXOFIN technology helps refiners maximize feedstock flexibility to produce higher value petrochemical products."

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, PKN Orlen signed a final contract with Hyundai Engineering and Tecnicas Reunidas for the engineering and construction of the main units for PKN Orlen's previously announced Olefins Complex III project at Plock, Poland.

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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

PKN Orlen is a leading player on the fuels and energy markets, and the largest company in Central and Eastern Europe, listed in prestigious global rankings such as Fortune Global 500, Platts TOP250 and Thompson Reuters TOP100. The ORLEN Group operates in 6 home markets – Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia and Canada.
MRC