Shell Catalysts & Technologies commercializes latest generation catalyst at Ningbo Zhongjin PetroChemical

Shell Catalysts & Technologies commercializes latest generation catalyst at Ningbo Zhongjin PetroChemical

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SC&T) has successfully commercialized OparisNext, their latest generation catalyst, at Ningbo Zhongjin PetroChemical Co, Ltd. Ningbo Zhongjin is one of the leading paraxylene (PX) producers in China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Over the past decades, the Oparis series has offered proven catalytic benefits for key PX producers, resulting in more efficient operations and significant financial benefits. With the latest patented zeolite innovation in the OparisNext catalyst, it serves as the bedrock of attaining high ethylbenzene conversion while achieving excellent PX-ate at high space velocity (refer to charts shown below). These performance indicators are crucial in maximizing margins and strengthening the competitive position of Ningbo Zhongjin PetroChemical in the PX industry.

"We are very glad to be the first user of OparisNext, very happy to see that all the performance data can meet the guarantees. The excellent EthyleneBenzene (EB) conversion, low C8 ring loss are helping Ningbo Zhongjin to maximize operating margin. We believe the new catalyst will help us be more competitive in the PX market in China," said Mr Li Libo, Operating Vice-President of Ningbo Zhongjin. Having total PX capacity of 1600 KTA, the EthyleneBenzene Reformer (EBR) unit has undergone a catalyst changeout to OparisNext and successfully commissioned in 2021 with stellar performance results exceeding guarantee requirements.

In addition to high-performance catalyst, SC&T also offers excellent dedicated technical support to its customers to maximize the long-term profitability of the site and thereby maintaining its stronghold market share in China. “We are pleased to see the successful commercialization of OparisNext in Ningbo Zhongjin. We are also very glad to see our market-leading EBR catalyst being the key to maximize their returns since 2005.” said Ms. Agnes Lim, Marketing Manager of Specialty Catalyst, SC&T.

As of mid-2021, SC&T maintains two-thirds of its EBR catalyst inventory in China and expected to grow given the successful commercialization of OparisNext catalyst.

As MRC wrote before, Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

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.
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PetroChina aims for even split for oil, gas, green energies by 2035 in line with its strategy of lower-carbon future

PetroChina aims for even split for oil, gas, green energies by 2035 in line with its strategy of lower-carbon future

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina aims to have oil, gas and green energies to each account for a third of its portfolio by 2035, it said, as the Chinese oil major shifts toward a lower-carbon future, reported Reuters.

For PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer, natural gas currently accounts for about 47% of total output and oil the rest. It is at the early stages of developing renewables.

"Our capital spending will increase progressively on green energies," said chairman Dai Houliang.

In addition to expanding natural gas production, PetroChina is zeroing in on geothermal, solar and wind power, by adding renewable projects in 2021 with total capacity of 3.45 million tonnes of standard coal equivalent. It also has 350,000 tonnes of standard coal equivalent projects under construction.

PetroChina posted an interim profit of 53.04 billion yuan (USD8.18 billion) thanks to rising oil and gas prices and a recovery in Chinese fuel demand from the coronavirus pandemic slump. That compared to a net loss of 29.98 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. First-half revenue was up 29% at 1.197 trillion yuan.

Oil and gas output dipped 1.7% on-year to 819.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, with crude oil down 6.8% but gas up 5.1%. Refinery throughput rose 6.7% to about 3.35 million barrels per day and sales of gasoline, diesel and kerosene combined were up 4.9% at 80.34 million tonnes.

Its domestic gas sales climbed 17.6% to a record 96.25 billion cubic metres amid robust demand growth from industries and power plants under a consistent government push for less-polluting fuels. The firm sees China's gas demand to rise 7-9% annually between 2021 and 2025 and that of refined fuel growing at 1.2% per annum.

Capital expenditure totalled 73.9 billion yuan in the first half, 1.2% below a year earlier and represented 31% of annual budget for 2021.

As MRC wrote before, PetroChina Liaoyang Petrochemical Co Ltd , part of the Chinese petrochemical major - PetroChina,successfully started up its new polypropylene (PP) plant last week. Based in Liaoning City, Liaoyang Province, China, the new PP plant has a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 26.08.2021

1. Crude oil futures drop in Asia as investors see selling opportunities

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures settled lower during mid-afternoon trade in Asia Aug. 26 as investors saw selling opportunities, but analysts remain bullish as COVID-19-driven apprehensions took a back seat amid continued demand recovery and unexpected supply tightness, reported S&P Global. At 2:38 pm Singapore time (0638 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was down 15 cents/b (0.21%) from the previous close at USD72.10/b while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was down 28 cents/b (0.41%) at USD68.08/b. "Sentiment has turned bullish after the US drug regulator granted full approval to the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, stoking investor hopes that higher fuel demand will follow a potential step up in US coronavirus vaccination rates," said Avtar Sandu, senior manager commodities at Phillip Futures in an Aug. 26 note. "China's apparent success in fighting the Delta variant had boosted demand sentiment further with no cases of transmitted infections."

MRC

Crude oil futures drop in Asia as investors see selling opportunities

Crude oil futures drop in Asia as investors see selling opportunities

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures settled lower during mid-afternoon trade in Asia Aug. 26 as investors saw selling opportunities, but analysts remain bullish as COVID-19-driven apprehensions took a back seat amid continued demand recovery and unexpected supply tightness, reported S&P Global.

At 2:38 pm Singapore time (0638 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was down 15 cents/b (0.21%) from the previous close at USD72.10/b while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was down 28 cents/b (0.41%) at USD68.08/b.

"Sentiment has turned bullish after the US drug regulator granted full approval to the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, stoking investor hopes that higher fuel demand will follow a potential step up in US coronavirus vaccination rates," said Avtar Sandu, senior manager commodities at Phillip Futures in an Aug. 26 note. "China's apparent success in fighting the Delta variant had boosted demand sentiment further with no cases of transmitted infections."

Data from the Energy Information Administration showed US crude inventories falling by 3 million barrels to 432.6 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 20, bringing inventory levels to roughly 6% below the five-year seasonal average.

The draw was significantly higher than the 1.6-million-barrel figure indicated by the American Petroleum Institute's weekly report, and closer to analysts' expectations of a 3.2-million-barrel draw.

Over the same period, gasoline stocks also fell by 2.2 million barrels to about 3% below the five-year seasonal average, while distillate stocks climbed 0.6 million barrels to about 8% below the five-year seasonal average.

"The fact that inventories fell at the same time as net imports into the US rose suggests Delta (variant) is having limited impact on demand. Inventories at Europe's key oil trading hub are also low, having fallen to its lowest level since March 2020 amidst supply disruptions from Russia," ANZ research analysts said in an Aug. 26 note.

As MRC informed previously, crude oil stockpiles fell modestly in early August, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand.

We remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC

Fujian Gulei to start up its new MEG plant in China

Fujian Gulei to start up its new MEG plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Fujian Gulei Refining & Chemical, a joint venture between Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (FPCL) and Taiwan Xuteng Investment Company Limited, plans to start up its new monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit in Zhangzhou, Fujian by the end of August after a successful launch of its new naphtha-fed ethylene cracker, reported S&P Global with reference to multiple sources.

Thus, trial runs at the company's new MEG plant with the capacity of 700,000 mt/year began on 7 August, 2021, and Gulei Refining & Chemical is in the proces of ramping up its production capacity.

As MRC informed earlier, Fujian Gulei Petrochemical received commercial production at its new steam cracker in Zhangzhou (Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China) on August 18, 2021. And before that, the company supplied naphtha to this cracker with a capacity of 800,000 mt/year of ethylene on August 17, thereby starting test production there.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 411,200 tonnes in the first six month of 2021, up by 12% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes in June, compared to 85,890 tonnes a month earlier.

Fujian Gulei Petrochemical Co. Ltd. headquartered in Xiamen (Xiamen, China) was established in November 2016. The company is a 50:50 joint venture between China's Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (FPCL, part of Sinopec) and Taiwan's Taiwan Xuteng Investment Company Limited. It was established for the construction of an integrated petrochemical complex in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, southeastern China.
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