Shell cancels US Gulf oil export cargoes due to damage to offshore facilities from Hurricane Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell, the largest oil producer in the US Gulf of Mexico, cancelled some export cargoes due to damage to offshore facilities from Hurricane Ida, signaling energy losses would continue for weeks, reported Reuters.

About three-quarters of the Gulf's offshore oil production remains halted since late August following Ida, one of the most devastating hurricanes for oil companies since back-to-back storms in 2005. Shell and other oil firms warned they could not yet say when full output would resume.

Shell owns about 80% of the Mars offshore oilfield, and in total pumps about 332,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from its eight facilities in the region. Damage assessments at a transfer hub that moves oil and gas from three deepwater oilfields are underway, the company has said.

Shell's crews are working to assess how long production from the Mars corridor will be affected, spokesperson Curtis Smith said in a statement.

Shell declared force majeure on "numerous contracts that we anticipate will be impacted by the damage." Force majeure is a legal provision used when unforeseen events such as storms prevent companies from meeting contractual obligations.

At least two large cargoes of Mars crude sold by Shell to Chinese buyers were canceled, according to people familiar with the matter.

BP Plc, co-owner of the Mars oilfield and the second largest Gulf oil producer, said last week it was resuming operations at some of its own platforms. But it declined comment on the status of Gulf crude exports on Thursday.

Two people familiar with BP's operations said the company last week negotiated the cancellation of a Mars crude cargo to South Korea. A US Gulf Coast refiner separately bought a cargo of Russia's Urals medium crude in anticipation of a long suspension of Mars supplies to US coastal refineries, the people added.

Almost 1.4 million bpd of offshore oil production remains shut and 1 million bpd of refining capacity is also offline. Refineries could fully recover before Gulf output does. However, imported crude is plentiful, the sources said.

As MRC wrote previously, Shell found evidence of building damage at its 230,611-bpd Norco, Louisiana refinery. But sources familiar with plant operations did not know the extent of the damage or time needed to make the repairs. Shell is awaiting the restoration of external electrical power to the Norco refining and chemical plant complex.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. oil major ExxonMobil Corp said it had made a discovery at Pinktail in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, as it develops a major new oil and gas find, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Exxon operates the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block as part of a consortium that includes Hess Corp and China's CNOOC Ltd. It has made at least 20 discoveries there. The company said the find would add to the previous recoverable resource estimate of more than 9 billion barrels of oil and gas, without specifying the size of reserves in its latest discovery.

The company's second offshore production facility, the Liza Unity, set sail from Singapore to Guyana in early September. The floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is crossing the East Indian Ocean, with an estimated arrival in Guyana on Nov. 15, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data.

The Unity FPSO will be utilized for the Liza Phase 2 development and is expected to begin production in early 2022, with an output capacity of about 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil. The consortium began producing crude in late 2019. Hess Chief Executive Officer John Hess said in remarks to the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference on Thursday the Liza 1 project was producing at its nameplate capacity of 120,000 bpd.

He said the company expected the Stabroek block to produce at least 1 million bpd through six FPSOs by 2027. The Payara project, the consortium's third in the Stabroek block, is expected to start up in 2024, Hess told an investor conference hosted by Barclays.

Exxon expects to submit a development plan for its fourth Guyana project, Yellowtail, later this year, said Hess. Hess Chief Operating Officer Greg Hill said he expected Guyana's government to approve the consortium's development plan for Yellowtail, its fourth project, by the end of this year.

As MRC wrote before, earlier this year, ExxonMobil slashed its 2025 global oil and gas production estimate to 3.7 million boe/d, even as it focuses on growing output at the Permian Basin and in Guyana. Production will remain flat from 2020 levels through 2025 at 3.7 million boe/d, the company said during its Investor Day 2021 webcast. That is down from the 5 million boe/d production estimate for 2025 ExxonMobil released last year in its 2020 Investor Day, just as the coronavirus was beginning to take its toll on global oil demand and prices.

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.

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) -- Packaging producer Berry Global Group, Inc. (Evansville, Indiana) says it will break ground in September on a new polypropylene (PP) recycling facility in Leamington, United Kingdom, that it says will produce food-grade materials with a target purity standard of 99.9%, according to Recycling Today.

The new facility will be housed in a purpose-built, net-zero carbon, centrally located 13,000-square-meter, or 139,931-square-foot facility, offsetting CO2 emissions with local tree planting.

CleanStream is Berry’s proprietary process to mechanically process PP back into consumer packaging. This facility will use automated sorting processes, integrating online sensor technologies and machine learning algorithms to separate PP containers, tubs and trays.

This investment is complementary to Berry’s previous work in securing circular resins through advanced recycling and its buying power, the company says.

The team at Berry has conducted an initial life cycle assessment quantifying the benefits of its proposed recycled polypropylene (rPP) process over the use of virgin PP. The material produced through the CleanStream process has an 80% lower CO2 footprint than virgin resin. Packaging produced from this rPP material will result in 35% less CO2 emissions, require 50% less water consumption, result in 60% less acidification and reduce fossil fuel resource use by 90%, according to the company.

As MRC informed earlier, in January 2021, Berry Global Group announced that Madrid-based Repsol, its longtime supplier, will supply it with circular resins. The Spanish multienergy global company will supply Berry with International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus-certified circular polyolefins from its Repsol Reciclex range. These polyolefins are obtained by advanced recycling, enabled by the adoption of new chemical recycling technologies, of postconsumer plastic scrap not suitable for traditional recycling. As a result of the agreement, Berry says it will procure food-grade PP for food and health care packaging. The packaging company will initially use the materials in manufacturing at its European packaging facilities.

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.

Berry Global Group, Inc. create innovative packaging and engineered products. Harnessing the strength in its diversity and industry leading talent of 47,000 global employees across more than 295 locations, the company partners with customers to develop, design, and manufacture innovative products with an eye toward the circular economy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Loading operations at the Libyan oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf resumed on Friday after a one-day stoppage, National Oil Corp (NOC) said, though an engineer at a third port, Hariga, said it was still closed by protesters, said Reuters.

The closures of oil ports this week have underscored the continued fragility of Libyan oil output, which has been about 1.3 million barrels a day this year, in the face of insecurity, budget disputes and political divisions. NOC head Mustafa Sanallah said in a statement that blockages at oil ports had been planned by one Libyan official and that another had taken part, without naming either.

Last year, eastern-based forces in the civil war blockaded almost all exports for months, ending with negotiations that came in the context of a wider push towards peace. Earlier this year, NOC declared force majeure on some exports after its subsidiaries said they were unable to continue operating because of a lack of funding through the budget.

The eastern-based parliament has repeatedly rejected the budget plans of the interim unity government, which was installed in March as part of a U.S.-backed peace push. Meanwhile there has been friction between the unity government's oil minister, Mohamed Oun, and NOC chief Sanallah.

Oun has said he is suspending Sanallah because he left Libya without seeking permission from the ministry. Sanallah has rejected that, saying only the cabinet has the power to suspend him. "We will never be satisfied with the politicisation of NOC, and it being used as a bargaining chip by some politicians and influential people to achieve non-national interests and agendas," Sanallah said, without specifying who he referred to.

The people who shut down exports at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf demanded jobs and the dismissal of Sanallah. Those at Hariga demanded jobs. A group at Sharara oil field has also threatened to stop output unless Sanallah is dismissed. All those areas are held by the eastern-based forces of commander Khalifa Haftar.

In Ocotber 2019, Libyan Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Manufacturing Company (Rasco), a subsidiary of the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the largest petrochemical producer in the country, announced the launch of a polyethylene (PE) plant in Ras Lanuf (Ras Lanuf, Libya) after six years of shutdown.

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.

Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Manufacturing Company is a subsidiary of the state-owned Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC). Rasco produces fuel oil, gas oil, LPG, naphtha and kerosene. The refinery also produces petrochemicals using naphtha as a feedstock for the production of ethylene and propylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PureCycle Technologies, Inc., the innovative recycled polypropylene (PP) producer, is in plans to start operating its flagship PP recycling plant at Ironton, Ohio, which will convert carpet scraps based on PP composite material into high-purity pellets, at scale in late 2022, according to Today's Machining World.

The company has ordered two extruders from Germany-based plastics machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei for this plant.

PureCycle uses proprietary technology licensed from The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) to recycle waste PP into ultra-pure recycled-PP for applications spanning consumer goods, automotive, building and construction, and industrial uses.

“Thanks to PureCycle’s technology, we have succeeded in removing all impurities, odors, and dye residues from carpet remnants so that the PP pellets produced are equivalent to virgin material, both in terms of appearance and mechanical properties,” explains Brett Hafer, VP Manufacturing at PureCycle. “Now that PureCycle has passed the pilot phase successfully, we are building the world’s most modern PP recycling line.”

The core component of the new PureCycle line is the extraction process. The technique cleans melted PP composite material from dye residues, foreign plastics and odors, providing for a pure PP melt and a recycled, re-usable co-product. The circulating solvent is then purified and returned to the process.

Two twin-screw extruders from KraussMaffei serve for melting the dry PP carpet scraps that are used as feedstock for the PureCycle process.

After passing PureCycle’s first processing stage, the cleaned melt is fed into the degassing extruder specifically designed to effectively remove any high-molecular residual monomers. Volatile matter like solvent residues and other impurities, such as adhering odorous substances and low-molecular compounds, are gently separated from the melt. The result is pure PP pellets that can easily be used to manufacture a wide variety of products by injection molding or extrusion coating processes.

As MRC reported earlier, this summer, PureCycle Technologies reached an agreement with The Augusta Economic Development Authority to build its first US cluster facility to produce ultra-pure recycled (rPP) from waste PP. The 200-acre location in Augusta Corporate Park will create over 80 manufacturing jobs with an initial USD440 million investment to primarily fund three lines of 130 million pounds of capacity during Phase 1 of the project. Augusta-Richmond County was selected based on feed and product delivery supply-chain efficiencies, community support, a skilled labor market, and Georgia’s business-friendly environment.

We remind that in May 2020, Total signed an agreement with PureCycle Technologies to develop a strategic partnership in plastic recycling. As part of the agreement, Total undertakes to purchase part of the output of PureCycle Technologies’ future facility in the United States and to assess the interest of developing a new plant together in Europe. PureCycle Technologies uses an innovative, patented technology to separate color, odor and any other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like rPP. The company, which was to begin construction on its first plant in Ohio (USA) last year, will produce 48,000 tons of rPP.

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.
MRC