MOSCOW (MRC) -- bp, ADNOC and Masdar have signed three agreements with the potential to lead to billions of dollars of investment into clean and low carbon energy, creating potentially thousands of energy jobs, as per bp's press release.
The first agreement would see the companies collaborate to initially develop 2GW of low carbon hydrogen across hubs in the UK and UAE, with the intention to expand as the project progresses. Access to clean hydrogen - a critical fuel in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries - can reduce emissions, enable new, low carbon products, and unlock future fuels. This announcement could enable a significant contribution towards the UK Government’s target to develop 5GW of hydrogen production by 2030.
It could also lead to the first international investment in the low carbon hydrogen facility in Teesside (H2Teesside), which aims to produce 1GW ofblue hydrogen starting in 2027. H2Teesside would capture and store up to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year through the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP). The investment is expected to support thousands of jobs and stimulate economic growth. It is also expected to diversify and bolster local supply chains in both the UK and UAE.
As part of the first agreement, bp, ADNOC and Masdar also intend to pioneer decarbonized air corridors between the UK and UAE - one of the busiest global air travel routes - further strengthening the commercial and cultural ties between the two countries in a sustainable way.
Bernard Looney, bp’s chief executive officer, said: “The UK and UAE governments have bold plans for decarbonization. The UK is our home and we have worked in the UAE for nearly a century. By partnering with the visionary leaders of ADNOC and Masdar, we see massive business opportunity to generate the clean energy the world wants and needs - and at the same time revitalise local economies and create the jobs of the future.”
bp and Masdar have also agreed to explore opportunities to develop, build and operate sustainable energy and mobility solutions for cities - in the UK, UAE and beyond - on the road to net zero. The two companies will initially focus on the application of energy efficiency and storage, cleaner fuels and distributed renewables generation.
Finally, bp and ADNOC plan to deepen their collaboration to decarbonize oil and gas operations in Abu Dhabi, including the potential development of Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS) hubs. The two companies would also harness advanced methane emission detection and reduction technologies and create Smart Decision Centres in the UAE, where digital and AI technology would then be used to accelerate operational efficiency.
The expected areas of collaboration align with the key areas of both the UK government’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution and the UAE Government’s ‘Principles of the 50’, which includes the development of a dynamic domestic economy through scientific and technical excellence.
As MRC reported earlier, bp expects to invest around USD2 billion in low carbon energy in 2021, rising to USD3-4 billion in 2025 and aiming for around USD5 billion in 2030.
We remind that bp and Lukoil want to quit their Iraqi energy projects due to the current investment environment, the country's oil minister said in July, 2021, as OPEC's second biggest producer faces an exodus of international oil companies that want to exit unattractive contracts. Lukoil wants to sell its stake in West Qurna 2 to Chinese companies.
We also remind that Russian energy major Lukoil (Moscow) is studying several potential petrochemical projects in Russia and Bulgaria, with investment decisions expected to be made on two of them in 2021.
Thus, Lukoil announced an investment decision in June, 2019, to proceed with a 500,000-metric tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at its Kstovo refinery. In September this year it selected Lummus Technology’s Novolen PP technology and basic design engineering for the facility’s production unit. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest crude refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year, with the company recently adding a catalytic cracking unit that almost doubled the refinery’s production of propylene feedstock to 300,000 metric tons/year.
At Budennovsk in Russia’s far south west, the company’s Stavrolen petchems complex currently has the capacity to produce 350,000 metric tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 metric tons of polyethylene (PE), 120,000 metric tons/year of PP, and 80,000 metric tons of benzene. Lukoil has for several years been considering construction of a new gas chemicals plant at Stavrolen to crack more ethane extracted from associated petroleum gas produced by its oil and gas fields in the north of the Caspian Sea. The potential new plant would raise Stavrolen’s ethylene and PE output to around 600,000 metric tons/year each, and increase PP production to 200,000 metric tons/year.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of PE and 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.
bp is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. bp’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, bpP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
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