Australia to set up USD740 mln fund to invest in companies to develop low-emissions technology

Australia to set up USD740 mln fund to invest in companies to develop low-emissions technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia will set up a AD1 B (USD740 MM) fund to invest in companies to develop low-emissions technology, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to cut carbon emissions and hit net-zero targets by 2050, reported Reuters.

Under the plan, the federal government will commit AD500 MM to the fund, matched by private investors, which will be used to back early stage companies in developing technologies including carbon capture and storage (CCS).

"Our plan to reach net zero by 2050 is an Australian one that's focused on technology not taxes and this fund backs Australian companies to find new solutions," Morrison said in a statement.

The federal government will introduce legislation to establish the fund, in order to allow the Clean Energy Finance Corp to fund CCS, which is not allowed under its existing terms.

The move came a day after the federal government pledged AD178 MM (USD132 MM) to ramp up the rollout of hydrogen refueling and charging stations for electric vehicles.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2021, BP plc stopped importing oil for its refinery in Western Australia, the country’s largest, and was on track to decommission the plant by the end of March. BP announced last October it would shut the loss-making Kwinana plant, capable of processing 146,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, and turn it into a fuel import terminal. It said at the time operations would wind down over six months.

We remind that in early February, 2021, Rosneft Oil Company and BP signed a Strategic Collaboration Agreement focused on supporting carbon management and sustainability activities of both companies. The agreement builds on years of partnership between the two companies and formalises key elements of their collaboration on sustainability and work to identify carbon reduction activities and low carbon opportunities.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

Crude oil future down in Europe as EIA projects oversupplied market by early 2022

Crude oil future down in Europe as EIA projects oversupplied market by early 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Europe on Nov. 10, as the latest EIA Short Term Energy Outlook projects oil markets to be oversupplied in early 2022, reported S&P Global.

The EIA is set to release its latest US crude inventory data on Nov. 11 with the market watching closely whether it will confirm the inventory draw reported by the API on Nov. 9.

At 11:20 am London time (11:20 GMT), the January ICE Brent futures contract was down 7 cents/b at USD84.71/b from the previous close, while January NYMEX WTI futures were down 26 cents/b at USD82.32/b.

Crude prices stagnated midmorning in Europe after ticking up in midafternoon trade in Asia, following a report from the American Petroleum Institute that showed a larger than expected fall in US crude inventories. This caps a week-long rally, which saw Platts Dated Brent prices rise USD2.68/b in the past five days.

According to latest data from the American Petroleum Institute, or API, US crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels for the week ending Nov. 5 compared with a build of 3.6 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. The forecasted consensus for the week ending Nov. 5 was an increase of 1.9 million barrels, exacerbating concerns about low crude inventory levels in the US over the past weeks.

Meanwhile, the EIA in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook has also noted that growth in output from OPEC+ members, US shale and other non-OPEC countries will outpace slowing growth in global oil consumption in 2022. It forecasts Brent prices easing from current levels to an average of USD72/b for the year.

The focus for the rest of the week will shift to inventory data reported by the US Energy Information Administration as well as key inflation readings to be released later in the day by the US Labor department. The weekly inventory data from the EIA, is due to release on late Nov. 11 with market watchers awaiting to confirm on the drawdown in crude stocks.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

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

Carbon capture storage of ExxonMobil could cost USD500 mln in Indonesia

Carbon capture storage of  ExxonMobil could cost USD500 mln in Indonesia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Deployment of carbon capture storage (CCS) in Indonesia by American energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp could cost about USD500 mln, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Pertamina and ExxonMobil signed a MoU during the COP26 summit last week to look at ways of using CCS in Southeast Asia's largest country. "Our provisional estimate for investment needs is around $500 MM, excluding operating costs that will be incurred during CCS operations," Daniel Purba, Pertamina's senior vice president of corporate strategy, told CNBC Indonesia.

CCS facilities are likely to be implemented in two Indonesia oil and gas fields, namely the Gundih field in Cepu and the Sukowati field in Bojonegoro, in Central and East Java respectively, Purba said. A spokesperson for Exxonmobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pertamina and ExxonMobil would need to build a 4 km (2.49 miles) gas pipeline from Gundih to a reservoir where they would inject the carbon, and another 30 km gas pipline from Sukowati, Purba added. CCS traps emissions and buries them underground but is not yet at the commercialization stage.

CCS advocates see the technology as essential to help meet net zero emissions and key to unlocking large-scale economic hydrogen production. Critics, however, say CCS will extend the life of dirty fossil fuels. Indonesia, the world's eighth-biggest carbon emitter, has brought forward its goal for net zero emissions to 2060 or sooner.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil plans to build its first, large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Baytown, Texas, and is expected to start operations by year-end 2022. By recycling plastic waste back into raw materials that can be used to make plastic and other valuable products, the technology could help address the challenge of plastic waste in the environment. A smaller, temporary facility, is already operational and producing commercial volumes of certified circular polymers that will be marketed by the end of this year to meet growing demand.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas 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

CVR Energy moves forward with renewable fuel plans at its Oklahoma refinery

CVR Energy moves forward with renewable fuel plans at its Oklahoma refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Carl Icahn's CVR Energy is moving forward with plans to produce renewable diesel at its Wynnewood, Oklahoma refinery in Spring of 2022 after halting the proposal earlier this yr due to high soybean oil prices, reported Reuters with reference to executives' statements on Tuesday.

However, plans to produce renewable fuels at its Coffeyville refinery in Kansas will depend on the expansion of low carbon fuel standard programs throughout America.

Various states such as New York and New Mexico are eying the adoption of low carbon fuel standards similar to California's landmark program. The program offers incentives for greener fuels by awarding tradable credits to producers that reduce the carbon intensity of their transportation fuels.

"We need a couple of those to happen to really have the Coffeyville conversion," said chief executive David Lamp on the company's third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

CVR Energy is eying production of 50 MM gallons of renewable fuel at Coffeyville, potentially including 25 MM gallons of sustainable aviation fuel if regulatory conditions change. Until Wynnewood's pretreater unit is up and running the company plans to run refined deodorized and bleached soybean oil and treated corn oil.

CVR's refining peers Marathon Petroleum and Chevron Corp recently announced joint ventures that would allow them to own soybean oil crushers to secure feedstocks for their renewable projects.

As MRC reported earlier, in August 2021, Chevron and other partners said they are investing in a startup to build modular waste-to-green hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuel facilities in northern California with tentative plans to eventually grow worldwide. The USD20 million investment in Wyoming-based Raven SR is focused on technology to develop combustion-free, green hydrogen for transportation that is cleaner than so-called blue hydrogen derived from natural gas.

We remind that Chevron Phillips Chemical, a joint venture of Phillips 66 and Chevron, will make a final investment decision on a new cracker in far southeast Texas in 2022, followed by an FID in 2023 on an USD8 billion joint venture petrochemical complex along the US Gulf Coast in 2023.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

ExxonMobil to meet its 2025 emissions reduction targets by the end of 2021

ExxonMobil to meet its 2025 emissions reduction targets by the end of 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has said it is on track to meet its 2025 emissions reduction targets by the end of this year - four years earlier than planned - and has vowed to ramp up investments to further cut emissions, according to Upstream.

The US supermajor said it is now working on more aggressive reduction plans, which will be accelerated from an increase in the company’s investment into its low-carbon initiatives.

ExxonMobil initially announced it would invest USD3 billion into its initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through 2025 but has now upped that to USD15 billion over the next six years.

Much of the spending is directed toward its Low Carbon Solutions business, which works to lower emissions in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like heavy industry, commercial transportation and power generation.

The first project announced by the low-carbon solutions business is a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub at the Houston Ship Channel. By 2040, the hub plans to capture and store 100 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide from a variety of facilities in the area. Eleven companies have expressed interest in participating in the hub.

During a recent congressional inquiry that put oil and gas executives on the stand, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods said the price on carbon required for the hub is USD100 per tonne but may differ project to project.

As MRC wrote before, last week, ExonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding with national oil company Pertamina to evaluate the potential for the large-scale deployment of low-carbon technologies in Indonesia. Under the MoU, the companies will identify potential subsurface CO2 storage locations and will examine the feasibility of transporting CO2 in Southeast Asia.

We remind that ExxonMobil plans to build its first, large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Baytown, Texas, and is expected to start operations by year-end 2022. By recycling plastic waste back into raw materials that can be used to make plastic and other valuable products, the technology could help address the challenge of plastic waste in the environment. A smaller, temporary facility, is already operational and producing commercial volumes of certified circular polymers that will be marketed by the end of this year to meet growing demand.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC