COVID-19 - News digest as of 06.12.2021

1. U.S. administration plans to propose in days the amount of biofuels oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. administration plans to propose in days the amount of biofuels oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix this year and next year, as it reaches out to lawmakers to discuss the move, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. President Joe Biden's administration has delayed decisions on 2021 blending obligations by more than a year, and it missed a deadline to finalize 2022 obligations this week. The delays came as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered fuel demand and Democratic lawmakers focused on other legislation. Officials for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which administers the mandates, declined to comment on the timing. The oil and biofuel industries have called for the EPA to announce the proposals, saying delays have created uncertainty for the market.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council releases a major report on how energy storage technologies can enable net-zero power grids by 2040, said the company.
The report, produced in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, details the application of LDES technologies, the flexibility requirements needed in future high-renewables power grids, and an analysis of the investment actions required.

To achieve decarbonization, significant effort must be made to reduce emissions across all sectors. The power sector, which accounts for roughly one-third of global carbon emissions, is central to global decarbonization. Long duration energy storage can cost-effectively store electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources and then make it available when needed.

The report concludes that 85-140 TWh of long duration energy storage (>8 hours) can be deployed globally to enable power grids to become carbon net-zero. This will eliminate between 1.5 to 2.3 Gt of CO2 currently produced annually through allowing grid energy imbalances to be met by renewable sources opposed to fossil fuels, equivalent to 10-15 percent of total emissions in today’s power sector.

As per MRC, Alfa Laval, a leading global provider of specialized products and engineering solutions based on its key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling, has strengthened its operations in the United States with three new facilities, expanding its commitment to serving its customers in the United States.

As MRC reported earlier, Alfa Laval has recently won an order to supply compact heat exchangers to a refinery and petrochemical plant in China. The order has a value of approximately SEK 100 million and is booked in the Welded Heat Exchangers unit of the Energy Division. Deliveries are scheduled for 2020.

The LDES Council is a global, CEO-led body comprising technology providers, equipment providers, renewable energy companies, utilities, grid operators, investors, and end-consumers. It strives to accelerate decarbonization of the energy system at lowest cost to society by driving innovation, commercialization and deployment of long duration energy storage. The LDES Council provides fact-based guidance and information to governments, industry and broader society, drawing from the experience of its members which include leading energy companies, technology providers, investors and end-users.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Capital Power Corp and Enbridge Inc agreed to partner on a CCS project, the companies said that would aim to capture up to 3 MM tons of CO2 emissions annually, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The proposed project would serve Capital Power's Genesee Generating Station near Warburg, Alberta, which currently provides over 1,200 megawatts of baseload electricity generation to Albertans.

Alberta, home to Canada's oil sands, is aiming to become a hub for carbon storage and hydrogen production as the world moves away from fossil fuel consumption and tries to cut climate-warming carbon emissions.

Enbridge would be the transportation and storage service provider, while Capital Power would be the CO2 provider on the project, which could be in service as early as 2026.

The captured CO2 emissions from the re-powered units would be transported and stored through Enbridge's open access carbon hub that could also serve several other local industrial companies.

Enbridge is applying to develop an open access carbon hub in the Wabamun area through the government of Alberta's request for full project proposals process, which is expected to start as early as December 2021.

Companies including TC Energy, Suncor Energy, Royal Dutch Shell also plan to build new CCS storage facilities.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2021, Mitsubishi Corp and Shell Canada Products, by its managing partner, Shell Canada Limited (Shell Canada) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to the production of low-carbon hydrogen through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) near Edmonton, Canada.

Mitsubishi Corp said it aims to build and start-up the low-carbon hydrogen facility near the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Scotford towards the latter half of this decade, and Shell would provide CO2 storage via the proposed Polaris CCS project. The low-carbon hydrogen, commonly called blue hydrogen, would be produced via a natural gas feedstock and exported mainly to the Japanese market to produce clean energy.

We remind that 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 1,868,160 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 the first nine months of 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 PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ConocoPhillips has posted a quarterly profit that trounced market expectations as supply bottlenecks and a global economic recovery helped drive a rebound in crude prices, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Oil prices have gained nearly 63% since the start of 2021, with global crude benchmark Brent rising above USD86 a bbl to its highest level in about three yr after the pandemic depressed fuel demand in 2020.

This year's strong demand offers "some pretty constructive tailwinds for the industry," Chief Executive Ryan Lance said on a conference call.

ConocoPhillips said it was still evaluating production targets for next yr. It plans to keep the number of shale drilling rigs "steady" until the close of its USD9.5 B purchase of Royal Dutch Shell's Permian assets, expected in the current quarter.

The company forecast fourth-quarter production between 1.53 MMbpd and 1.57 MMbpd, excluding Libya and any impact from the Shell deal. Its production, excluding Libya, rose 41.36% to 1.51 MMbpd in the third quarter, while the total average realized price surged nearly 84%. Adjusted earnings of USD1.77 per share beat expectations of USD1.51 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Senior Vice President Dominic Macklon said ConocoPhillips does not believe in setting emissions reduction targets that include the use of the company's fuels, as they do not address consumer demand and would shift supply to less accountable producers and jurisdictions.

Unlike their European counterparts, few US producers have set so-called Scope 3 targets that include emissions from customers using the fuel they have purchased. ConocoPhillips has, however, outlined net-zero 2050 goals for Scope 1 emissions that include its own operations and Scope 2 emissions, which account for the power generation to run its facilities.

As MRC informed before, last month, Libya's Government of National Unity approved the sale of US oil company Hess Corporation's stake in the giant Waha oil concessions to both TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips.

We remind that TotalEnergies has recently inaugurated the extension of Synova in Normandy, the French leader in recycled polypropylene production. TotalEnergies is therefore doubling its mechanical recycling production capacity for recycled polymers, to meet growing demand for sustainable polymers from customers, such as Automotive Manufacturer (Auto OEM) and the construction industry.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 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 PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fondazione Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Milano, together with Edison, Eni and Snam have created a platform to develop technologies linked to hydrogen, the new energy vector for decarbonisation., as per the company's press release.

A new university-company joint research platform set up to study and develop an energy vector capable of playing a decisive role in the achievement of global climate objectives, i.e. hydrogen.

Hydrogen JRP will promote innovative studies and research in several areas: the production of clean hydrogen, which includes green hydrogen and low carbon hydrogen; associated transport solutions and advanced storage systems; innovative electrochemical and thermal applications for domestic and industrial use and in transport systems; and the development of best practices in the design and construction of hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure.

The intention is to stimulate the creation of a hydrogen value chain in Italy, to encourage company competitiveness and the growth of new high-tech companies. Hydrogen JRP is open to all companies that want to experience research and development into hydrogen-associated products and services, with the support of Italy’s first technical university and its laboratories.

To increase its impact, Hydrogen JRP will establish a strategic advisory body, which will involve all the main institutional stakeholders, including at global level, in view of attracting interest and investment. Hydrogen JRP intends to take up the hydrogen challenge and build an ecosystem of innovation. Over the upcoming months, we will confirm JRP membership for companies interested in developing a hydrogen value chain. The platform enables the members themselves, depending on their membership level, to propose vertical research topics that encourage the advance of expertise and know-how within Italy’s energy industry.

Hydrogen can play a central role in addressing the current demand for progressive decarbonisation in many sectors. In order to pursue this prospect and promote the production and use of hydrogen, one of Italy’s aims is to support hydrogen research and development, and complete all the reforms and regulations necessary to its use, transport and distribution. In Europe’s hydrogen strategy, the share of green hydrogen in its energy mix is projected to increase up to 13-14% by 2050.

As MRC wrote earlier, Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality 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 1,868,160 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 the first nine months of 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 PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Eni, abbreviation of Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, in full Eni SpA, Italian energy company operating primarily in petroleum, natural gas, and petrochemicals. Established in 1953, it is one of Europe's largest oil companies in terms of sales.
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