EPA to expand credit eligibility under biofuel program

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Biden administration is expected to propose expanding the kinds of renewable fuel production processes that are eligible to receive credits under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard program, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The move could help increase production of advanced biofuels, which include lower-carbon products such as renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, the sources said. It is expected to be included in a highly anticipated upcoming proposal that mandates the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix, they said.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the RFS, plans to announce the blending mandate proposal in days, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources. The EPA declined to comment for this article.

The expanded eligibility around production processes could echo a similar proposal put forth in 2016, the sources said. That rule, proposed toward the end of the Obama administration, was never finalized. It is unclear how closely the new proposal's language would align with the previous language.

In the 2016 proposal, the EPA highlighted that several companies have developed renewable fuel production technologies that produce a "biointermediate" at one facility that is then processed into renewable fuel at another facility. The EPA sought to allow fuels produced through such methods to qualify under current approved RFS production pathways. The EPA said at the time it was proposing those changes to raise production of cellulosic and other advanced biofuels.

As per MRC, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering regulating chemical recycling, a controversial technology that aims to convert mixed plastic waste into fuel or energy. In its notice in the Federal Register earlier this month, the EPA said it wants more information about so-called pyrolysis and gasification, also known as advanced or chemical recycling, and is considering how they could be regulated under the federal Clean Air Act.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Omani state energy company OQ has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday with petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) on developing Oman's Duqm petrochemical complex project, according to ZAWYA with reference to state media's reports.

OQ also signed an MoU in the field of oil storage with Saudi Arabia's Aramco Trading Company to evaluate the appropriateness of storing and trading petroleum materials.

The Omani company, Saudi ACWA Power and Air Products have also sealed an MoU in the petrochemicals, renewable energy and green hydrogen sectors.

As MRC informed earlier, in late September 2021, SABIC said its joint venture project with ExxonMobil in the US Gulf Coast had started commissioning activities and preparing for an initial startup. The project includes the establishment of an ethylene production unit with annual capacity of about 1.8 MMtpy, which will feed two polyethylene (PE) units and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit, it said in a statement.

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.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

1. Oil prices rise by almost 5% on Omicron coronavirus variant hopes

MOSCOW (MRC) - Oil prices climbed by nearly 5% on Monday on hopes the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a less damaging economic impact if its symptoms proved mostly mild and as some OPEC member countries signaled confidence in the market, reported Reuters. Reports in South Africa said Omicron cases there had only shown mild symptoms and the top US infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, told CNN "it does not look like there's a great degree of severity" so far. The White House said on Monday that the US ban on foreign nationals entering the country from eight southern African countries is something President Joe Biden's public health advisers reconsider daily.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Oil prices climbed by nearly 5% on Monday on hopes the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a less damaging economic impact if its symptoms proved mostly mild and as some OPEC member countries signaled confidence in the market, reported Reuters.

Reports in South Africa said Omicron cases there had only shown mild symptoms and the top US infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, told CNN "it does not look like there's a great degree of severity" so far.

The White House said on Monday that the US ban on foreign nationals entering the country from eight southern African countries is something President Joe Biden's public health advisers reconsider daily.

Brent crude rose USD3.20, or 4.6%, to settle at USD73.08 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose USD3.23, or 4.9%, to settle at USD69.49 a barrel.

Last week, both benchmarks fell for a sixth week in a row.

"All the headlines are bullish today," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. "The momentum seems to be jumping back in."

Global benchmark Brent has risen 38% this year, supported by output curbs led by the OPEC+ group of producers, though it has fallen from a three-year high above USD86 in October.

Iraq's Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said he expects oil prices to reach over USD75, state news agency INA reported. He added that OPEC is trying to "positively contain" the energy market, INA said.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia raised January official selling prices for all crude grades sold to Asia and the United States by up to 80 cents from the previous month.

The OPEC+ group, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, last week decided to continue increasing monthly supply by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, even after a slide in prices driven by Omicron concerns.

Oil was also buoyed by diminishing prospects of a rise in Iranian oil exports after indirect US-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off last week.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, earlier this month, TotalEnergies and Daimler Truck AG signed an agreement on their joint commitment to the decarbonization of the road freight in the European Union. The partners will collaborate in the development of ecosystems for heavy-duty trucks running on hydrogen, with the intent to demonstrate the attractiveness and effectiveness of trucking powered by clean hydrogen and the ambition to play a lead role in kickstarting the rollout of hydrogen infrastructure for transportation.

We also remind that TotalEnergies has recently inaugurated the extension of Synova in Normandy, the French leader in recycled polypropylene (PP) 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 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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qingdao Haiwan Chemical (formely Qingdao Soda Ash) has declared force majeure (FM) for shipments of material from its ethylene-based polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Shandong province, China, according to CommoPlast with reference to an official statement to its overseas customers.

The FM was declared due to an ‘unforeseeable problem’, which impact its ability to fulfil contractual obligations.

The producer operates two PVC lines, each with an annual capacity of 400,000 mtyear.

Market sources close to the company said that Qingdao Haiwan Chemical shuts only one PVC line due to environmental control for about 15 days, whereas the other line is operating normally.

Apparently, domestic buyers did not receive any notification from the maker pertaining to the supply disruption.

As MRC reported earlier, Qingdao Haiwan Chemical started up the second PVC line in Shandong province in late September, 2020.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of unmixed PVC totalled 828,600 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 3% year on year. At the same time, only two producers raised their output.

Qingdao Haiwan Chemical Co., LTD. was founded in 1947, one member enterprise of Qingdao HIWAN GROUP LTD in Dongjiakou Industrial Park, located in NO.66, Gangfeng Road, Poli Town, Huangdao District, Qingdao city, Shandong Province. The company's main product includes 32% and 50% caustic soda, vinyl chloride (VCM), SG-8, SG-7, SG-5, SG-3 type of polyvinyl chloride (SPVC), dichloroethane (EDC), styrene etc.
MRC