Petrobras and Novonor cancel plans to sell stake in Braskem

Petrobras and Novonor cancel plans to sell stake in Braskem

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and Novonor (formerly Odebrecht) cancelled in “mutual agreement” its plans to sell its stake in Braskem, according to BondEvalue.

The announcement came after both companies declared that potential buyers did not meet expectations, without providing any further details on the matter.

Petrobras and Novonor said “The volatile conditions in the financial and capital markets resulted at this time in demand and price levels not appropriate for the conclusion of the transaction.”

The stake in Braskem was expected to be offloaded by February with estimates that the deal could be worth BRL 8.3bn (USD1.47bn) for 20% of Braskem.

Petrobras owns 36.14% of Braskem's shares, including 47.03% of its voting shares. Novonor, a construction company, owns 38.32% of Braskem's shares and 50.11% of its voting shares, either directly or through its subsidiary OSP Investimentos. The two still plan on selling their stakes, but at a time when the markets are less volatile and the economic outlook is more favourable, Petrobras said.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

Petrobras ends 2021 with 88% use of refinery capacity

Petrobras ends 2021 with 88% use of refinery capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras reached an average of 88% of total load factor of its refineries in the last three months of 2021. In early February, it reached close to 90%, said Reuters.

Operational decisions in refining take into account that, for each barrel of oil processed in the refinery, necessarily, several products are generated and subsequently distributed. For example, when producing diesel, fuel oil is also necessarily produced, which needs to be drained and distributed to end customers.

Therefore, the calculation of the best level of processing always respects, in addition to economic and safety criteria, the technical limitations of product distribution capacity, possible volumes to be stocked, demand behavior, costs and prices.

"Defining the level of use of refineries is complex because it involves different products and must be based on technical-economic criteria. Petrobras is investing in its refineries and the market has grown and demanded more fuel from the company, which results in a use above the historical average”, explains Rodrigo Costa, Director of Refining and Natural Gas at Petrobras.

The presence of new investors, such as Mubadala Capital, which acquired the Landulpho Alves Refinery, in Bahia, reinforces the investment capacity and the service of a growing and increasingly dynamic market, in which Petrobras is one of the actors, participating in together with several others, with pricing in line with global markets being fundamental for the proper functioning of the fuel market in Brazil.

We remind that in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

LyondellBasell and Greiner Packaging offer circular solution

LyondellBasell and Greiner Packaging offer circular solution

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has developed polymers based on advanced recycled post-consumer materials. These polymers, branded under the name CirculenRevive, are made using an advanced recycling process to convert plastic waste into feedstock, which is used to produce new polymers, using a mass balance approach, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With the support of Greiner Packaging, these polymers will be used to make coffee capsules for Nestle’s Nescafe Dolce Gusto. This collaboration aims to help advance a circular economy for plastic. These polymers meet the strict requirements of the food industry. Both, LyondellBasell and Greiner Packaging sites involved are ISCC PLUS certified. This well-known global certification provides traceability along the supply chain. With the mass balance method, the company tracks how much advanced recycled material goes into the production process of its CirculenRevive products and can attribute the recycled content to the final polymer via a sustainability declaration.

"We are extremely pleased that we can support our customer Greiner Packaging and ultimately Nestle with a circular economy solution from our recently launched Circulen product family," says Richard Roudeix, LyondellBasell Senior Vice President of Olefins and Polyolefins for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. “CirculenRevive polymers help to address at scale the challenge of hard-to-recycle plastics. The advanced recycling technology can utilize used mixed plastic, which allows for larger volumes of plastic waste to return back into the value chain that would otherwise be destined for energy recovery or landfill. At the same time, these polymers have the same characteristics and high quality as fossil-based materials. Ultimately, LyondellBasell aims to produce and market two MM metric t of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell reported an equipment failure at its La Porte linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, which forced the company to shut down the 355,000 tons/year unit without a return schedule, according to the company's official letter to its customers on 17 June 2021. LyondellBasell is currently evaluating the impact of the event on its ability to supply the materials.

As per MRC, LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, announced it has acquired 100% of PolyPacific Polymers Sdn. Bhd. (PPM) in Port Klang, Malaysia. PPM is a 25kt manufacturing facility producing reinforced and modified polyolefin compounds.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Atlas Copco to supply CO2 compressor to Shell biofuels plant in Rotterdam

Atlas Copco to supply CO2 compressor to Shell biofuels plant in Rotterdam

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Supporting its goal of driving the decarbonization of hydrocarbon processes and the road to net zero emissions, Atlas Copco Gas and Process will be supplying CO2 compression equipment to one of Europe’s most ambitious renewable biofuels plant projects, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Thus, the equipment will be used in an 820,000 tpy biofuels facility, located at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands (formerly known as the Pernis refinery). Shell announced plans for the facility earlier last fall.

Once completed, the facility will be among Europe’s largest for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel and renewable naptha made from biowaste. A facility of this size could produce enough renewable diesel to avoid 2.8 MM tons of CO2 emissions a year. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 1 MM European cars off the roads.

In addition to the fuel production, an essential building block of Shell’s endeavor is the carbon capture and pipeline transport of CO2: A by-product from different plant processes, including blue hydrogen, the CO2 will be compressed to a pressure of 42.5 bar by the Atlas Copco Gas and Process’ five-stage turbocompressor. The machine is designed to compress 43.5 t/h.

Expected to start production in 2024, the new facility will help both the Netherlands and the rest of Europe in meeting internationally binding emissions reduction targets. It will produce low-carbon fuels such as renewable diesel from waste in the form of used cooking oil, waste animal fat and other industrial and agricultural residual products, using advanced technology developed by Shell. As part of its strategy, Shell is currently transforming its more than a dozen refineries into five energy and chemicals parks. Following the launch of the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland, in Germany, the new Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam is the second such park to be announced.

As MRC informed earlier, 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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

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

U.S. Gulf Coast refineries prepare for severe cold

U.S. Gulf Coast refineries prepare for severe cold

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. Gulf Coast refineries from south Texas to central Louisiana were preparing for severe cold weather as early as Thursday night, said sources familiar with preparations at the plants, nearly a year after a winter storm crippled the country's top refining hub, said Hydrocarbonprocessiing.

The nation’s largest refiner, Marathon Petroleum Corp , whose two largest plants, one each in Louisiana and Texas, have a combined crude oil processing capacity of 1.2 MMbpd, also said it was bracing for the cold. "The safety of our employees, contractors, and the community is our top priority, and we have comprehensive plans and procedures in place in the event of inclement weather," said Marathon spokesman Jamal Kheiry.

Kheiry declined to discuss the specific steps the refineries are taking to prepare for temperatures below freezing. Workers were wrapping exposed instruments needed to monitor equipment and water pipes, the sources said. Some equipment protection was done earlier in the year.

The combined capacity of the refineries in Texas and Louisiana that will face freezing temperatures is nearly 7 MMbpd or 38% of national capacity. In mid-February 2021, Winter Storm Uri knocked out production at Texas refineries by cutting electrical power and natural gas supplies.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has said the electric grid is prepared for the this year’s cold weather, but outages may occur as ice from freezing rain knocks down power lines.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC