Ukrainian Karpatneftekhim shut production

Ukrainian Karpatneftekhim shut production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The largest petrochemical plant in Ukraine - Karpatneftekhim (Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region) shut production on 24 February amid the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, the company said.

According to the Law of Ukraine “On Approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On the imposition of martial law in Ukraine” No. 7111 dated 24 February, 2022, martial law is imposed from 5:30 a.m. 24 February, 2022 throughout Ukraine.

To prevent any potential adverse consequences and taking into account the fact that Karpatneftekhim Ltd. is a critical infrastructure entity, we report of the shutdown of production facilities for a duration of martial law.

At the same time, Karpatneftekhim Ltd. announces its readiness to implement the measures of the martial law regime in compliance with the current statutory requirements of Ukraine.

The production capacity is 250,000 tonnes of ethylene, 117,000 tonnes of propylene, 110,000 tonnes of LLDPE, 300,000 tonnes of PVC and 100,000 tonnes of benzene per year.

Earlier it was reported that on February 8, at 09:45, a pyrolysis furnace caught fire in one of the buildings on the territory of Karpatneftekhim LLC. Rescuers who arrived on call localized the fire on an area of 70 square meters. There was no threat of the fire tipping onto other equipment.

LLC "Karpatneftekhim", created on the basis of the facilities of the Kalush "Oriana", produces ethylene, polyethylene, vinyl chloride, caustic soda, chlorine and suspension PVC. According to the state register, the owner of the LLC is Karpaty Chemical B.V. (Netherlands), the beneficiaries of which, without specifying the shares, are the owner of the Techinservice production group, Igor Shutsky, and the former head of the Ukrainian business of LUKOIL, Ilham Mamedov.
MRC

China vows to join fight against global plastic waste

China vows to join fight against global plastic waste

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China will participate in international efforts to combat plastic pollution and build on its existing policies to cut waste, the environment ministry of the world's top producer said on Wednesday, a week before talks on a new global plastic pact, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

More than 100 countries will meet in Nairobi next week to discuss a treaty aimed at tackling plastic pollution, with some calling for production caps as well as commitments to phase out more single-use plastic products. "China has introduced punishments and other legal constraints aimed at curbing plastic pollution," said Ministry of Ecology and Environment spokesman Liu Youbin. "China would actively participate in international pollution control efforts."

China, which produces about 60 MMt of plastics annually, published a "five-year plan" on plastic pollution last September, calling for the creation of a "control mechanism" covering the entire production and consumption chain by 2025. It is phasing out single-use products in major cities, including straws and bags, as well as the thin plastic film used on farms to retain crop moisture.

"After banning the import of foreign plastic trash, China played a "constructive role" in 2019 to amend the Basel Convention on hazardous waste to include plastics," said Patrick Yeung, Ocean and Plastic Program Lead with the Worldwide Fund for Nature in China. "We hope to see more of such moves from China if it wishes to continue to be seen as demonstrating leadership in pushing for global environmental progress."

More than 50 countries are calling for the new pact to set a plastic production cap, but China's position remains unclear. The environment ministry declined to comment. Wang Wang, Chairman of the China Scrap Plastic Association said "restricting plastic production is a non-industry viewpoint and won't solve the real problem, which requires the responsible use of plastic."

As per MRC, SABIC action with Alliance to end plastic waste. The 2021 annual progress report highlights how the organization’s projects are beginning to deliver impact, after two years of foundation-laying work. Since 2019, the Alliance has developed a portfolio of more than 35 projects, currently in various stages of implementation, across 80 cities. The third edition of the report ‘Alliance in action’ showcased a year of actions and outlined its strategy to deliver ambition of greater impact, inspired by the collective action of partners around the world.
MRC

NSRP shuts its PP plant in Vietnam after fire

NSRP shuts its PP plant in Vietnam after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire broke out at a steam turbine generator (STG) belongings to Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) in Vietnam on 21 February 2022, that forced the producer to take its 370,000 tons/year polypropylene (PP) unit offline, according to CommoPlast.

The plant has been operating at 50% capacity since the beginning of February and was initially scheduled to ramp up the run rate at the beginning of March.

Sources close to the producer informed that the PP line would remain off-line for about 10 days following the fire.

As MRC reported earlier, NSRP shut its new PP plant in Vietnam for maintenance on 24 August, 2021, instead of the initially scheduled date of 17 August, for approximately three weeks. The company decided to postpone the maintenance shutdown at this plant by one week from the previous schedule due to the COVID-19 related lockdown. Thus, the new PP plant came back on-line in mid-September, 2021.

We remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1% - by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% - by PetroVietnam and 4.7% - by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes in 2021, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Global Energy Storage closes deal to acquire part of Stargate Terminal in Port of Rotterdam

Global Energy Storage closes deal to acquire part of Stargate Terminal in Port of Rotterdam

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global Energy Storage (GES) has successfully closed the transaction to acquire part of the Stargate Terminal from Gunvor Group in Europoort, Port of Rotterdam, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

GES now owns four Class 1 product tanks totaling over 212,000 m3 with long-term off-take from Gunvor. In addition, GES has acquired the rights to develop approximately 20 hectares of vacant land. Furthermore, it is pursuing expansion projects to support the energy transition, such as import facilities for ammonia, storage for biofuels and feedstock, chemicals, gases, and waste to fuel production.

Peter Vucins, CEO of GES said, “This is an important milestone for GES. The location of this first investment in the heart of the Port of Rotterdam positions us perfectly to significantly contribute to our client’s needs to develop the new storage and logistics infrastructure to facilitate the energy transition, which is upon us and accelerating. Our partnership with Gunvor Group and Port of Rotterdam is vital to our strategy to realize these expansions, as are other strategic partnerships we currently are in discussions with. We hope to revert with some further positive news relatively soon.”

As MRC wrote before, 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. 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.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Chevron and Bunge create JV for renewable feedstock development

Chevron and Bunge create JV for renewable feedstock development

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron and Bunge North America announced the signing of definitive transaction agreements to create their previously announced JV. The new venture will create renewable feedstocks leveraging Bunge’s experience in oilseed processing and farmer relationships and Chevron’s experience in fuels manufacturing and marketing, according to Hydrocarbonprcessing.

The agreements are subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

Bunge’s soybean processing plants in Destrehan, Louisiana and Cairo, Illinois will be contributed to the JV with Chevron contributing approximately $600 MM. Plans include approximately doubling the combined capacity of these facilities from 7,000 tpd by the end of 2024. The JV may also explore opportunities in other renewable feedstocks, as well as in feedstock pretreatment.

“Partnering with Chevron, a global leader in energy, is a significant step forward in building the capability to make changes at scale to help reduce carbon in our own and our customers’ value chains,” said Greg Heckman, Bunge CEO. “I am confident that our shared networks, global footprint and expertise is the right partnership to build a successful long-term and low-cost enterprise that will help meet the demand for next generation, renewable fuels.”

Under the agreements, Bunge will operate the facilities; Chevron will have purchase rights for the oil to use as a renewable feedstock to manufacture transportation fuels with lower lifecycle carbon intensity.

As MRC reported earlier, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem), 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, said Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland in early August, 2021.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
MRC