Chevron and Occidental invest in CO2 removal technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canada-based Carbon Engineering said on Wednesday it had received investment from a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. and the venture capital arm of Chevron Corp. for its technology that removes carbon dioxide directly from the air, reported Reuters.

Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital division of Chevron Corporation, have invested an undisclosed sum in Carbon Engineering's so-called direct air capture (DAC) technology.

Founded in 2009, Carbon Engineering developed technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere and converts it into low-carbon fuels for transport and for use in enhanced oil recovery.

The firm has been removing CO2 from the atmosphere since 2015 at a pilot plant in British Columbia and converting it into fuel since 2017.

Carbon Engineering expects to reach its financing target of USD60 million by the end of the first quarter, putting it on track to accelerate the commercialization of its technology, the firm told Reuters.

"These new investments will allow us to accelerate the deployment of our DAC and AIR TO FUELS technologies," said Steve Oldham, chief executive of Carbon Engineering (CE).

"With an increasing focus worldwide on the need for aggressive emissions reductions, CE’s technology can play a major role, and energy industry leaders like Occidental and Chevron will greatly accelerate commercialization of CE’s technology," he added.

Extracting vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could help to limit global warming, blamed for causing more heatwaves, wildfires, floods and rising sea levels.

The costs of such technologies are high, however, and a huge number of plants would be needed to make a dent in manmade CO2 emissions.

As MRC wrote earlier, in May 2018, San Ramon, Calif. and Emeryville, Calif. - Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron USA Inc., and Novvi LLC announced that they had entered into an agreement to jointly develop and bring to market novel renewable base oil technologies.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) partnered to deliver process safety best practices to college professors, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chemical engineering educators from the U.S. and Middle East attended an industry-led workshop hosted at LyondellBasell’s Houston Engineering Center this week. The effort is part of an initiative to incorporate safety training in the undergraduate curriculum so students graduate with the well-rounded knowledge they need. Although chemical companies have extensive safety training programs, experience has shown that focusing on these concepts at an earlier stage helps embed safety as a key component of one’s work environment.

Dale Friedrichs, LyondellBasell’s vice president of Health, Safety, Environment and Security, explained the importance of this approach. "Our goal is to help give engineers some basic knowledge and tools regarding process safety, prior to starting their career. It is important for them to understand the criticality of their role in protecting themselves, co-workers and our environment. At LyondellBasell, we have an unwavering commitment to safety and we are proud to work with AIChE on this important initiative."

During the course, LyondellBasell safety experts reviewed best practices and industry case studies with the faculty members. Some of the topics included hazard identification methods and risk assessment, inherently safe design, and evaluating the availability of safeguards. The visiting professors also toured LyondellBasell’s Channelview Complex and Houston Technology Center to see the real-life implementation of the latest solutions.

Shakeel Kadri, executive director of AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), reflected on the importance of exposing professors to the application of safety best practices. "These faculty workshops provide vital orientation and resources for chemical engineering teachers, allowing instructors to better prepare students for safe and responsible practice as they enter the industry."

Colin Howat, Ph.D., P.E., emeritus professor from the University of Kansas and one of the organizers of the faculty workshop, said process safety is often treated lightly or not at all in an undergraduate curriculum. "Industry, through the CCPS, is leading the initiative to ensure process safety is in the curricula by providing opportunities to faculty to learn industrial emphasis and application of process safety engineering."

In 2017, LyondellBasell donated $750,000 to the AIChE Foundation to support the organization’s Undergraduate Process Safety Learning Initiative, a multi-pronged program aimed at preparing engineering students for entering the chemical industry. The initiative is a global effort and core priority of the AIChE Foundation’s Doing a World of Good campaign, which focuses on bringing chemical engineering expertise to bear for the good of society.
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MOSOCW (MRC) -- Negotiations over prices of European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for January shipments to the CIS markets have begun this week. Most European producers reduced their export prices further under the pressure of lower ethylene prices in the region, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The January contract price of ethylene was agreed down by EUR40/tonne from December, which led to a decrease of nearly EUR20/tonne in PVC production costs. However, not all European suppliers proportionally reduced their export prices of suspensions for January shipments to the CIS countries. The price reduction of EUR10-20/tonne from December has been discussed.

Demand for PVC was quite weak from the main consumers in the CIS countries this month because of seasonal factors and some converters' shutdowns for maintenance. There were no restrictions on shipments of resin this month, as was the case from some European producers in December due to unscheduled outages at some production capacities.

Deals for January shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the CIS markets were done in the range of EUR685-750/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR705-760/tonne FCA.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyo Engineering Group (TOYO) has been awarded a contract of Acrylic Acid Production plant with capacity of 100,000 tons/year in Cilegon, Banten, on the western tip of Java, Indonesia from PT. NIPPON SHOKUBAI INDONESIA (NSI), Indonesian subsidiary of NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD. (NSCL), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Toyo Engineering Corporation (Toyo-Japan, President and CEO Haruo Nagamatsu) is in charge of a part of engineering and offshore supply services. On the other hand, consortium of PT. Inti Karya Persada Tehnik (IKPT, President and CEO Yasuhiro Hime), TOYO’s Indonesian subsidiary, and PT. SMCC Utama Indonesia (SMCC, President Satoshi Tanimoto), Indonesian subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd. is responsible for engineering, domestic procurement and construction work. The plant is scheduled for completion in 2021.

Starting from the award of SAP plant project in China in 2003, TOYO has accumulated project experience in Asia, Europe and United States of America for NSCL. TOYO has also been awarded Acrylic Acid and SAP plant project from NSI in Indonesia on 2011.

The client has appreciated TOYO’s long-term relationship with NSCL and TOYO/IKPT’s project execution capability backed up by abundant project experience in Indonesia, which led to this award.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sun European Partners, LLP has announced that one of its affiliates has completed the sale of its investment in ELIX Polymers, a leading manufacturer of ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) resins and derivatives in Europe, to Sinochem International (Overseas) Pte. Ltd. for an enterprise value of EUR195 million, as per the company's press release.

ELIX was acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners in 2012. Since its acquisition, Sun has overseen the transformation of the company from operating as a production-focused unit of a large chemicals conglomerate into a European standalone market leader with a best-in-class product and service offering. Operational initiatives at ELIX, including the introduction of lean manufacturing and commercial excellence, led to a considerable jump in productivity, record levels of customer satisfaction and strong sales increase, resulting in EBITDA quadrupling during Sun’s ownership.

Lionel de Posson, Managing Director at Sun European Partners, said: "We are pleased to have completed our sale of ELIX. The progress made by the company during our ownership allowed for a successful exit and we continue to actively seek further investments in Spain."

ELIX Polymers now begins a new stage in its more than 40 years of history under new Chinese ownership and they consider this a great opportunity for international growth in the Asian market. From the outset, ELIX has focused on the European market and subsequently growth in the NAFTA region, specifically in North America and Mexico. The next step agreed within its business strategy was to target Asia and China in particular.

The integration of ELIX into a chemical group as important as Sinochem International will enable them to position the brand quickly in the Asian market and strengthen it in the European and American markets.

As MRC reported before, in June 2018, ELIX Polymers, a thermoplastics manufacturer located in Tarragona's Poligono Sur industrial complex, announced a new investment amounting to 4 million euros, whose objective is to optimize its ABS powder production facilities. The company began executing this new project in 2018, which it will continue to develop and consolidate throughout the year of 2019.

ELIX Polymers is one of the most important manufacturers of ABS resins and derivatives in Europe, with 40 years of experience in engineering plastics and an installed capacity of 180,000/year from their plant in Tarragona (Spain) to the world. The operation starts in 1975, when the Tarragona ABS and SAN production plant was inaugurated.
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