Shell agrees to extend partnership for Oman LNG

Shell plc subsidiary Shell Gas BV and partners in the Oman LNG LLC venture signed an amended shareholders’ agreement for Oman LNG LLC extending the business beyond 2024.Oman LNG in turn signed various agreements to secure its gas supply until 2034, Shell said in a release Oct. 23, said the company.

Under these agreements, Shell Gas will remain the largest private shareholder in Oman LNG, with a 30% shareholding, and continues its role as technical adviser. In addition and based on previously signed term sheets, Shell International Trading Middle East FZE will purchase up to 1.6 million tonnes/year (tpy) of LNG from Oman LNG from 2025 to 2034, making Shell the largest LNG off-taker from Oman LNG.

Oman LNG operates a three-train plant with production capacity of 11.4 million tpy of LNG.

Shell in Oman holds interests in Petroleum Development Oman (34%), Oman LNG (30%) and Shell Oman Marketing Co. (49%). In January 2023, Shell started producing gas from Mabrouk field in Block 10, in which Shell holds 53.45% interest. From 2025, Shell is expected to become the largest buyer of LNG from Oman under contracts signed with Oman LNG.

We remind, Shell Upstream Overseas Services (I) Limited (“SUOS”), a subsidiary of Shell plc, has completed the
previously announced sale of its 35% participating interest in Indonesia’s Masela Production Sharing Contract (“Masela PSC”) to Indonesia’s PT Pertamina Hulu Energi and PETRONAS Masela Sdn. Bhd (“Petronas Masela”). The sale includes the Abadi gas project. Completion of the sale follows regulatory approval from Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for the transfer of SUOS’ stake to PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Masela and Petronas Masela. This divestment is in line with Shell’s focus on disciplined capital allocation. Shell remains active in Indonesia’s downstream and low-carbon fuel sectors.

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R. Grace & Co., a global leader in fluid catalytic cracking catalysts and additives for refining petrochemicals, today announced its latest innovation in a long line of breakthroughs in catalyst technology for helping refiners produce transportation fuels and lower their carbon footprint, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

PARAGON FCC catalyst incorporates a novel, rare earth-based, Vanadium trap into high matrix surface area catalyst solutions for the FCC unit. With PARAGON technology, refiners can widen their FCC operating window and increase flexibility to process a range of feedstocks for greater profitability. Importantly, this technology leads to maximum bottoms upgrading of feedstocks along with improved conversion at constant coke yield, allowing refiners to produce fuels in a more sustainable manner.

PARAGON catalyst is the result of a multi-year R&D program to develop an advanced Vanadium trap and builds on the metals tolerance of Grace’s popular MIDAS catalyst platform.

“With the adoption of carbon taxation and emissions trading systems on the rise, refiners are under pressure to produce fuels in a more sustainable manner,” said Luis Cirihal, President, Grace Refining Technologies. “PARAGON catalyst will help FCC operators produce higher yields of fuels per unit of CO2 emission from the FCC. This technology not only helps refiners meet their sustainability goals, but provides strong economic incentive,” he said.

“One of the trends we see is that the economics of upgrading resid in the FCC are very strong. Our customers are taking advantage of this trend, processing heavier, higher metal laden feeds. Using generic economics, in one trial we estimated use of PARAGON catalyst resulted in $0.65/bbl of value delivery which translates into $14MM per year for an average size FCC,” explained Dr. Bani Cipriano, FCC Segment Marketing Manager, Grace.

As the leading FCC catalyst producer, Grace continues to invest in R&D and its plants to introduce new catalyst technologies into the FCC market.

Grace is recognized as a global leader in specialty inorganic catalysts used in energy and refining, polyolefins and plastics, as well as petrochemical, and other chemical manufacturing applications. For the refining industry, Grace specializes in fluid-catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydroprocessing applications for the vital transportation fuels that keep our world moving.

We remind, Evergreen targets to achieve net-zero by 2050 in line with the International Maritime Organization's GHG strategy. To do so, Evergreen has teamed up with the world's largest fund manager within greenfield renewable energy, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for a collaboration on hydrogen-based marine fuels.

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Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that acquisitions by major oil firms such as Chevron's $53 B all-stock deal to buy Hess showed that hydrocarbons were here to stay, said Reuters.

"Exxon, Chevron didn't buy because they want to have stranded assets," he said at Riyadh's flagship FII annual investment conference, also referring to Exxon Mobil's $59.5 billion all-stock deal for Pioneer Natural Resources.

We remind, ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC has licensed its advanced fluid bed Methanol-to-Gasoline technology to Aramco for a demonstration scale unit to be located in NEOM’s Hydrogen Innovation and Development Center (HIDC). “Reducing greenhouse gas emission across the transportation sector is an essential component of the global energy transition and requires a portfolio of solutions. ExxonMobil’s fluid bed MTG technology can play an important role in helping deliver in this area,” said Tricia L. DeLaney, President of EMCL.

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Japan's biggest oil refiner, Eneos Corp, shut the 141,000 bpd crude distillation unit at its Sakai refinery on Oct. 16 after a glitch, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, as per Reuters.

The refiner, which is a unit of Eneos Holdings Inc, expects to restart the unit later this month, she said.

Eneos permanently closed its 120,000 b/d Wakayama refinery on 16 October on the back of shrinking domestic oil product demand. The firm's refining capacity has now fallen to 1.62mn b/d with nine refineries, about half of Japan's total of 3.21mn b/d.

The company's 150,000 b/d Mizushima A plant has also begun a turnaround from 1 September.

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Mexico has put restrictions on the import of dozens of refined petroleum and petrochemical products to curb fuel theft and adulteration, its official gazette showed on Monday, including certain types of gasoline and diesel, jet fuel and additives, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Despite being an important crude oil producer, the country imports refined petroleum and petrochemical products because its ailing refineries struggle to process the heavy crude oil state energy company Pemex produces.

Mexico said the measures were meant to tackle the rampant black market of stolen and adulterated fuel, which poses a risk to human health, the environment and vehicles. "This is very serious," said Julia Gonzalez, an energy lawyer who specializes in Mexican constitutional law. "Because they're restricting the import of a lot of products that are used for multiple processes."

The decree covers jet fuel as well as certain types of gasoline and diesel, including biodiesel, that are not widely used. It also covers certain naphthas, alcohols, waxes and mineral oils, and additives including methyl tert-butyl ether.

A Reuters review of Mexican import data showed that the most important refined petroleum and petrochemical products the country imports - premium and regular gasoline, and conventional diesel - were not affected. However, it was not immediately clear what impact the measures would have on the many industries that use them.

The decree, published in the late edition of the official gazette, will be effective a day after publication and lasts indefinitely. Marcial Diaz, a former Pemex official turned consultant at Qua Energy, warned that while the measures could help clamp down on rampant black market practices, they "affect other industries that use these inputs in their processes."

The energy ministry can issue special import permits, the decree said, adding that other government entities will also make adjustments to processes.

We remind, Russian wholesale gasoline prices declined on Tuesday, while diesel was stable, with both remaining far below the levels seen on Sept. 21 when Russia introduced a ban on fuel exports to tackle high prices and shortages. Gasoline Ai-92 grade prices were down 1.68% on the day to 50,143 roubles ($536.86) per metric ton, data from the St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) showed.

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