Britain's Harbour Energy strikes $11.2 billion deal for Wintershall Dea assets

Britain's Harbour Energy on Thursday agreed to acquire Wintershall Dea's non-Russian oil and gas assets in a $11.2 billion share and cash deal with co-owners BASF and LetterOne that creates one of the world's biggest independent producers, said Reuters.

London-listed Harbour, the largest British North Sea oil and gas producer, has sought to expand beyond the United Kingdom after the government imposed a windfall tax on the sector following the spike in energy prices in 2022, pushing Harbour into a loss in the first half of this year.

Harbour shares closed 21% higher, while BASF's stock ended the day flat. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, is the latest in a number of large oil and gas acquisitions in recent months including Exxon Mobil's $60 billion deal for Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $53 billion deal for Hess Corp in October.

It is the fourth major acquisition Harbour, and its predecessor Chrysaor, has done since 2017.

We remind, Samyang Corporation, a chemical/food business subsidiary of Samyang Group (CEO Ho-sung Kang), recently announced that nine types of their recycled fishing net plastic (nylon) material, "TRIECO 4D," have acquired global certification for ocean plastic recycling, "ECV Ocean Plastic (2809-3)," from the international testing and certification agency, UL Solutions.

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Grupa Azoty continues to climb in TOP 500 CEE 2022 ranking of leading companies in Central and Eastern Europe, said the company.

In this year’s edition of the ranking, prepared by Coface – the leading business intelligence group in the CEE region – Grupa Azoty has climbed three places to the 37th position. Since 2021, Grupa Azoty has climbed 19 positions.

The TOP 500 CEE ranking is created in collaboration with Forbes magazine and showcases a list of the 500 companies and groups from the region with the highest turnover in absolute terms in 2022. For groups of companies, the ranking considers the consolidated data of the group companies, providing insights into the real significance and strength of the region’s largest business organisations.

‘Grupa Azoty’s advancement in the latest ranking affirms its strong position in the CEE region. Despite the challenges in the European fertilizer and chemical industry amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Grupa Azoty achieved record results in 2022, marking continuous improvement in its standing among the top 500 companies in Central and Eastern Europe for another year,’ said Tomasz Hinc, President of the Management Board of Grupa Azoty S.A.

We remind, Grupa Azoty S.A. has received state aid under the ‘Aid to energy-intensive industries related to natural gas and electricity prices in 2023’ programme administered by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The amount of the financial support granted to Grupa Azoty S.A. is PLN 12m, with compensation for the Grupa Azoty Group companies totalling PLN 173m.

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Maire announces that Nextchem, through its biodegradable plastics technology licensor CONSER, has been awarded technology licensing and catalyst supply by a prominent client, as part of a larger project located in Northwestern China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The scope of work entails licensing, process design package for CONSER proprietary Duetto technology and technical assistance during project execution, up to commissioning and start-up. As part of the agreement, CONSER will also supply the hydrogenation catalyst. The Duetto technology offers a valuable solution in terms of CapEx, OpEx and energy efficiency to produce, with the same process, both butanediol and dimethyl-succinate, the two intermediates needed to obtain biodegradable polymers.

Alessandro Bernini, MAIRE CEO, commented: “Since the acquisition of CONSER in April 2023, we have been working to further strengthen our technology package for the production of biodegradable polymers, which now spans from technology licensing and high-value process design services to the supply of catalysts. This award is a further demonstration of our top-class and broad portfolio of leading technologies that support our clients in the energy transition process.”

We remind, MyRechemical, part of the Sustainable Technology Solutions business unit led by NEXTCHEM, and Dimeta B.V. have agreed to carry out a study to explore the feasibility for the development of plants to produce renewable and recycled carbon Dimethyl Ether (DME), a low-carbon sustainable liquid gas from waste, that can be used as a clean-burning fuel, based on MyRechemical’s Waste-to-Chemicals technologies and expertise.

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Norsk e-Fuel selects SMS group subsidiary Paul Wurth to engineer and design one of the worldwide first industrial sized e-Fuel production sites in Mosjoen, Norway, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Based on an integrated technological set-up provided by Paul Wurth (SMS group) and Axens, the Norwegian project developer Norsk e-Fuel will convert water and CO2 to renewable, synthetic fuel for the aviation industry.

Norsk e-Fuel has engaged SMS group subsidiary Paul Wurth to conduct the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for the company's first production site for e-Fuels. Norsk e-Fuel will turn water and CO2 into renewable fuels that can be used in existing engines and infrastructures prioritizing the aviation industry. The novel process set-up for the main production stream combines a Reverse-Water-Gas-Shift (RWGS) unit co-developed by Axens and Paul Wurth, a Fischer-Tropsch unit and an upgrading unit (Gasel). Both RWGS and Gasel are under exclusive license of Axens. In addition, the company will integrate a co-electrolysis (Co-SOC) unit, provided by Sunfire, for commercial validation. The combination of the singular technology units of Axens and their optimization for maximized e-Kerosene production are in themselves an innovation. To further push the boundaries, Paul Wurth has designed a unique electrical heating system for the RWGS, avoiding unnecessary burning of fossil fuel or hydrogen. The deep integration of the process scheme allows to minimize the overall energy consumption of the plant.

"Paul Wurth and its parent company SMS group are strongly committed to supporting the worldwide energy transition. The project with Norsk e-Fuel gives us the opportunity to actively demonstrate this ambition in the area of synthetic fuels production. We are delighted to form a strong partnership with Axens and contribute our broad expertise in order to bring this unique project to success", said Thomas Hansmann, CTO of SMS group.

"Axens is pleased to join this adventure with such renowned and trustable partners. The perfect integration between our RWGS Technology, co-developed with Paul Wurth, and our Gasel technology unlocks a competitive e-Fuel scheme ready to support the ambitious production level of SAF required in Europe. Norsk e-Fuel's solid foundations, ambition and strength complete this equation", said Jean Sentenac, CEO of Axens.

We remind, Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology for producing high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG has plans for a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. French technology and engineering group Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology that produces high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG plans to build a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan – a timescale for the project has not been disclosed.

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Technip Energies has been selected to provide Proprietary Technology, Engineering, and Procurement services for Dow’s net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Technip Energies provided an Extended Basic Engineering Package for this new ethylene plant, including the cracking furnaces and the downstream separation section. This is the first ethylene plant worldwide to be designed to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions.

The cracker will utilize clean hydrogen, produced from the cracker off-gas, as fuel gas in the cracking furnaces, which will eliminate direct Scope 1 CO2 emissions. The cracker is designed to produce approximately 1,300 kta ethylene with five Technip Energies’ proprietary SMKTM furnaces in phase 1 of the project, to be expanded to 1,800 kta ethylene in a second phase by adding two additional SMKTM furnaces.

Bhaskar Patel, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals & Circularity of Technip Energies, stated: “We are very pleased that Dow selected our technology for their net-zero ethylene cracker in Fort Saskatchewan. By using our proven ethylene technology, combined with clean hydrogen-fueled cracking furnaces design, we demonstrate our ability to decarbonize the ethylene market using innovative technologies and designs.”

Ron Huijsmans, Dow Global MEGA Project Director, and overall responsible for the implementation of the Canadian investment, stated: “Dow is very excited to continue its partnership with Technip Energies, building on decades of joint success. The continuously further optimized SMKTM technology has served.

We remind, Technip Energies announces the creation of Reju, a new company focused on PET recycling of textiles that will leverage the innovative technology co-developed in joint-venture with IBM and Under Armour as well as Technip Energies’ global engineering and technology integration expertise.

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