KazMunayGas, Eni to build 247 MW hybrid power plant in Kazakhstan

National Company KazMunayGas and Italian Eni have jointly approved the final investment decision for a 247 MW hybrid power plant project, the President of Kazakhstan's press service said, as per Interfax.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during his official visit to Italy, met with Eni's Chief Operating Officer, Guido Brusco, to discuss ENI's plans for a gas processing plant, a 250 MW hybrid power plant and vegetable oil production-biodiesel processing facility in the Mangistau region.

The conversation also touched on the record-breaking oil supplies through the CPC pipeline in 2023 and the broader cooperation between Kazakhstan and Eni.

"In 2023, the CPC pipeline saw a record-breaking flow of 63.5 million tonnes of oil, while total oil production from the Kashagan and Karachaganak fields reached 30.8 million tonnes. The President attributed this accomplishment to the collaborative efforts of the Kazakh government and consortium members, including Eni," the press service said.

Tokayev met with Eni SpA CEO Claudio Descalzi in June 2023 to discuss the company's activities and major oil and gas projects in the Kashagan and Karachaganak fields.

"The President was briefed on the consortium's focus areas for advancing the country's oil and gas industry. Discussions included the potential construction of a 4 bcm capacity gas processing plant in Karachaganak," the press service said.

Eni operates in Kazakhstan's renewable energy sector via its Plenitude Arm Wind subsidiary with projects such as the Badamsha-1 and Badamsha-2 wind power plants in the Aktobe region and a 50 MW solar power plant in Shaulder, Turkestan region.

We remind, KazMunayGas (KMG) and China Gezhouba Group Company Limited (CGGC) could build gas processing plant at the Urikhtau field in Kazakhstan's Aktobe region. KMG Deputy CEO Serikkali Brekeshev held a meeting with CGGC Vice President Yinqi Deng at which they discussed prospects for cooperation in KMG's projects, KMG said in a press release.

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A fire that halted fuel production over the weekend at Novatek PJSC’s plant in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga was linked by Ukrainian media to Kyiv’s special forces, said Bloomberg.

The websites of Ukraine’s Suspilne TV and Ukrainska Pravda cited sources in the nation’s Security Service as saying the attack was a special operation of Ukrainian security forces. Separately, the BBC, citing an official source in Kyiv it didn’t identify, said special forces struck the plant with drones.

The blaze was the result of “external influence,” Novatek said on Sunday, citing preliminary information and without elaborating. Fontanka, a local media outlet, said drones struck the facility, in the Leningrad region, early local time on Sunday morning, although Russia’s defense ministry reported no attacks in the area.

The incident comes days after Moscow said a Ukrainian drone was downed near St. Petersburg in the Leningrad region, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the border with Ukraine. That was the first known time that a UAV had been spotted in the territory since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost 23 months ago.

The Ust-Luga port is one of the country’s two main Baltic Sea energy-export outlets, located about 130 kilometers southwest of St. Petersburg, hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and not far from the Estonian border.

According to Novatek, the Ust-Luga gas condensate-processing plant has ceased all technological operations. There were no casualties. The complex processes gas condensate into naphtha, jet fuel and gasoil, and ships the petroleum products to overseas markets. In 2022, the facility processed almost 7 million tons of gas condensate, according to Novatek. Condensate is a by-product of natural gas and oil production.

Ukrainian drones have regularly attacked areas in central Russia, including the Moscow region, and areas bordering Ukraine. On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that it had intercepted drones in the Smolensk, Tula and Orel regions.

We remind, Novatek has received Russian patents for large-capacity technologies for the production of low-carbon ammonia and ammonia cracking with pure hydrogen. The production technology of low-carbon ammonia was developed by Novatekom in collaboration with Russian design institutes and is based on the method of steam reforming of natural gas. Patented technological solutions allow for technological production line performance of more than 1 million tonnes of low-carbon ammonia per year. Energy efficient technological solutions were used to reduce the carbon trace, and more than 90% of carbon dioxide with subsequent underground storage is stipulated, the press release says.

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Huntsman has reduced its guidance for Q4 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to $40-45m, from $65m-90m, reflecting a 45% cut at midpoint, said the company.

The lower earnings are primarily due to continued pressure in the polyurethanes (PU) segment, including lower equity earnings and the negative impact of an unplanned outage during Q4 at a plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which has now been resolved, Huntsman said in an update on Friday.

The US-based chemical company will release its Q4 and full-year 2023 results on 21 February and hold a conference call on 22 February to discuss the results.

We remind, Huntsman is suspending a project that would produce ultra-pure ethylene carbonate (UPEC) used in the batteries of electric vehicles because of aggressive imports from China, which has caused pricing to fall by 75%. “The current level of pricing will not generate the returns we would expect, and we took the difficult decision to suspend the project,” the company said in prepared remarks about its Q3 earnings. Once Huntsman sees signs that pricing for UPEC will improve, it can complete the project within 12 months.

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LG Chem has started the construction of its nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminium cathode materials plant on a 170-ha site in Clarksville, TN, US, said Specchemonline.

The project is scheduled to come online in 2026. It will produce 60,000 tonnes/y of battery materials, enough for approximately 600,000 electric vehicles, and will be the biggest of its kind in the country. The project has an initial investment of around $1.6 bn.

LG Chem aims to expand the site's product portfolio via future-generation products and to raise production capacity as demand improves. Furthermore, the company intends to enhance the calcination process to offer each line 10,000 tonnes/y of capacity. It will also automate the whole manufacturing method and create a quality analysis and control system. The facility will use 100% renewable energy, including hydro and solar power, from local suppliers.

We remind, LG Chem, a leading petrochemical company in South Korea, has announced plans to halt operations at its caustic soda production line in Yeosu, South Korea. Scheduled for the 20th of February, this shutdown is part of a routine maintenance strategy. The affected production line has an annual capacity of 320,000 tons of caustic soda, contributing significantly to LG Chem's total annual capacity of 728,000 tons.

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BASF is expecting to undershoot its earnings and sales guidance for 2023 as the squeeze to margins outpaced cost reduction savings, although investors are taking some comfort from a stronger cashflow than in 2022, according to sources, said the company.

The Germany-based chemicals major expects operating income before special items of around €3.81bn for the year, compared to its forecast range of €4bn-4.4bn and consensus analyst estimates of €3.9bn.

A weak December may be a factor in missing that €3.9bn target, according to Konstantin Wiechert, a chemicals analyst at Baader Bank.

“According to the company before knowing the December figures it still looked like [EBIT pre-specials] guidance of ~€3.9bn could be achieved, so it is likely one month that really was below expectations,” he said.

BASF had already cut back financial performance guidance for the year, cutting projections for operating income before special items to €4bn-4.4bn from earlier projections of €4.8bn-5.4bn in July.

Full-year sales are likely to come in around the €68.9bn mark, the company added, compared to revised estimates of €73bn-76bn, or initial forecasts of €84bn-87bn.

Sales-related low margins are the cause for the company likely undershooting its guidance, with chemicals division operating income pre-specials falling “considerably short” of analysts estimates, BASF said.

The chemicals division is the key cause for below-expectations profitability during the year, with smaller drops reported for surface technologies and nutrition and case division earnings.

We remind, BASF HERAEUS Metal Resource (BHMR) JV has started up operations at a new facility in Pinghu, China to recover precious metals from spent automotive catalysts. The facility has a recycling capacity of about 10,000 tonnes/year of auto catalysts. It employs more than 100 people and involved a mid-double digit million euro investment.

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