The downstream rundown: In case you missed it 3/25
In case you missed any downstream news, this piece will give you a summary of some of the top stories from last week.
Braskem forecasts high petrochemical margins despite volatile oil
Brazil's Braskem said it expects a slight growth in sales of petrochemical products and high margins, despite oil price volatility because of the Ukraine crisis. Braskem reported a 51% rise in revenue and a 53% rise in cash generation in the 4Q over the same period a year earlier.
Pedro Teixeira de Freitas, Braskem's Chief Financial Officer, told analysts on Thursday that he expects growth of up to 3% in polyolefins sales in 2022, which is close to last year's growth. Braskem said shareholders will vote on a potential extraordinary dividend that may reach up to 2 B reais ($397 MM) as it is not planning any capacity expansion.
Neles introduces renewed selection tool for automated process valves
The complete Nelprof valve sizing and selection software for all intelligent automated process valves by Neles is now available as a free web-based tool. The Nelprof tool allows fast and reliable selection of Neles, Jamesbury and Easyflow by Neles branded intelligent automated process valves. First introduced in 1981, this latest version takes Nelprof to the next level with easy online access through a web browser.
Reliance may avoid Russian fuel after sanctions
India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, may avoid buying Russian fuels for its plants following western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior company official said. "Even if we can source some of the feeds (from Russia), probably we will be out of it because of the sanctions," Rajesh Rawat, senior vice president and business head cracker, told an industry event on Wednesday.
Reliance buys Urals crude and straight run fuel oil for its refineries from Russia. The private refiner mostly buys its petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East and the U.S.
Neste, DHL Express announce large sustainable aviation fuel deal
DHL Express and Neste have announced a significant step towards decarbonizing aviation logistics by expanding their existing cooperation with a new strategic collaboration. In the next five years, Neste will supply DHL with approximately 320,000 tons (400 MM liters) of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The agreement is Neste’s largest for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to date and one of the largest SAF agreements in the aviation industry.
Yokogawa, JSR use AI to autonomously control a chemical plant
Yokogawa Electric Corp. and JSR Corp. announce the successful conclusion of a field test in which AI was used to autonomously run a chemical plant for 35 days, a world first. This test confirmed that reinforcement learning AI can be safely applied in an actual plant. The demonstration shows that this technology can control operations that have been beyond the capabilities of existing control methods and have up to now necessitated the manual operation of control valves based on the judgements of plant personnel. The initiative described here was selected for the 2020 Projects for the Promotion of Advanced Industrial Safety subsidy program of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Eni, Air Liquide to cooperate for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries
Eni and Air Liquide have entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at assessing decarbonization solutions in the Mediterranean region of Europe, focusing on hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The two companies join forces to enable CO2 capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage.
CCS represents one of the fundamental tools in the decarbonization process, especially for the most carbon-intensive industrial sectors, and will play a key role in achieving the important emission reduction targets set at European level as part of the Green Deal.
Within the framework of the agreement, Eni and Air Liquide will collaborate to identify clusters of hard-to-abate industries in this geographic area and will define the best possible configuration to develop a large-scale CCS program.
TotalEnergies: Start-up of the "3D" carbon capture pilot in Dunkirk
The "3D" industrial pilot to demonstrate an innovative process for capturing CO2 from industrial activities is now running at ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk site. With support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program, the project aims to validate replicable technical solutions for carbon capture.
The challenge for carbon capture researchers is making the processes more competitive and less energy intensive. This industrial pilot should allow the performance of the DMX carbon capture process developed in IFPEN’s labs over the last ten years to be verified.
Ryanair to reach net zero via sustainable fuel, offsetting measures
Ryanair aims to achieve a third of its decarbonization target by flying its planes with sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and will also rely on offsetting measures to cut its emissions to net zero by 2050, it said on Monday.
The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, committed last year to power 12.5% of its flights with SAF by 2030, although Chief Executive Michael O'Leary has since said he is not sure Ryanair will reach the "very ambitious target."
The budget carrier said on Monday that its order of 210 Boeing 737 MAX jets, which use around 16% less fuel than the current generation of 737s while squeezing in 4% more passengers, will help it meet 32% of its decarbonization target.
Vitol’s bunker barges deliver biofuel blended VLSFO
V-Bunkers, Vitol’s Singapore bunker operations company announced that its barges have made several deliveries of biofuel blended VLSFO.
Baker Hughes and partners to collaborate on industrial asset management solutions
Baker Hughes is collaborating with C3 AI, Accenture and Microsoft on industrial asset management (IAM) solutions for clients in the energy and industrial sectors.
The collaboration will focus on creating and deploying Baker Hughes' IAM solutions that use digital technologies to help improve the safety, efficiency, and emissions profile of industrial machines, field equipment, and other physical assets. Applying their individual strengths, the four companies will collaborate on Baker Hughes IAM capabilities that help optimize plant equipment, operational processes and business operations through improved uptime, increased operational flexibility, capital planning and energy efficiency management.
BASF, REEF Technology ink deal to improve the quality of plastic recyclate materials
BASF has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Zhejiang REEF Technology to develop state-of-the-art recyclate formulations for applications used in the automotive, packaging and consumer industries.
Under the agreement, BASF will provide its recently launched IrgaCycle additive solutions along with technical consultancy and support for recycled polymer formulations conducted at BASF’s test facilities.
oneworld members to purchase up to 200 MMgpy of SAF from Gevo
Members of the oneworld Alliance plan to purchase up to 200 MMgpy of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Colorado-based renewable fuels producer Gevo, in the second such joint commitment by the global airline alliance in four months.
Delivery of the fuel is expected to commence in 2027, for a five year-term. oneworld members Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways expect to utilize the SAF for operations in California including San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles International Airports.
Rolls-Royce signs SAF agreement with Air bp for engine tests
Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement with Air bp that will reduce lifecycle carbon emissions for gas turbine tests carried out at three sites and support one of the organization’s key sustainability commitments.
It ensures that all the aviation fuel supplied for engine testing at Rolls-Royce facilities in Derby and Bristol, UK and Dahlewitz, Germany will be a 10% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend.
The SAF is derived primarily from waste-based sustainable feedstocks such as used cooking oils and will be blended with traditional aviation jet fuel by Air bp. Deliveries will begin this summer and the 10% neat SAF element will total around 800,000 gpy.
Vitol to invest in plastics recycling company WPU
Vitol has entered a strategic partnership with Danish company WPU, which recycles waste plastic into plastic oils. Vitol will offtake and market the recycled plastic oils generated by WPU’s new pyrolysis plant in Faarevejle in Odsherred Municipality north of Copenhagen, which is expected to open in early 2023, with an additional two plants to be opened by Q3 2023. The combined capacity of these plants will be 160,000 metric tpy of waste plastic.
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