World news

USA | Fossil fuel production set to rise

After declining in 2020, the combined production of US fossil fuels increased by 2% in 2021 to 77.14 quadrillion Btu.

Based on forecasts in the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest ‘Short-Term Energy Outlook’ (STEO), US fossil fuel production is expected to continue rising in both 2022 and 2023, surpassing production in 2019, to reach a new record in 2023.

Of the total US fossil fuel production in 2021, dry natural gas accounted for 46%, crude oil accounted for 30%, coal 15%, and natural gas plant liquids (NGPLs) 9%. The EIA expects those shares to remain similar through 2023.

US dry natural gas production increased by 2% in 2021, based on monthly data through October and estimates for November and December, while US crude oil production dropped slightly, by an estimated 1%. However, the EIA expects crude oil production to increase by 6% in 2022 and 5% in 2023.

Poland | SABIC signs MoU with Saudi Aramco and PKN Orlen

SABIC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Aramco and PKN Orlen for the exploration of potential petrochemical growth or expansion projects in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

The agreement will enable several potential collaboration and investment opportunities to be studied, including a new chemical production facility in Poland, the expansion of several existing assets and the development of a new world-scale cracker.

Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC’s Executive Vice President for Petrochemicals, said: “By bringing together the scale, expertise and technologies of three world-leading companies, this MoU enables us to identify and assess opportunities for ambitious and sustainable growth.”

Upon completion of the exploration phase, and if the parties agree to pursue any potential petrochemical project, they will enter into a separate project joint development agreement (JDA).

USA | Shell Oil Co. sells interest in Deer Park refinery to Pemex

Shell Oil Co. has completed the sale of its interest in Deer Park Refining Ltd Partnership, a 50-50 joint venture (JV) between Shell Oil Co. and P.M.I. Norteamerica S.A. De C.V. (a subsidiary of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex), for US$596 million.

The agreement covers the sale of Shell’s 50.005% interest in the partnership, and therefore transfers full ownership of the refinery to Pemex.

Shell Chemical L.P. will continue to operate its 100%-owned Deer Park Chemicals facility, located adjacent to the site.

“The completion of this sale marks the start of a new chapter of our history in Deer Park as we have worked closely with Pemex over the past few months to ensure a safe and responsible handover of operations for the refinery”, said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s Downstream Director.

As part of its ‘Powering Progress’ strategy, Shell plans to consolidate its refinery footprint to five core energy and chemicals parks. These locations will maximise the integration benefits of conventional fuels and chemicals, and offer future potential hubs for sequestration.

UAE | TotalEnergies, Masdar and Siemens Energy team up to produce SAF from hydrogen

Masdar, Siemens Energy and TotalEnergies signed an agreement on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2022 to act as co-developers for a demonstrator plant project, which will be established at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

Having joined the initiative, the aim is for TotalEnergies to offer its expertise in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production, offtake and supply to partner airlines.

Since January 2021, the partners in the initiative have completed a range of evaluations on technology suppliers, feasibility studies and conceptual designs, while working with regulators on compliance issues.

The aim is to proceed to the FEED stage later in 2022.

By leveraging their areas of expertise and their local and global market reach, the co-developers believe that the demonstrator project can pave the way to commercial production of SAF, helping to reduce production costs and making it commercially-viable.

WORLD NEWS

DIARY DATES Europe | BASF to expand European production of specific petrochemicals

06 - 10 March 2022

AMPP Annual Conference + Expo

San Antonio, Texas, USA ace.ampp.org

13 - 15 March 2022

AFPM Annual Meeting

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA www.afpm.org/events

13 - 15 April 2022

24th Annual International Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show

Orlando, Florida, USA www.nistm.org BASF has decided to build a new hexamethylene diamine (HMD) plant in Chalampé, France. The plant is set to increase the comany’s HMD production capacity to 260 000 tpy. Production is expected to start in 2024. Furthermore, the company will expand its polyamide 6.6 production in Freiburg, Germany, starting in 2022.

The planned investments will further expand the polyamide 6.6 business that BASF acquired from Solvay in 2020.

“With this new HMD plant in Chalampé and the expansion of the polymerisation in Freiburg, BASF ensures that customers can be reliably supplied with HMD and PA6.6, while also addressing increasing demand in the market,” said Dr Ramkumar Dhruva, President of BASF’s monomers division.

09 - 11 May 2022

Sulphur World Symposium

Tampa, Florida, USA www.sulphurinstitute.org/symposium-2022

09 - 13 May 2022

RefComm

Galveston, Texas, USA www.events.crugroup.com/refcomm

23 - 25 May 2022

StocExpo

Rotterdam, the Netherlands www.stocexpo.com

23 - 27 May 2022

World Gas Conference

Daegu, South Korea www.wgc2022.org

USA | Texas LNG and Enbridge execute pipeline agreement

Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, a controlled subsidiary of Glenfarne Group LLC, and Enbridge Inc. have executed a pipeline transportation precedent agreement for the expansion of the Valley Crossing Pipeline (VCP) to deliver approximately 720 million ft3/d of natural gas to Texas LNG’s export facility for a term of at least 20 years.

Texas LNG is developing a 4 million tpy LNG export terminal in the Port of Brownsville, South Texas.

VCP consists of a 160-mile 42 and 48 in. dia. pipeline originating at Agua Dulce and extending to the Port of Brownsville. A 10-mile lateral will be built to extend the pipeline to Texas LNG’s facility, along with the addition of compression facilities on the existing pipeline.

VCP’s pipeline header interconnects with 10 major gas pipeline systems, providing access to competitively-priced gas from the Permian and other major gas basins.

24 - 26 May 2022

Asia Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia atps.tamu.edu

07 - 09 June 2022

Global Energy Show

Calgary, Alberta, Canada www.globalenergyshow.com

08 - 09 June 2022

Downstream USA 2022

Houston, Texas, USA www.reutersevents.com/events/downstream

To keep up with all the latest news on key industry events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, visit hydrocarbonengineering.com/events

Worldwide | ExxonMobil announces ambition for net zero emissions

ExxonMobil has announced its ambition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for operated assets by 2050, backed by a comprehensive approach to develop detailed emission-reduction roadmaps for major facilities and assets.

The net zero ambition is contained in the company’s Advancing Climate Solutions - 2022 Progress Report. The net zero aspiration applies to Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and builds on ExxonMobil’s 2030 emission reduction plans, which include net zero emissions for Permian Basin operations and ongoing investments in lower-emission solutions in which it has extensive experience, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and biofuels.

To help reach this goal, ExxonMobil has identified more than 150 potential steps and modifications that can be applied to assets in its upstream, downstream and chemical operations.