WORLD NEWS Thailand | Aramco
and PTT sign MoU
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audi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) is exploring further collaboration with Thailand’s national oil company, PTT, as it expands its downstream presence in Asia. The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand, on 11 May 2022. The companies are aiming to strengthen cooperation across crude oil sourcing and the marketing of both refining and petrochemical products, and LNG. Other potential areas of activity include blue and green
hydrogen, and various clean energy initiatives. Disathat Panyarachun, PTT Senior Executive Vice President, International Trading Business Unit, said: “PTT and Aramco have built strong ties around the supply and trading of crude oil and other products. Extending our collaboration across the value chain to include emerging decarbonisation initiatives is a great opportunity to strengthen our relationship and foster further business growth. This also aligns with our ‘green and clean’ strategy.”
Worldwide | Rio Tinto and BP to trial marine
biofuels
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io Tinto and BP have agreed to work together on a one year biofuel trial to help reduce carbon emissions from Rio Tinto’s marine fleet. Under the trial, BP is supplying Rio Tinto with marine biofuel for approximately 12 months. The fuel will be trialled on Rio Tinto’s RTM Tasman vessel, in one of the longest-duration marine biofuel trials to date. The results of the trial will help Rio Tinto to study ways to reduce carbon emissions from its marine fleet, and inform its future biofuel strategy.
The trial is using a BP-manufactured B30 biofuel blend composed of 30% fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blended with very-low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO). This B30 biofuel blend can reduce life cycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 26% compared to standard marine fuel oil. The extended trial agreement follows a successful journey on the RTM Tasman after it refuelled with biofuel in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in March 2022.
Asia | Crude
distillation unit capacity additions continue to rise
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ccording to GlobalData, Asia is expected to witness the most crude distillation unit (CDU) capacity additions globally, contributing approximately 47% of the total CDU capacity additions by 2026. The region is likely to witness a total CDU capacity addition of 7.1 million bpd by 2026. Of this, new-build capacity would be 4.3 million bpd, while the rest would come from the expansion of existing refineries. Teja Pappoppula, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “China and India primarily drive refinery CDU capacity additions in Asia by 2026. Yulong and Jieyang, both in China, are the largest upcoming new-build projects in Asia during the 2022 – 2026 outlook period, each with a capacity of 400 000 bpd. Among the expansion projects, Vadinar in India is expected to witness the highest capacity additions of 515 000 bpd by 2026.” GlobalData suggests that Africa will be the second highest contributor, with the Middle East ranking third globally.
USA | TotalEnergies and New Hope Energy partner on advanced
recycling project
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otalEnergies and New Hope Energy have announced a commercial agreement under which New Hope Energy will build an advanced recycling plant in Texas, US, to transform end-of-life plastic waste into a recycled feedstock that TotalEnergies will partly purchase and convert into virgin-quality polymers,
which can be used for food-grade packaging. The New Hope Energy plant is expected to start production in 2025, and will use a patented pyrolysis technology that was developed in partnership with Lummus Technology to process and convert more than 310 000 tpy of mixed plastic waste that
would otherwise be destined for landfill or incineration. TotalEnergies will use 100 000 t of recycled polymer feedstock (RPF) in its production units to manufacture high-quality polymers suitable for food-grade applications such as flexible and rigid food packaging containers.
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
5
June 2022
