The Catalyst Review December 2020 - 2

COMMERCIAL NEWS
ExxonMobil Announces
Potential $240-MM Investment
to Baton Rouge Refinery...
Gov. John Bel Edwards(Louisiana)
announced potential investment by
ExxonMobil totaling more than $240
million at the company's Baton Rouge
Refinery. The suite of projects would
improve processing capability, increase
flexibility for meeting market demand,
advance overall site competitiveness, and
install technology for a voluntarily 10%
reduction of volatile organic compound
emissions. The projects are pending
final engineering, design and investment
decisions. The projects would retain
1,300 existing jobs at the refinery, and
ExxonMobil estimates the projects would
support more than 600 construction jobs
on-site over three years. The investment
also would provide more than 20 fulltime job opportunities for graduates
of the North Baton Rouge Industrial
Training Initiative, a collaborative program
spearheaded by ExxonMobil in 2012 to
provide no-cost, fast-tracked industrial
craft training for community residents.
A decision to proceed could come from
ExxonMobil in 2021. Source: Hydrocarbon
Processing, 12/16/2020.
BASF and Eramet Partner
to Assess Development of
a Nickel-Cobalt Refining
Complex...
BASF and Eramet have signed an agreement to jointly assess the development
of a state-of-the-art nickel and cobalt
hydrometallurgical refining complex. Such
a development would include a High-Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) plant and a Base
Metal Refinery (BMR). The HPAL would be
located in Weda Bay, Indonesia, while the
location of the BMR will be determined
during the feasibility study. The BMR
will supply nickel and cobalt to produce
precursor cathode active materials (PCAM)
and then cathode active materials (CAM)
for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. The project targets a start-up of the
HPAL and BMR facilities in the mid-2020s
and will commence in the first phase feasibility study with limited funding. Source:
BASF, 12/15/2020.
2

Lummus Technology, Chevron Lummus Global Announce
Multiple-Technology Award in Southeast Asia...
Lummus Technology and CLG announced multiple technology contracts with PT
Pertamina Rosneft Pengolahan dan Petrokimia (PRPP), a joint venture between
Indonesia's PT Pertamina (Persero) and Russia's Rosneft Oil Company for a grassroots
refinery and petrochemical complex in Tuban, Indonesia. Lummus will provide the
license and basic engineering for the following technologies: ethylene technology,
including Pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation, C4 total hydrogenation and BASF SELOP®
selective hydrogenation technology; ethylbenzene/styrene technology; and CDMtbe®
technology. CLG will provide the license and basic engineering for its residue
desulfurization technology. Once complete, the olefins complex will be largest liquefied
petroleum gas steam cracker in the world and highly integrated with the refinery to
maximize propylene. As part of the license agreement, Lummus Technology will offer
its Short Residence Time (SRT®) heaters, a proprietary technology ideally suited to
achieve maximum yields, at a later stage of the project. CLG will also later be providing
ISOMIX-e® proprietary reactor internals to optimize its state-of-the-art catalyst system
for higher yields and longer run lengths. Source: Lummus Technology, 12/10/2020.
Samsung Engineering to Build $1.07bn Methanol Plant in
Malaysia...
Samsung Engineering will build a $1.07bn methanol plant in Malaysia for Sarawak
Petchem. The 5,000 tonnes per day methanol production facility will be located in
Bintulu, Sarawak. Samsung Engineering executed the Sarawak Petchem Methanol
Plant Project from a feasibility study, FEED contract, Early Work phase, to a Licensor,
Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (LEPCC) contract with
this latest Letter of Intent (LoI), effective from late January 2021. The plant will use
Air Liquide's technology and is expected completion in late 2023. Source: gasworld,
12/9/2020.
Sipchem, Linde Sign JV Deal for Industrial Gases Projects in
Saudi Arabia...
Sahara International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) and industrial gas firm Linde have
signed an exclusive agreement to set up a joint venture for developing industrial gas
projects and networks in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi producer said. The equal joint venture
aims to build an industrial gases network in Jubail Industrial City by connecting via
pipeline the existing hydrogen and syngas plants owned and operated by the two firms,
Sipchem said in a filing to the Saudi bourse, Tadawul on 15 December. The joint venture
is expected to support substantial investment opportunities of around $500m over the
next five years, subject to their economic viability, the company added. The contract
between the two companies has a 20-year duration. Source: ICIS Chemical Business,
12/16/2020.
Axens Selected by Sumitomo Chemical for a Waste-to-Polyolefins
Project on Circular Economy...
Sumitomo Chemical and Axens signed a license agreement of ethanol-to-ethylene
technology Atol® for Sumitomo Chemical's waste-to-polyolefins project in Japan. In
the project, to promote circular economy, Axens' Atol® technology will transform
ethanol produced from waste into polymer-grade ethylene that will be polymerized
in Sumitomo Chemical's assets into polyolefin, a key product in the petrochemical
industry. Axens Renewables Business Group Director Frédéric Balligand said: " This
project addresses the waste plastics issue by reusing them as a feedstock in a context of
greenhouse gas emission reduction. Axens is excited to work with Sumitomo Chemical
for this project with Atol® technology, accelerating the deployment of circular economy
in Japan. " Source: Axens, 12/15/2020.

The Catalyst Review											

December 2020
The Catalyst Review December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review December 2020
