The Catalyst Review June 2019 - 2

COMMERCIAL NEWS
Large Petchem Complex to
be Built in European Russia
as Part of Massive Gas
Processing Project...
A large export-oriented gas-chemical
project is to be included in a new
industrial cluster planned near St
Petersburg, Russia. The plan was
unveiled by Gazprom and partners,
with completion expected in 2024. The
project envisages the construction of
an integrated complex for natural gas
processing and liquefaction near the
seaport of Ust-Luga, St Petersburg region.
A gas chemical facility will be built by
RusGazDobycha, another special-purpose
company. The complex will process 45
billion cubic meters/year of gas and
produce around 13 million metric tons/
year (MMt/y) of liquefied natural gas
(LNG), 3.8 MMt/y of ethane, 2.4 MMt/y
of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and
0.2 MMt/y of pentane-hexane fraction.
The ethane produced by the complex
will be processed by the gas chemical
facility to produce up to 3 MMt/y of
several grades of polyethylene (PE).
When the gas-chemical complex comes
on line, RusGazDobycha will become a
major producer of PE in Russia, close to
the country's leader, Sibur. Source: IHS
Chemical Week, 6/11/2019.
Shell Agrees to Sale of
Martinez Refinery...
Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil
Products US (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal
Dutch Shell plc, announced it has reached
an agreement for the sale of Shell's
Martinez Refinery in California to PBF
Holding Company LLC, a subsidiary of PBF
Energy, Inc., for $1.0 billion consideration
plus the value of hydrocarbon inventory,
crude oil supply and product offtake
agreements, and other adjustments. This
divestment aligns with Shell's strategy
to reshape refining efforts towards a
smaller, smarter refining portfolio focused
on further integration with Shell Trading
hubs, Chemicals, and Marketing. The
transaction is subject to closing conditions
and regulatory approvals and is expected
to close in 2019. Source: Shell, 6/11/2019.
2

PetroChina Launches Expanded Huabei Refinery...
PetroChina launched its Huabei refinery's expanded 10 million tonnes crude processing
capacity after it passed preliminary testing. At present, the new 2.9 million tonnes
per year residue hydrocracking unit and the 1 million tonnes per year aviation fuel
hydrotreating unit are in the preparatory stage for test operations. The annual
production capacity of aviation fuel will reach 1.7 million tonnes after these units are
put into operation. The Huabei refinery, one of the largest under PetroChina, expanded
its crude processing capacity to 10 million tonnes (200,000 bpd) from 5 million tonnes
with a total investment of more than 31 billion yuan ($4.48 billion). Source: Reuters,
6/11/2019.
DSM Broadens Product Offering for the Biofuels Industry...
Royal DSM is expanding its product offering of low glycerol yeast technology for
the biofuels industry with the introduction of eBOOST™ GT and a new enzyme for
fiber conversion, eBREAK™ 1000F. eBOOST GT, which has been tested and qualified
at commercial scale, enables the robustness and yield benefits of eBOOST in starch
fermentations with up to 60% reduction of externally added Glucoamalyse (GA).
eBREAK 1000F tolerates a wide range of challenging conditions to allow high yield
hydrolysis for corn fiber conversion and sustainable optimization of plant economics.
Both focus on high yield and efficiency in 1G and 1.5G fermentations in order to handle
fluctuating market conditions, achieve maximum profits and ethanol yield, and obtain
more valuable D3 RINS by effective fiber and biomass conversions. Source: DSM,
6/10/2019.
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019: An Unsustainable
Path...
BP released the 68th annual edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy (BP
Stats Review), the most comprehensive collection and analysis of global energy data.
This year's edition highlights the growing divergence between demands for action on
climate change and the actual pace of progress on reducing carbon emissions. Key
findings from the BP Stats Review 2019 include: Global energy demand grew by 2.9%
and carbon emissions grew by 2.0%; natural gas consumption and production was up
over 5%; renewables grew by 14.5%; coal consumption (+1.4%) and production (+4.3%)
increased for the second year in a row in 2018, following three years of decline (201416); and the United States recorded the largest-ever annual production increases by
any country for both oil and natural gas, the vast majority of increases coming from
onshore shale plays. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy and other related
materials are available online at www.bp.com/statisticalreview. Source: BP, 6/11/2019.
Eni and Maire Tecnimont Sign Agreement to Introduce New
Technology that Transforms Non-Recyclable Waste into
Hydrogen and Methanol...
Eni and NextChem, Maire Tecnimont's green chemistry subsidiary, are working together
to turn waste into new energy, hydrogen and methanol. The two companies have
signed a partnership agreement to develop and implement a conversion technology,
which uses high-temperature gasification to produce hydrogen and methanol from
solid urban waste and non-recyclable plastic with minimal environmental impact. The
new technology could be implemented at Eni's bio-refinery in Porto Marghera, Venice.
Source: Eni, 6/10/2019.

The Catalyst Review

June 2019

https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html

The Catalyst Review June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review June 2019