Industry News
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Fossil fuel production expected to increase through 2022 but remain below 2019 peak
Production of all fossil fuels—crude oil, coal, dry natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) is expected to increase in 2022, but fossil fuel production is forecasted to remain lower than the 2019 peak.
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Oil and gas industry cloud solution designed to combat corrosion
SAP SE and DNV GL, one of the largest independent management and quality assurance experts, said they have teamed up to deliver a new industry cloud solution, Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) Manager, designed to tackle a major problem facing the integrity of oil and gas plants.
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Dastur to design techno-economic feasibility of India’s largest carbon capture project
Dastur has been selected to carry out the design and feasibility for India’s largest industrial carbon capture and utilization project at the 13.7 MMtpy Koyali refinery of Indian Oil Corporation.
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St. Rose project to provide hydrocarbon fuel blend for power, maritime industries
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Arq CEO Julian McIntyre announced the company will develop an industrial facility in St. Rose, Louisiana, to produce Arq’s proprietary Arq Fuel™ product. The site will receive an intermediate wet-cake material produced from discarded mined materials
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U.S. EPA eyes extending refinery biofuel deadlines, no action on waivers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would propose to extend deadlines for refiners to prove compliance with biofuel laws, but signaled it would not decide on a slew of pending waiver requests submitted by the industry.
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Total quits top U.S. oil lobby over climate policies
Total has become the first major energy company to quit the main U.S. oil and gas lobby due to disagreements over its climate policies and support for easing drilling regulations.
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DuPont to develop scrubbing project with BELCO technology
Chilean oil refiner ENAP Refinerías S.A. has selected BELCO® scrubbing technology, licensed by DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont), to improve emissions control from its 31,449 BPSD fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at the Aconcagua refinery.
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Oil major invests in carbon capture startup
U.S. oil major Chevron Corp said it has invested in Blue Planet Systems Corp, a startup that manufactures and develops carbon capture technology to reduce carbon footprint.
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Shell bunkering unit tops Singapore's list of 2020 marine fuel suppliers
Shell Plc's Singapore bunkering unit, Shell Eastern Trading Pte Ltd, moved up a notch to be the top marine fuel supplier in the world's biggest ship refueling hub in 2020.
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U.S. biofuel industry expects outgoing EPA to grant majority of 2019 refinery waivers
The U.S. biofuel industry expects the outgoing Trump administration to approve most of the waiver requests it has pending from the oil refining industry for 2019.
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Partnership to develop UK’s first low carbon production hub
REFINERY owner Essar Oil UK and Progressive Energy, a project development and implementation company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint delivery of what would be the UK’s first low carbon hydrogen production hub. The hub is set to receive a total investment of £750m (US$1.02bn).
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Shell resumes production at massive floating LNG plant
SHELL has resumed production of LNG from its huge floating processing plant – Prelude – following a series of project setbacks that halted output for almost a year.
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BioNTech increases Covid-19 vaccine production target to 2bn for 2021
BIONTECH has said that it aims to produce 2bn doses of its vaccine this year through increased manufacturing capacity and more doses being extracted from vials.
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Shell buys into waste-to-fuels plant in Québec
SHELL is taking a 40% stake in a Canadian plant that will use Enerkem’s processing technology to convert domestic waste and wood waste into chemicals and fuels.
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Ebola vaccine stockpile established
A STOCKPILE of Ebola vaccine has been established by humanitarian organisations to help better prepare against future outbreaks.
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Lowering emissions from ammonia production with electrolysis
A NEW method to produce ammonia via electrolysis can improve the process while also lowering emissions.
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Solvay sells amphoteric surfactant business to private equity firm
SOLVAY has sold its amphoteric surfactant manufacturing business, including production plants in UK, Germany and the US, to private equity firm OpenGate Capital.
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CureVac joins forces with Bayer to speed up supply of Covid-19 vaccine
CUREVAC has agreed to work with Bayer to accelerate the development and supply of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
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Veolia opens new wood waste processing facility
VEOLIA has announced that it has expanded its wood recycling and processing capacity by 50,000 t/y with a new site in Cheshire, UK.
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BASF starts up new MDI unit in push to double Geismar production
BASF has completed the first phase of its push to double production of MDI at its integrated chemicals complex in Geismar, Louisiana, US.
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Partners to develop and commercialise polysaccharide technology
DUPONT Nutrition & Biosciences and global chemicals company Kemira have partnered to develop and commercialese DuPont’s technology for producing engineered polysaccharides.
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Neste acquires stake in plastics recycling company
NESTE has acquired a minority stake in plastics recycling company Alterra Energy. The companies will work together to achieve global rollout of Alterra’s recycling technology.
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Bagshaw awarded CBE in New Year Honours
STEVE Bagshaw, a Fellow of IChemE, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List for his services to UK industry
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Six UK projects get share of funding for industrial decarbonisation
THE UK Government has awarded a share of £8m (US$11m) to six regional projects to develop ways to cut emissions from industry.
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Partnership investigates potential battery materials complex
BASF and Eramet, a global mining and metallurgy group, have signed an agreement to jointly assess developing a state-of-the-art nickel and cobalt hydrometallurgical refining complex.
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Drax sells gas turbine assets
DRAX has agreed to sell four combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations to electricity company VPI Holding for £193.3m (US$262m).
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Stories to read while we are away
WITH the editorial team having shut down their laptops until 4 January, we wanted to close with a thank you and links to stories that you may have missed and can catch up on while we are away for the holiday break.
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UK releases plan on net zero transition
THE UK Government has released its long-awaited Energy White Paper on how the country’s energy system will transition to net zero by 2050.
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Numerous countries update climate pledges at summit
THE Climate Ambition Summit was held on 12 December to mark five years since the Paris Agreement, and saw many world leaders submitting new and updated climate pledges.
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CCC releases detailed plan to reach UK net zero target
THE Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent body that advises the UK Government on climate policy, has released its advice on how the UK can reach its short- and long-term targets and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
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Australia offers A$76.8m support for Portland smelter
AUSTRALIA’S Government has agreed to provide A$76.8m (US$59.5m) in funding in a bid to secure the future of Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria. The move could help save 600 jobs and provide stability to the energy grid.
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AstraZeneca buys Alexion for US$39bn
ASTRAZENECA has agreed to buy US biotech firm Alexion for US$39bn in a move that will expand its foothold in immunology treatments.
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Lebanon Prime Minister charged with negligence over Beirut explosion
AN investigating prosecutor has charged Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers with negligence in connection with the ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut that killed around 200 people.
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Research and industry sign MoUs for Australian offshore CCS hub
AUSTRALIAN energy company Transborders Energy has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs)with researchers and oil and gas industry leaders to consider co-developing an Australian offshore carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage hub, the deepC Store Project.
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Worker dies in US chemical plant explosion
AN explosion at a chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia, US has killed one worker and injured three people.
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IChemE awards engineers who 3D print reactors
ENGINEERS from Air Liquide who are 3D printing reactors for the purpose of process intensification have been awarded IChemE’s Hanson Medal.
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Denmark to end oil and gas production
THE Danish Government has agreed to end all oil and gas exploration and extraction in the North Sea by 2050.
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Attention turns to vaccine production following successful trials
FOLLOWING three highly-encouraging Covid-19 vaccine trials, the light at the end of the tunnel suddenly appears brighter and closer. As efforts get underway to manufacture and deliver vaccines across the world, attention now turns to a spiderweb of supply chains, bottleneck threats, and cold-chain challenges.
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Fire at Texas oil storage tank injures seven
SEVEN contractors were injured after a fire and explosion occurred at a crude oil storage tank in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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LyondellBasell and SUEZ joint venture expands plastic recycling capacity
LYONDELLBASELL and SUEZ have jointly acquired plastics recycling company TIVACO, which will become part of the companies’ plastics recycling joint venture.
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UK strengthens 2030 climate goals
THE UK Government has announced that it intends to cut emissions by 68% from 1990 levels by 2030, as part of its updated Paris Agreement pledge.
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Four killed in explosion at UK water treatment site
FOUR people have died and another has been injured in an explosion at a UK water treatment works.
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Vale opens plant to make mining waste into construction products
MINING company Vale has opened a pilot plant that will make products for civil construction using mining tailings, helping to foster circular economy within local iron ore processing activities.
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Assessing the feasibility of carbon capture in the glass industry
C-CAPTURE has announced that it will work alongside glass manufacturer Pilkington to assess the possibility of using its technology to capture CO2 emissions from glass production.
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New council to upskill Shell employees in Singapore
SHELL has partnered with the Singapore Shell Employees’ Union (SSEU) to set up a council focussed on retraining and upskilling employees for future roles as part of the company’s plans to repurpose its core business to cut emissions.
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Water UK unveils plan to reach 2030 net zero target
FOLLOWING its announcement earlier this year that it was setting a target to be net zero by 2030, UK Water has published the details of its plan to reach that goal.
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ExxonMobil to keep Bass Strait stake
EXXONMOBIL has abandoned plans to sell its 50% stake in Bass Strait gas fields off Victoria, Australia.
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Petronas aspires to be net zero by 2050
PETRONAS has said it aspires to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, becoming the latest oil and gas major to make an emissions reduction pledge.
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Plastic Energy’s push to close loop on plastics wins top IChemE Award
A PROCESS to chemically recycle plastic waste that cannot be mechanically recycled won IChemE’s top honour at its annual Global Awards.
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Partnership forms Australia’s first biomethane-to-gas project
ENERGY infrastructure company Jemena has entered a partnership with Sydney Water to inject biomethane generated from wastewater treatment into the gas distribution network.
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