The Catalyst Review May 2024 - 4

Commercial News
TotalEnergies and SINOPEC Strengthen
Cooperation
TotalEnergies and SINOPEC have established partnerships in
several other countries but are now partnering in China and
will be working to take advantage of new opportunities, with
each leveraging their respective expertise. Notably will be their
combined R&D expertise in biofuels, green hydrogen, CCUS and
decarbonisation. Source: Global Hydrogen Review, 5/7/2024.
ExxonMobil to Establish Singular North
American Research and Technology Hub in
Houston, Texas
In an ongoing effort to cut $15B of costs by 2027 compared to
2019), ExxonMobil will establish one research and technology
in North America at the Houston headquarters. This effort to
streamline will be completed in phases through 2028 and will
affect approximately 700 employees, as the Clinton, NJ and
Sarnia (Ontario) campuses will be closed. Exxon plans to offer
many of those employees roles in Houston. Source: World Oil,
5/7/2024.
Kent Plays Integral Role in ExxonMobil's
Fawley UK Petrochemical Complex
Kent, an
engineering
and project
management
company,
announced
its significant
involvement in
ExxonMobil's
$1.04B investment in its Fawley petrochemical complex. The
project is scheduled for completion next year. The primary
objective of the project is to enable the production of lowsulfur
diesel in compliance with the 2025 Euro 7 emissions
standards. The upgrade is anticipated to increase production by
an impressive 40% at Fawley and reducing imports to the UK by
around 25%. Source: Hydrocarbon Processing, 4/11/2024.
ExxonMobil, Sabic Announce Permanent
Ethylene Plant Closures in Europe
ExxonMobil Corp. and Sabic have separately decided to close
naphtha crackers in France and the Netherlands, respectively,
citing financial losses and challenging petrochemical market
conditions in Europe. Sabic said its Olefins 3 cracker at
Geleen, Netherlands, will be permanently closed. Meanwhile,
ExxonMobil said that it would permanently close its sole steam
cracker at the company's Notre Dame de Gravenchon complex
in Port Jérôme, Normandy, France, as well as related derivative
units and logistics facilities. Source: Chemical Week, 4/11/2024.
4
The Catalyst Review
DG Fuels Selects Fischer Tropsch CANS
Technology Co-developed by Johnson
Matthey and bp
DG Fuels has selected Johnson Matthey's Fischer Tropsch
(FT) CANS technology, co-developed with bp, for DG Fuels'
first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in St. James Parish,
Louisiana (US). The plant would be the largest deployment
of FT CANS to date, seven times larger than any previously
announced project using this technology. The proposed $4B
DG Fuels plant is planned to produce 600,000 metric tons (MT)
of SAF per year when fully operational and would be the largest
announced SAF production plant using a non-HEFA route.
The plant is expected to start production by 2028. Source:
Decarbonisation Technology, 4/10/2024.
WEF: Hydrogen Costs Remain Major
Challenge to Hit Green Energy Targets
The World Economic Forum held a Special Meeting on
Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development
where hydrogen costs and challenges to meet 2030 green
hydrogen targets were discussed. Saudi Energy Minister,
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, noted multiple key challenges for
these projects and the target dates. Lack of clarity on policy,
consumer behavior, incentives and technology were all noted
by Prince Abdulaziz. UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei
placed significant emphasis on producers to bring costs down
to a " reasonable " level using technology. " We cannot treat
consumers as though they're ready to pay double the price, "
Mazrouei said. Source: Chemical Week, 4/29/2024.
Sabic Returns to Profit, CEO Sees Petchem
Supply/Demand Gap Lasting Throughout
2024
Sabic posted a net loss of 1.73 billion riyals in Q4 2023, but
had a stronger Q1 2024, posting a net profit of 246 million
riyals ($66M). However, net earnings for Q1 are still 62%
lower than year-prior with decreased sales and weakened
results from associate firms and joint ventures. Sabic's CEO,
Abdulrahman al-Fageeh, provided insight into the Q1 results
and challenges that are expected to last through 2024:
Quarter 1 " presented global and regional improvement in
prices of major petrochemical products mainly driven by
demand improvement and logistic disruption. " He continued,
" The market has yet to grow into the recent run of capacity
investments and this overcapacity continues to place significant
pressure on our industry. The gap between excess supply and
moderated demand growth is set to remain in place for 2024. "
One project aiming to increase regional assets is the beginning
of construction on the Sabic Fujian petrochemical project in
Gulei, China. Sabic has also partnered with BASF SE and Linde
PLC on a joint demonstration plant for electrically heated
steam cracking furnaces in Germany. Source: Chemical Week,
5/1/2024.
May 2024
The Catalyst Review May 2024

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