OCI partners with investors on hydrogen, methanol
Netherlands-based OCI said today its methanol business will receive $375mn investment from two Mideast Gulf companies, which it said will allow for hydrogen-based growth.
Abu Dhabi's ADQ and Alpha Dhabi Holding will get a 15pc stake in the OCI Methanol Group, which will be incorporated in the Mideast Gulf country.
OCI said the alliance will allow for growth in hydrogen-based applications, with a focus will be on methanol as a future fuel with hydrogen as the primary feedstock, noting that methanol will be key to decarbonising the marine industry.
"With methanol as the leading clean fuel for the shipping industry and other applications, we believe we are best positioned to execute growth initiatives and capitalize on the growing demand for clean hydrogen in downstream markets," said OCI chairman Nassef Sawiris.
OCI said the transaction is expected to be finalised this year.
OCI Methanol has methanol units and distribution and storage capabilities in the US and Europe. It is also a producer of bio-methanol.
Related news posts
Singapore, Rotterdam advance 'green' shipping corridor
Singapore, Rotterdam advance 'green' shipping corridor
Singapore, 15 April (Argus) — The Singapore-Rotterdam Green and Digital Shipping Corridor (GDSC) is accelerating its decarbonisation efforts with new partners, and is advancing initiatives to encourage the uptake of sustainable marine fuels. The world's two largest marine fuel hubs established the Singapore-Rotterdam GDSC in August 2022, in a push for maritime decarbonisation and digitalisation between the ports. There are 26 global value-chain partners in the GDSC initiative including fuel suppliers, shipping lines, knowledge partners and financial entities. German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd is the latest partner in the Singapore-Rotterdam trade lane, committing to operate large container vessels on zero and near-zero carbon emission fuels. Hapag-Lloyd is the world's fifth-largest liner shipping firm with at least 260 ocean-going vessels, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). GDSC working groups will also pilot the uptake of sustainable marine fuels — like bio-methane, methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen — and test out commercial structures to reduce cost barriers in switching to alternative fuels. This includes a bio-methane working group that is studying regulations and standards to support adopting the fuel for marine bunkering on a commercial scale. GDSC partners also plan to carry out bio-LNG bunkering pilots over 2024-25, based on a mass balancing chain of custody principle. A methanol working group is working on fuel standards and knowledge exchange, in addition to addressing common challenges to carry out commercial methanol bunkering at Singapore and Rotterdam. And an ammonia working group is developing a framework to assess the lifecycle greenhouse gas intensity of green ammonia for bunkering, to be completed by 2025. Improvements to digitalisation have also been made as part of the GDSC initiative, with Singapore and Rotterdam successfully piloting an exchange of port-to-port data. Both ports will be able to exchange vessel arrival and departure times for port planning, and ships travelling between Singapore and Rotterdam can also optimise their port call voyage. The maritime sector is pushing towards a more resilient and efficient energy transition, and participants have pointed out that collaboration between countries and stakeholders would be key to green shipping corridors . The GDSC is a "very valuable collaboration in accelerating the twin transition: the integration of digital innovation in energy transition efforts," said chief executive officer of Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR), Boudewijn Siemons. "Not only are we seeing the first results in standardization and data sharing for Port Call Optimization but also the first steps in moving towards operationalization of zero and low carbon fuels on this trade lane." Progress on the GDSC development also reflects that "public-private collaboration across global value chains can be achieved," said MPA chief executive Teo Eng Dih. By Cassia Teo Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
G7 leaders to meet over Iran's attack on Israel
G7 leaders to meet over Iran's attack on Israel
Dubai, 14 April (Argus) — Leaders of the G7 will meet today, 14 April, to co-ordinate a diplomatic response to Iran's overnight air attack on Israel, which ushered a new phase in a six-month conflict that is threatening regional escalation. G7 presidency Italy "has organized a conference at leaders' level for the afternoon of today," Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said on X, formerly Twitter. US President Joe Biden has pledged a co-ordinated G7 diplomatic response and condemned the Iranian assault. Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel on the evening of 13 April, according to the country's state-owned news agency Irna. Almost all were intercepted before they reached Israeli airspace and there were no fatalities reported by Israel. One civilian was injured and an air force base in southern Israel was lightly damaged, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The Iranian attack came in response to a suspected Israeli air strike on the vicinity of Iran's embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, on 1 April. Tehran's foreign minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran considers this to be the end of its operation. But energy markets, which have been supported in recent weeks by a geopolitical risk premium, will face a week of uncertainty about whether Israel will retaliate. The front-month June Ice Brent contract was trading at $90.45/bl before markets closed for the weekend, and hit a more-than five month high of $92.18/bl on Friday, 12 April. Israeli officials said the attack was "a severe and dangerous escalation" from Tehran. Israel's war cabinet is meeting today to discuss a response. "We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us," said cabinet minister Benny Gantz. The US is urging Israel to claim victory for its defence, in an apparent effort to discourage Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government from feeling compelled to retaliate. While noting that Israel ultimately will make the decision as to how to respond, White House national security communications co-ordinator John Kirby, in a televised interview today, hailed what he called Israel's "incredible military achievement" in defending itself against the attack. Very little managed to penetrate the defensive shield, "and the damage was extraordinarily light," he said. The US military played a role in helping to defend against the attack, bringing down "several dozens of drones and missiles," Kirby said. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force shot down "a number of Iranian attack drones". Israel's western allies are urging it to show restraint as they try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, which could directly affect oil producers and send energy prices soaring. President Biden is especially keen to avoid such a scenario in an election year. By Bachar Halabi and David Ivanovich Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
French union eyes strike over Exxon's petchem closure
French union eyes strike over Exxon's petchem closure
Barcelona, 12 April (Argus) — ExxonMobil's plan to close its Gravenchon petrochemical plant in Normandy has raised the possibility of more strike action in France's downstream oil sector. The CGT trade union has called on all ExxonMobil workers in France to down tools and for the "immediate shutdown of installations". The situation is fluid and it is not immediately clear whether workers will vote on strikes today or if ExxonMobil's operations in France will be stopped. "We are preparing our plan of action. We will be announcing it very soon," a union official told Argus. ExxonMobil said on 11 April that the Gravenchon plant has made more than €500mn ($540mn) in losses since 2018 and that it cannot afford to continue operating at such a loss. The firm expects the site to fully close, including the steam cracker and related derivatives units, at some point this year with the loss of 677 jobs. "The configuration of the steam cracker, its small size compared to newer units, high operating costs in Europe and higher energy prices make it uncompetitive," it said. The announcement coincided with news that a consortium comprising trading firm Trafigura and energy infrastructure company Entara is in talks to buy ExxonMobil's 133,000 b/d Fos refinery on the French Mediterranean coast. As well as the direct job losses at Gravenchon, the CGT said there would be an additional loss of work for around 3,000 indirect positions and sub-contractors. The local prefecture of Seine Maritime said the decision will have a "very serious impact on employment and the local economy". The CGT said upgrades costing around €200mn are needed at Gravenchon, which is "around 0.5pc" of ExxonMobil's total profit in 2023. ExxonMobil said the decision to close the plant will not impact operations at its adjacent 236,000 b/d Port Jerome refinery. "In current market conditions, the refinery will continue to operate and supply France with fuels, lubricants, basestocks and asphalt," the firm said. ExxonMobil has reduced its exposure to Europe's downstream sector in recent years, selling the 198,000 b/d refinery at Augusta in Italy to Algerian state-owned Sonatrach in 2018 and divesting its stake in the 126,500 b/d Trecate refinery in northern Italy to local refiner API last year. By Adam Porter Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EU to publish H2 bank pilot results on 30 April
EU to publish H2 bank pilot results on 30 April
Amsterdam, 10 April (Argus) — The European Commission will publish the results of its €800mn hydrogen bank pilot auction on 30 April, EU Innovation Fund policy officer Johanna Schiele said today. The commission will release a wide range of information about the successful bids, expected levelised costs of hydrogen production and the intended origin of electrolysers used in the projects, Schiele told the Reuters Hydrogen 2024 conference in Amsterdam. The ceiling price of €4.50/kg for bids submitted in the auction "was more than sufficient", she said, suggesting that successful bids may have stayed well below this threshold. Through the mechanism, the commission will award 10-year production subsidies to the renewable hydrogen projects that submitted the lowest bids in the auction. Bids closed in early February and the commission previously said that applications were submitted for 132 projects in 17 different countries , amounting to 8.5GW electrolyser capacity that could produce some 880,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen. But only a fraction of these will likely win subsidies in this round. The commission is confident that successful projects will be built, Schiele said. Developers had to submit a completion bond for 4pc of the subsidy value which they will lose if they do not finish their projects. Plants have to be built within five years. Schiele insisted that the commission is happy with the level of interest in the auction and the design it chose. The UK opted for a different path with a contracts-for-difference (CfD) mechanism that involved negotiations between the government and the developers to agree on subsidy levels, but entering into negotiations would have been a more complex and potentially more costly approach , Schiele said. Subsidy levels increased during the UK's negotiation process and could eventually amount to around £12/kg (€14/kg), partly depending on the development of natural gas prices, she added. The EU may yet switch to a CfD approach at a later stage when the industry matures, Schiele said . The UK government argued that its mechanism provides greater investment certainty and could unlock a pipeline of subsequent projects . Round two The commission expects to launch a second, larger hydrogen bank auction later this year, at around the same time as the pilot auction last year, Schiele said. The bidding window for the pilot auction opened in December 2023 and bids closed in February. The second auction will have a budget of around €2.2bn and will take learnings from the first round into account. A launch towards the end of the year would mark a significant delay from previous plans. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had said that the second round could take place in spring 2024 . Meanwhile, Belgium is considering putting forward some of its own funds to use the hydrogen bank's "auction-as-a-service" mechanism in support of domestic renewable hydrogen projects, the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition's impact director Francois Paquet said at the Amsterdam conference. Germany used that option for the pilot auction, putting in €350mn to subsidise the most competitive German projects that miss out on support in the EU-wide part of the auction. And Austria has already announced plans to top up the second round with €400mn to support domestic projects. For Belgium, the hydrogen bank could provide a route for pushing projects forward, many of which have fallen behind schedule . The Renewable Hydrogen Coalition is trying to convince more governments across the EU to make use of the auction-as-a-service mechanism, Paquet said. It is intended to avoid market fragmentation caused by EU countries using different subsidy mechanisms. France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy have organised or announced mechanisms for subsidising production projects outside of the hydrogen bank scheme. By Stefan Krumpelmann Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more