| WTI Crude | $38.51/bbl | -3.8% |
| Brent Crude | $39.75/bbl | -1.4% |
| HH Nat Gas | $1.60/MMBtu | -3.6% |
| MB Propane | $0.49/gal | -2.8% |
| 3:2:1 Crack | $10.63/bbl | +3.3% |
Hexion cashes out $425 million for a chunk of its company
US-based specialty chemicals company, Hexion, has announced the divestment of 3 business units for $425 million.
What are they selling and to who?
The company is sending off its Phenolic Specialty Resin, Hexamine, and European-based Forest Products Resins businesses for approximately $425 million to a couple of private equity firms. This includes 900 employees and 11 manufacturing facilities across the globe. The private equity firms (Black Diamond and Investindustrial) have experience working together and plan on making the most (money) out of these businesses.
Some context:
Hexion was formed back in 2005 through a complicated combination of mergers and acquisitions. For companies built in that manner, seeing large divestments of business units like this one aren't that uncommon.
Read the press release here.
Chevron and CalBio successfully use cow manure
A renewable natural gas (RNG) joint venture between Chevron and CalBio has announced its first successful production of RNG from dairy farms.
How do they do it?
Dairy farms release a ton of methane—not just from belching, but also from the enormous piles of manure these cows produce. CalBio is looking to build digesters and methane capture projects to capture methane released from manure storage. Once that methane has been captured it's sent to a processing facility to be upgraded to RNG, and then it's directly injected into a local pipeline.
Zooming out:
The processing, transport, and marketing of the RNG are what make Chevron an essential partner in the JV (aside from the financial aspects of the situation). Together the companies are generating a new source of income for the dairy farms (while making the farms more sustainable), and they are capturing a new market interested in using the RNG for heavy-duty trucks and buses.
Read the press release here.
LyondellBasell's sustainability report sets some new goals
Global petrochemical corporation, LyondellBasell, has announced new goals for the company's sustainability ambitions.
What are the goals?
All of the announcements come as part of LyondellBasell's annual sustainability report (most major public companies release one each year). The company plans on doing a few things for plastic waste and climate change:
- Produce and market 2 million tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.
- Reduce its CO2 emissions by 15% by 2030 (from 2015 levels).
- Join the American Chemistry Council and Plastics Europe to ensure that 100% of plastic packaging is reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040.
What are they saying?
A LyondellBasell SVP said that the "goals underscore what we see possible in the next decade, and our sustainability ambitions require us to adapt our business models.". Feel free to check out the hype video for the announcement here.
Read the press release here.