LyondellBasell, a producer of petrochemical products, announced its financial results for Q3 2024 on 1 November.

The company fell short of Wall Street's earnings expectations due to declining refining margins and weakness in the chemical segment, leading to a 2.8% drop in its shares during pre-market trading.

Refining margins declined globally as oil demand growth remains below average. Crude oil throughput decreased by approximately 8,000 bpd due to unplanned downtimes in the reporting quarter. The company reported a loss of $23 million in the refining segment based on adjusted EBITDA, compared to a baseline profit of $105 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ending 30 September amounted to $10.32 billion, down from $10.63 billion a year earlier.

• Revenue — Advanced Polymer Solutions: $896 million. This figure represents a year-on-year change of -0.3%;

• Revenue—Olefins and Polyolefins — US: $2.98 billion. This figure indicates an annual change of +3.5%;

• Revenue — Olefins and Polyolefins — Europe, Asia, International: $2.81 billion. This figure demonstrates a year-on-year growth of +14.8%;

• Revenue — Others/Deductions: -$1.25 billion compared to -$1.50 billion. Relative to Q3 of last year, this figure reflects a change of -20.1%;

• Revenue — Refining: $2.05 billion. This figure represents a year-on-year change of -22.9%;

• Revenue — Technologies: $146 million. Compared to the same quarter last year, this figure reflects a change of -33%;

• Revenue — Intermediates and Derivatives: $2.69 billion. This figure marks a year-on-year decline of -12.8%.

• EBITDA — Olefins and Polyolefins — US: $758 million;

• EBITDA — Olefins and Polyolefins — Europe, Asia, International: $81 million;

• EBITDA — Advanced Polymer Solutions: $19 million;

• EBITDA — Technologies: $69 million;

• EBITDA — Others: -$10 million.

We are pleased to announce that our team will participate in the Fakuma trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, this year! Our specialists will be available on 16—18 October for meetings, negotiations, and long-awaited collaborations.

Please let us know if you would like to schedule a meeting with us by writing to a.vyshynska@chem-courier.com.

We look forward to meeting you there next week!

California and several environmental groups sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil giant of engaging in a decades-long campaign that contributed to global plastic waste pollution, as reported by US local media.

Speaking at an event during Climate Week in New York City, California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that the state sued Exxon after concluding a nearly two-year investigation, which he claimed showed Exxon was deliberately misleading the public about the limitations of recycling.

‘Plastics are everywhere, from the deepest parts of our oceans to the highest peaks on earth, and even in our bodies, causing irreversible damage—in ways known and unknown—to our environment and potentially our health,’ the California Attorney General has said in a news release on Monday. ‘For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this was not possible. ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardising our health.’

Bonta mentioned in April that he would investigate fossil fuel and petrochemical companies for their role in causing the plastic pollution crisis, but Monday's action was solely against Exxon. He indicated in a news conference announcing the lawsuit that others might be added, but Exxon was the largest producer of the building blocks of plastics.

The Attorney General specifically named Exxon's advanced recycling programme as being misleading. ‘Ninety-two percent of plastics in advanced recycling become transportation fuel—only a very small amount is recycled. Exxon can only recycle about 1% of its own plastic,’ he has stated.

A coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, filed a related lawsuit in the same state court in San Francisco, raising similar allegations against Exxon, Reuters reports.