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NorthAmOil ENERGY TRANSITION NorthAmOil
Chevron, Bunge propose
renewable fuel joint venture
US SUBSIDIARIES of super-major Chevron and increasingly explores various low-carbon ven-
food production company Bunge have signed a tures. The super-major has entered into a series
memorandum of understanding (MoU) propos- of partnerships in recent months to advance
ing a 50:50 joint venture to develop renewable renewable and low-carbon projects. This
fuels. includes the company’s first ever investment into
If the joint venture is finalised, the two com- an offshore wind project in April.
panies will establish a supply chain “from farmer Chevron USA, which is also the unit involved
to fuelling station”, with Bunge expected to con- in the Bunge MoU, announced that it was
tribute soybean processing facilities in Louisiana expanding its joint venture with Birghtmark for
and Illinois to the partnership. Chevron, for its the second time.
part, would furnish roughly $600mn in cash to The joint venture, Brightmark RNG Hold-
the joint venture. ings, will be expanded to own projects across the
Through the joint venture, the two compa- US that produce and market dairy biomethane, a The super-major
nies anticipate roughly doubling the combined renewable natural gas (RNG). The joint venture’s
capacity of the Bunge facilities from 7,000 tons subsidiaries currently own RNG projects in New has entered
(6,350 tonnes) per day by the end of 2024. The York, Michigan, Florida, South Dakota and Ari-
joint venture would also pursue new growth zona. Both partners will contribute additional into a series of
opportunities in lower-carbon intensity feed- equity investments to the joint venture to fund
stocks, the companies said, and would consider construction of infrastructure and commercial partnerships in
feedstock pre-treatment investments. operation of 10 dairy biomethane projects, they recent months
Under the proposed joint venture arrange- said. This will include new sites in Iowa and
ment, Bunge would continue to operate its Wisconsin and additional sites in Michigan and to advance
facilities. The companies said Bunge would lev- South Dakota.
erage its expertise in oilseed processing – it is the These moves are being announced as pres- renewable and
world’s largest player in this area – and farmer sure is growing on the super-major to do more
relationships to manage origination and market- to decarbonise. In May, Chevron’s investors low-carbon
ing of meal and plant-based oil. backed a proposal that would require the com- projects.
Chevron would have offtake rights to the pany to take steps to reduce its Scope 3 emis-
oil to use as renewable feedstock to manufac- sions – those generated by end-users of its
ture diesel and jet fuel with lower lifecycle car- products. Though the proposal did not require
bon intensity. Additionally, the super-major Chevron to set a target for how much to cut
is expected to provide market knowledge and these emissions or by what date, the support
downstream retail and commercial distribution for the measure illustrated investor sentiments
channels for the partnership’s output. when it comes to the energy transition and how
The announcement comes as Chevron companies are responding to it.
Week 35 02•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
