Business briefing for May 12

Air Products details clean energy cutsAir Products and Chemicals CEO Eduardo Menezes laid out a new strategy in the company’s second-quarter earnings call. The conference was his first after taking over as CEO of the industrial gas giant in February following a high-profile shareholder revolt. Menezes described the company’s core businesses as on-site gas supply at larger industrial sites, merchant gas sales, and conventional hydrogen production and pipeline distribution. He set a goal of $1.5 billion per year in capital expenditures for that group of operations. At the same time, Air Products will make deep cuts to its investments in low-carbon hydrogen and other energy transition efforts, with a goal of eliminating nonmaintenance capital spending in those areas by 2030. Maintenance capital expenditures are expected to stay at about $1 billion per year. Menezes said the firm will finish projects that are nearly complete, such as a green hydrogen plant in Arizona, but divest, pause, or avoid new commitments to sustainability-focused projects in earlier stages, including blue hydrogen efforts in Europe. He also said two new coal gasification assets in China were failing to turn a profit, and he has a team optimizing those sites and reorganizing that part of the business. Implementing the strategy will include cutting about 4,500 jobs, Menezes said. Air Products currently employs about 23,000.—CRAIG BETTENAUSENChevron may buy out CP ChemChevron is interested in buying out its partner, Phillips 66, in their Chevron Phillips Chemical petrochemical joint venture, which they have run together since 2000. CP