Europe, Middle East and Asia: downstream news catch up

China

On Sunday 3 August, it was reported that firemen were fighting a blaze at the Lanzhou petrochemicals plant, owned by a subsidiary of PetroChina. The fire is thought to have started due to a leak in the 300 000 tpy air separation unit. The fire at the plant has left several petrochemical pipelines closed however, the industry in the region has said that raw materials supplies for production are remaining at normal levels.

India

Vishnu Agrawal, Director of Finance at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has been given the additional responsibility of Managing Director of MRPL. The position started on 1 August 2014 after PP Upadhya who superannuated on 31 July. Agrawal has been director of finance singe April 2011.

Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) has postponed maintenance plans at the Bina refinery. The work is now expected to be carried out in the first quarter of 2015. The refinery has one crude distillation unit and the 30 day maintenance period is expected to shutdown the whole plant, including secondary units. The work was originally planned for September 2014.

Iran

It has been reported that Iran is looking to build a mega project gas complex at the Siraf Refining Park. The project would involve the construction of eight gas condensate refineries and utilities as well as logistics and processing units. The park is on the rim of the Persian Gulf and is expected to cost US$ 2.4 billion.

Italy

ENI has said that it has increased its original capacity reduction plan for its domestic refinery to more than 50%. The original plan was to decrease operations to 35% in the hope of cost saving. The company’s four year plan is seeking to save over 1.7 billion Euros.

Malaysia

A bid has been placed by India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp and Oil India Ltd for a stake in Murphy Oil Corp’s Malaysian oil and gas assets. The two companies are apparently offering US$ 1.5 billion for a 30% share. This is merely a preliminary bid and it is thought that this will change when the final deal value is agreed upon.

The Netherlands

BP has announced that one of the two crude distillation units at its Rotterdam refinery has been taken offline for maintenance. The company has not spoken with regards to the length of the maintenance period.

Wales

It has been announced that the Milford Haven refinery will remain mothballed until Klesch Group completes its acquisition. The company is not likely to completely take the facility off Murphy Oil’s hands until the end of October this year. Klesch have said they will continue refining operations at the plant once they are instated as owners.

Edited from various sources by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/04082014/4-aug-emea-news/