7th November: Global refining update

Canada
A decision on what to do with the Harvest Energy Come By Chance refinery is yet to be made. Natural Resources Minister Derrick Dalley has said that he is still optimistic about the plant’s future. The most likely fates are for the plant to be sold, downsized or shutdown.

China
Sinochem has announced that it plans to start the Quanshou refinery by the end of this year. The plant is the first wholly owned refinery in the company’s portfolio and is situated on the southwest coast of China. The plant is expected to have a processing capacity of 240 000 bpd when it is fully operational but will begin with a processing capacity of 100 000 bpd.

Oman
At 11:50 am yesterday, the Sohar refinery was the victim of a major electrical power interruption. Immediately following the failure, the flaring system activated and ran at full capacity for approximately half an hour. The power supply was re-established at 1pm and all units at the facility are expected to be running as normal within 36 – 48 hours.

Saudi Arabia
A second diesel cargo has been loaded from the Jubail refinery. The cargo is expected to remain within Saudi Arabia and possibly be used by Saudi Aramco themselves. The plant is owned by Saudi Aramco and Total under the name SATORP.

Uganda
Russia’s Rostec has announced its intention to set up a refinery in Uganda. The country is a very fast growing market and has also been hailed as one of the most business friendly locations in the east of Africa. The plant will be the country’s first refinery, will be built in Hoima at a cost of US$ 3 billion.

USA
During the autumn of 2014 a new coker will be connected to the McPherson refinery in Kansas owned by CHS Inc. The new unit will allow the plant to process different types of feedstock without having to expand throughput. The work will be carried out in conjunction with a planned maintenance period during October of next year.

Edited from various sources by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/07112013/7th_nov_refining_news/