Mid June global construction and maintenance news

Asia

India

India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has rejected ‘green’ clearance for the expansion of the Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) Vishakh Refinery.

The MoEF has rejected clearance due to the fact that there is a moratorium on industrial expansions in some parts of Visakhapatnam, where the company had proposed expansion.

Malaysia

Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas has pushed back the completion date for its Johor refinery to 2017 due to a delay in a final investment decision being made.

The company’s CEO, Shamsul Azhar, has insisted that the delay will be no more than three months in duration.

USA

Indiana

The US$ 4.2 billion modernisation project at the BP Whiting refinery is on target to end this year. Work is more than 90% complete on the project. The new crude distillation unit is expected to start up this month, with a new coker and gas oil hydrotreater due to come online later in the year.

While the refinery’s capacity will remain the same at 413 000 bpd of crude oil, fuel production is anticipated to rise by 15%.

Texas

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) has shut down its Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City after a leak developed in the plant’s key gasoline making unit.

The leak occurred after part of the fluid catalytic cracking unit sheared apart at a weld seam, leading to the release of slurry, light cycle oil, heavy cycle oil, FCC gasoline and other components. Nobody was injured, however the 451 000 bpd was forced to start shut down procedures.

South America

Brazil

Petroleo Brasilierio, or Petrobras, expects its Comperj refinery to start operations in August 2016, more than a year later than planned. The company’s chief executive, Maria das Gracas Foster, has said that environmental license issues and changes to the refinery’s design were the reasons for the delay.

Edited from various sources by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/10062013/mid_june_global_construction_and_maintenance_news/