Mid July downstream news update: Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Asia

India

A fire at a plant of the Gujarat refinery on the outskirts of the city resulting in a person being injured.

The fire broke out near the flare knock out drum (KOD) of the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit of the Gujarat refinery on Tuesday night. As a precautionary measure the unit was shut down, but was restarted on Wednesday morning.

Gujarat refinery’s other processing units are operating normally.

Also in India, Essar Projects Limited (EPL) secured a US$ 93 million contract from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The contract is part of Bharat’s expansion drive at the Kochi refinery.

Malaysia

A group of activists in Malaysia have staged a protest in Taipei against plans by Taiwan’s Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co. to move a controversial refinery project to their country.

At issue is a plan by Kuokuang, a subsidiary of the state run oil refinery CPC Corp., to invest in a refinery and petrochemical complex located in Pengerang in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

Kuokuang had originally planned to build a similar complex in Changhua, central Taiwan, but was forced to scrap the project in 2011 because it failed to pass environmental assessments.

The activists gathered in front of the Presidential Office to voice their opposition to the investment plan.

Middle East

Iran

Negotiations with the National Iranian Oil Company and the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company are underway for building new refineries. An official in Iran’s National Petrochemical Company said that Lavan and Qesham islands will turn into the hubs of petro refineries due to their proximity to the sites providing feedstock.

Australia

Australia is to drop its carbon tax and replace it with an emissions trading scheme sooner than it had planned.

The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, announced on Tuesday that the government has decided to terminate the carbon tax in order to help cost of living pressure for families and to reduce costs for small businesses. The country will switch to an ETS system a year early, commencing next July.

Edited from various sources by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/19072013/downstream_news_update_asia_australia_middleeast496/