23 July 2014: petrochemical and refining news

India

The Indian department of chemicals and petrochemicals has announced a proposal to build chemical and petrochemical complexes in overseas countries. The department reportedly wishes to do so to ensure the availability of primary chemical raw materials for Indian companies exclusively. Iran and Myanmar have so far been identified as possible locations for the complexes.

Iran

The Iranian National Development Fund has said that it will offer the Siraf Refining Park to private investors on a tender base on the country’s stock exchange. The project involves eight condensate refineries with 60 000 bpd processing capacity and other utility facilities, logistics and processing units. The park is being built in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone.

Nigeria

Plans between the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and an international conglomerate to construct two new refineries in the country are reportedly underway. The refineries to be built in Kogi and Bayelsa states will reportedly cost US$ 3 billion and between them will refine 400 000 bpd.

Oman

Mace has been awarded a consultancy contract by Orpic on projects across Oman. Mace will provide contract administration, engineering and commercial management services on several hundred contracts covering opex and capex projects in Muscat and Sohar.

Russia

According to the Russian Energy Ministry, oil refinery runs in the country last month rose 3.4% month on month, the equivalent to 198 606 bpd. In total, Russian refineries processed 5.96 million bpd of crude oil however, this did not include output from the Achinsk refinery in Siberia which had to halt production after a fire in the middle of June.

USA

Tesoro Corp. has said it is going to spend US$ 400 million to produce petrochemical feedstocks as part of is US West Coast refining operations. The company is going to carryout upgrades to extract xylene from immediate feedstock at a capacity of 15 000 bpd. The xylene will primarily be exported to Asia.

The Valero owned McKee refinery in Dumas, Texas has been working in partnership with the Moore county airport since the 1930s. The plant has recently spoken out saying that it will keep working on increasing production to continue to support the airport’s jet fuel usage and continue its record of never having had to shut down operations.

On Monday 21 July, a funnel cloud passed over the Texas City refining hub. Thankfully it was reported that the funnel did not touch ground and therefore did not cause any damage to facilities in the area.

The Delaware City Refinery has proposed plans to restore and protect a portion of the Delaware River near the PBF Energy owned plant. The project will include refilling the shoreline up to 50 f and placing wave dampeners along the near shore to ease erosion. The plans have however met with mixed reactions and environmental groups are demanding a public hearing.

Chevron Corp. has reversed its position and agreed to lower the cap on greenhouse gas emissions from its planned US$ 1 billion Richmond refinery modernisation project. The decision has come following months of debate between the company, environmental groups, and city and state leaders. The change is thought to be part of the company’s bid to win approval from the City Council at a vote planned for 29 July. Chevron has also announced that it will increase its investments in community non-profits and green job programs to over US$ 60 million.

Edited from various sources by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/23072014/23-july-refining-petchem-news/