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Global refining news: 29 August 2014

Hydrocarbon Engineering,


France

Total SA has announced that due to the expected decreases in fuel demand, the company is going to adapt its processing capacity in France according to consumer demand levels. The company has so far halted producing surplus levels of oil products due to the decline in demand across all of its French plants. The plant has already suffered the loss of the Dunkirk refinery due to falling refining margins.

India

Indian Oil Corp has said that it expects refining margins at the new Paradip refinery to be over US$ 10 /bbl. The refinery in Orissa is also expected to increase the overall margins of the company as a whole. Rs 30 000 crore is being invested in the new plant which will be running at a full 15 million tpy capacity by March 2015.

Japan

JX Nippon Oil & Energy has said that across the company, it would refine 1.01 million bpd throughout September. This is a drop in production levels of 5% from the same time in 2013. In August 2014, the level of refining across the company was reported as 13% lower than levels for the same time last year.

Malaysia

It has been reported that a desulfurisation unit has been shut at the Malacca refinery. The crude distillation unit is also reported to be running at lower than normal rates and is expected to do so until 8 September whilst repairs are made to a secondary unit. Due to these shutdowns the plant is over all running at a 66% lower rate than usual. The refinery is joint owned by Petronas and Phillip 66 and usually has a processing capacity of 100 000 bpd.

USA

It has been announced that Quantum Energy Inc., has secured a second site for a refinery near the Bakken. The site is in Baker, Montana which is considered an energy hub in the region. The land proposed for the refinery has already been vetted and approved by an Environmental Protection Agency contractor and a good response has been received from economic development authorities in Fallon County.

St. Paul Park Refining Co. has been fined US$ 40 000 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The company has been penalised for not handling wastewater, which contained benzene, correctly at the refinery which is near the Mississippi river as well as other violations which are reportedly related to improper storage of toxic chemicals. Four corrective actions have also been demanded of the refinery.

In the early hours of the morning of 28 August it was reported that a man had fallen and injured himself at the Calumet refinery and that fire rescue teams were called to the plant. Following these reports, it was revealed that two employees had been injured at the plant due to possible exposure to hydrogen sulfide. The casualties were taken to the Benefis hospital for treatment along with a firefighter who was also possibly exposed to the chemical.


Sources:The Malaysian Insider, Bloomberg, Power Engineering, Kpax, Reuters, Brianded Dispatch, The Economic Times.

Edited from various sources by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/29082014/oil-refinery-news-29-aug/

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