Sinopec warned urbanization threatened pipeline repairs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec, the nation’s biggest refiner,warned authorities in China two years ago that urbanization was hampering repair work on a crude oil pipeline in the eastern city of Qingdao. A blast last week at the pipe killed 55 people, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The pipeline had "several safety hazards," Sinopec, said in a September 2011 report, submitted to the Environmental Protection Bureau in Weifang, a city near Qingdao. The report describes the 27-year-old pipeline as originally built in a sparsely populated suburb, now crowded by construction and a rising population. Qingdao is home to 7.66 million people.

The November 22 crude oil spill and blast, the deadliest since at least 2005 according to the official Xinhua News Agency, highlights the challenges facing China in balancing safety with urbanization, as it rushes to add apartments, railways and factories. Premier Li Keqiang has championed urbanization as a "huge engine" of future economic expansion to revive slowing growth.

"On paper more urbanization is good, but it ignores the lack of government oversight and poor construction quality," said Ding Xueliang, a professor who studies China’s modernization at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "The explosion in Qingdao is a huge lesson for the entire country."

"Originally the pipeline was located on the outskirts and it has now become a bustling downtown district," Sinopec wrote in its September 2011 report. The company cited "many buildings" and a "densely populated" area as impediments to conducting pipeline repairs.

Sinopec stopped 306 cases, including building projects, that illegally interfered with its nationwide pipeline operations in the first nine months, one of the company’s pipeline units said in an October report.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to boost work safety and increase inspections in the wake of the disaster.

"A large-scale work safety check should be launched, with inspectors going deep into the production sites anonymously and unannounced," Xi said, according to Xinhua.

In a separate incident, a crane at a high-speed rail construction site fell and caused a gasoline spill at a Sinopec pipeline in Guizhou province in southern China on November 26, Xinhua reported. All residents within 2 km of the leak were evacuated and the spill is being investigated, it said.

As MRC wrote previously, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. started pipelines in Qingdao on 26 November that were undamaged after an explosion last week. The pipelines resumed operations after inspections. The Qingdao refinery will return to normal output soon.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) is a large scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Sinopec is the worlds seventh biggest company by revenue.
Sinopec is China's largest manufacturer and supplier of major petrochemical products. It is the second largest producer of crude oil in China. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally
MRC

Imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) reached 12,100 tonnes and 3,300 tonnes, respectively, in January-October 2013. These figures were 10,100 tonnes and 3,200 tonnes, respectively, in the same period of 2012. Russian producers are the key LDPE suppliers, and producers from South Korea and Uzbekistan are leaders in the supply of LLDPE to Kazakhstan.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has produced its first commercial volumes of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from renewable raw material, and is offering this product to customers for testing and commercial use, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The production process relies on a patented fermentation technology from Genomatica, based in California. The fermentation process uses dextrose as a renewable feedstock.

The quality of BDO based on renewable raw material is comparable to petrochemical-based BDO, according to the company.

BASF plans to expand its portfolio with selected BDO derivatives based on renewable feedstock, including polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF).

BDO and its derivatives are widely used for producing plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals and elastic fibers. The starting materials for the production of conventional BDO are natural gas, butane, butadiene and propylene.

As MRC reported earlier, this year BASF and China-based Xinjiang Markor Chemical unvelied their plans to set up two joint venture companies for the production of butanediol (BDO) and polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF), in Korla, Xinjiang Uygur, China. The JV firms are considering building a new BDO plant, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes, and another facility with a capacity for 50,000 tonnes per annum of PolyTHF. These are expected to be commissioned in 2015.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. As for BDO and BDO-equivalents, BASF currently manufactures these products at its sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Geismar, Louisiana; Chiba, Japan; Kuantan, Malaysia; and Caojing, China, and has an annual capacity of 535,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastern Petrochemical (Sharq) has shut its No.4 monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the plant was shut on November 26, 2013 owing to technical issues. A restart date for the plant could not be ascertained.

Located in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co (CSPC) shut its MEG plant on 10 November, owing to mechanical issues. A restart date for the plant could not be ascertained. Located in Guangdong province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.

Besides, Xinjiang Tianye Group is in plans to start a new MEG plant in August 2014. To be located in Xinjiang province, China, the plant will have a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.
MRC