BP confirms explosion, fire at Whiting refinery as production continues

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP's largest US refinery in Whiting, Indiana, was still operating on Thursday despite an overnight fire, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's statement.

One worker was injured and taken to an area hospital for treatment, but was later released, according to the company.

BP said operations at the 413,500 bpd Whiting refinery "were minimally impacted as a result of the incident and the refinery continues to produce products for customers".

BP said the fire broke out at 9 p.m. Wednesday night local time and was extinguished by 10:55 p.m. local time. City firefighters were placed on stand-by to assist, but the fire was contained and extinguished by BP's in-house unit at the refinery, according to company officials.

BP did not specify which unit was impacted by the blaze, but said it was located in the refinery's north end. According to Genscape, all monitored units were operating normally except for the blending oil unit, which shut at 9:04 p.m. on Wednesday. That unit removes sulfur from distillate and gas oil streams.

The company did not specify the cause of the fire.

As MRC wrote earlier, In November 2013, BP completed a USDillion revamp of the Whiting refinery to boost its intake of Canadian crude oil from 85,000 bpd to 350,000 bpd.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items. BP Plc reported that its profit before taxation for Q2 2014 increased to USD5.15 billion from USD4.12 billion in the year ago quarter.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, underlines its commitment to sustainability with the launch of its EcoTain concept for the personal care sector, as per the company's press release.

The company responds to the growing demand for sustainable personal care products that use natural ingredients, as consumers place increasing emphasis on health, wellness and environmental aspects.

Sustainability is the cornerstone of the EcoTain label, which provides a means of measuring and understanding the ecological, economic and social impact of Clariant’s products over the entire value chain. The EcoTain four-step concept was developed to further ensure human health and environmental protection without compromising on the performance or efficiency of Clariant’s products.

More than 25 cosmetic ingredients in six categories - emollients, emulsifiers, mild surfactants, pearlizers, actives, preservatives & boosters - have already been awarded the EcoTain label which promises sustainable excellence at every step. Various sustainability criteria distinguish these products that are manufactured according to highest quality, safety and sustainability standards. These include the use of natural ingredients, provision of preferable alternatives to undesirable substances, suitability for skin-friendly formulations, and handling and processing benefits, among others.

"Sustainability is an integral part of Clariant’s overall corporate strategy and we have set ourselves ambitious goals for the years ahead", underlines Christian Kohlpaintner, member of Clariant’s Executive Committee. "The company participates actively in various sustainability initiatives and programs, and moves beyond regulatory and current standards by developing its own initiatives, like EcoTain."

Clariant has initiated the "Portfolio Value Program" that will improve the overall sustainability of the company and by which Clariant specifically addresses and further promotes sustainability integration focused on its product portfolio. The development of new products with an excellent sustainability profile over the whole life cycle is an essential part of the company’s strategy and Clariant’s ambition to create value for its customers and for end-consumers.

As MRC informed before, Clariant has recently announced Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Mass Balance supply chain certification for its plant in Gendorf, Germany, in order to meet the increasing demand for sustainable certified palm-based ingredients from customers in the personal care and home care sectors.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A shortage of polypropylene (PP) has increased significantly in the Russian market by the end of the month because of several reasons. PP prices broke the historical record over the past few years, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Scheduled outages for maintenance at Poliom's PP production (210,000 tonnes per year) and Ufaorgsintez (100,000 tonnes per year), which began in mid-August, and disruptions in operations of Tobolsk-Polymer (500,000 tonnes per year) led to a major shortage of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) in the Russian market. Prices of some homopolymer PP grades almost reached a record level of Rb80,000/tonne.

Offer prices of PP have been virtually absent in the spot market since mid-August. Deals were scarce, prices reached unsustainable levels. Deals for raffia grade homopolymer PP reached Rb77,000-79,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. Prices of homopolymer PP were also in a quite wide range: they started from Rb75,000/tonne and reached Rb86,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. Converters said they were forced to buy material at such high prices, because there were no alternatives, besides, they have contractual obligations before buyers of finished products.

Negotiations over September PP prices began in the contract market this week. SIBUR (controls Tobolsk-Polymer, Neftekhimia, Tomskneftekhim and Poliom) announced a price increase of Rb3,000/tonne from August. Other Russian producers (Ufaorgsintez and Nizhnekamskneftekhim) have not yet announced their intentions for next month.

Many market participants said the shortage of PP will continue in the Russian market, at least, till mid-September, until Poliom and Ufaorgsintez reach 100% capacity utilisation. The dificit might last longer, because stronger demand, which was not met in August, is unlikely to be met in September either.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jubail United Petrochemical Co (JUPC) is likely to restart its No.1 monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the plant is likely to be restarted by end-August 2014. It was shut in early July for a maintenance turnaround.

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

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Sinopec Hubei Chemical Fertilizer has started a new MEG plant on February 8, 2014. Initially the plant was scheduled to start commercial production in late 2013. Located at Zhejiang in Hubei province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Another Chinese petrochemical producer Hubei Chemical Fertilizer started a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in late 2013. Located in Hubei, China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's largest producer of polyethylene - Kazanorgsintez (Taif) plans to stop the production of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for scheduled maintenance works from 10, September, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Kazanorgsintez traditionally shuts its HDPE production for maintenance works in September. This year the company will shut its HDPE production for the turnaround from 10, September to 18, September. The producer resumes HDPE production after the turnaround from 5, October and also will be delayed for several days.

As it was reported before, Nizhnekamskneftekhim, the second in Tatarstan producer of polyethylene in Russia because of the circumstances in the Russian market (emergency shutdown of Stavrolen resulted in the shortage in the domestic market) doe not plan to shut for the turnaround this year.

Kazanorgsintez is the largest producer of polyethylene in Russia with total capacity of 730,000 tonnes/year.
Its HDPE production capacity is 540,000 tonnes/year.
MRC