SABIC appoints group to oversee decommission of 10 petchem plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemical firm SABIC has appointed specialist consultancy RVA Group to oversee the decommissioning, demolition and dismantling of 10 plants at its North Tees and Wilton sites, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With work having already commenced in the two locations, the multi-million pound program is expected to be completed in 2020.

The more immediate program involves the demolition of a Jetty, which will begin at the end of July and be cleared in eight weeks. Continued decommissioning support is being provided for a tank farm complex and RVA is also finalizing the contractor selection process for the demolition of two Aromatics plants, with a proposed mobilization date of January 2018.

Elsewhere in Wilton, the 48-week demolition of SABIC’s Olefins 5 Furnaces and neighboring Butadiene 2 facility is already in progress and expected to be completed by the spring of 2018 and the close of 2017 respectively.

“With the two-year upgrade of our cracker plant now complete, this current multi-million pound clean-up signals the latest chapter in the creation of safe, efficient and state-of-the-art facilities that are fit for the future,” said Daren Smith, Site Director (acting).

Whilst RVA is no stranger to projects of this scale—having overseen the three largest decommissioning and dismantling projects ever executed on Jurong Island, Singapore, for instance—this is the biggest assignment the team has seen undertaken in the UK.

RVA was appointed via competitive tender to act as the decommissioning consultant, project management resource and CDM Principal Designer, for this latest phase of the project.

Six RVA personnel have a full-time presence on the two sites, with visiting roles from three additional senior managers. The collaborative assignment is also being carried out in conjunction with SABIC’s own project management team, plus surveyors, dismantling and demolition contractors who are being independently appointed via tender for each individual phase of work.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Azeri oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline via Georgia and Turkey fell 11.8% year on year in the first half of 2017 to 13.174 MMt from 14.930 MMt in the same period last year, state energy company SOCAR.

Oil exports through the BTC in 2016 totaled 28.86 MMt, up 1.3%. Azerbaijan exports oil via the pipeline from the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oil fields operated by BP.

It also exports oil via Russia, through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline and via Georgia by rail and through the Baku-Supsa pipeline.

Oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan is also exported through the BTC.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC)— Saudi Arabia has boosted its market share in Japan, the world's top oil exporter's biggest Asian market, by selling more light crude to the country as a way to offset revenue lost implementing OPEC's production cuts, said Reuters.

Middle East crude sellers consider Japan, the world's fourth-largest oil importer, a premium market since its refiners will pay more to secure supply than other Asian buyers. Saudi Arabia raises revenue by boosting sales of more expensive light crude since it cut its supply of so-called heavy crude to comply with the agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-OPEC producers to reduce output.

Japan's imports of Saudi crude between January and June reached 1.3 MMbpd, 7.7% higher than a year ago, making it Japan's biggest supplier, according to trade flows data on Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The increase was mainly in Arab Extra Light as state oil giant Saudi Aramco offered extra cargoes on top of contracted volumes to Japanese buyers, two Japanese refining sources said. They declined to be named due to company policies.

Imports of Arab Extra Light and Arab Light were 160,000 bpd higher through May at 1.03 MMbpd, said Virendra Chauhan, Singapore-based analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects.

Saudi Arabia "clearly sees Asia as its backyard and as a center of growth and long-term source of demand. As such, it does not want to give up too much market share here," he said. Saudi Aramco did not respond to an e-mail from Reuters seeking comment.

Japan's spending on oil through May this year surged 73% from the same time a year ago to USD33.64 B as global oil prices rose and imports climbed, data from the Ministry of Finance shows.

Saudi imports came at the expense of Iran, whose imports dropped 20% in the first half of 2017, and Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which fell by 8% and 5% respectively.

Saudi crude exports to its second- and third-largest Asian buyers—China and South Korea—were little changed in the first half of 2017 from a year ago, the trade flow data showed.

Exports to India and Taiwan dropped 3% and 13% respectively, the data on Eikon showed. Trade sources said this was because Saudi Aramco was unable to supply more heavy crude.

"People are asking for more (heavy crude) but the Saudis can't give because of the OPEC cuts," said a Gulf oil source who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Denka Singapore is in plans to take off-stream a polystyrene (PS) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Singapore informed that the company is expected to shut the plant in October 2017. The plant is likely to remain under maintenance for around one month.

Located on Jurong Island, Singapore, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp (GPPC) conducted a scheduled turnaround at its No. 2 styrene monomer (SM) plant in Taiwan from in mid-February 2017 to 9 April 2017. Located at Tashe in Taiwan, the No. 2 SM plant has a production capacity of 130,000 mt/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany’s Uhde GmbH has commenced the development of two propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants in the cities of Mahshahr in Khuzestan Province and Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, said Financialtribune.

According to NIPNA, the National Petrochemical Company’s official news service, the PDH plant in Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone, named Salman Farsi Petrochemical Complex, has made 15% physical progress.

The plant, aimed at producing 450,000 tons of polypropylene from propane as feedstock, has received licensing from Uhde GmbH. The German company also participates in engineering, procurement and operation of the project.

Propane dehydrogenation is a step in the production of propylene from propane. Propylene is the second most important starting product in the petrochemical industry after ethylene. It is the raw material for plastic polypropylene, a component that is mainly used in the automotive, textile and packaging industries.

The plant in Mahshahr is expected to be completed by 2020 and will provide feedstock for nearby petrochemical complexes, including Rejal, Marun and Navid-Zar Chimi.

Uhde GmbH, based in Dortmund, Germany, is part of German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG.

In cooperation with Japan’s Mitsui, Uhde has provided the technical know-how to build a similar PDH plant in Asalouyeh with the same output capacity.

Uhde is reportedly collaborating with South Korea’s Daelim Corporation on the engineering aspect of the project.

The PDH plant in Asalouyeh is slated to become operational in two to three years. It is planned to receive 650,000 tons of propane annually from South Pars Gas Field.

According to recent reports, Iran’s polypropylene production capacity has reached nearly 1 million tons per year, which is expected to double during the country’s sixth five-year economic development plan (2017-22).

In addition, Jam Petrochemical Company has recently conducted negotiations with a multinational company, Honeywell UOP, over the construction of a PDH unit, which would produce 550,000 tons of polypropylene per annum.

Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC, is involved in developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production and major manufacturing industries.
MRC