Exxon fined over explosion at La. oil refinery that injured four workers

MOSCOW (MRC) — ExxonMobil Corp has been fined about USD165,000 by US regulators for safety lapses including inadequate training and equipment maintenance over an explosion that injured four workers at an aging Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery last year, said Reuters.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued nine citations, several of which echo previous cautions by federal agencies at two other Exxon plants. The citations, issued in May, were seen by Reuters this month. A separate investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is ongoing and its report on the incident is due by year-end.

Exxon said it is contesting the OSHA citations and fines. The facility was faulted 5 yr ago by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to address corrosion on pipes and valves and for inadequate shutdown and emergency procedures provided to workers.

The Nov. 22, 2016 explosion on a sulfuric-acid alkylation unit that makes octane-boosting components of gasoline in the sprawling Baton Rouge refinery and chemical plant injured four workers, two of them severely. Two of the affected workers declined to comment; others could not be reached.

A worker on the alkylation unit removed the cover of a malfunctioning valve on an isobutane line and used a wrench to turn the value stem, Exxon reported to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in a letter. Volatile isobutane is converted in the alkylation unit to a component of gasoline.

As the operator turned the valve stem, portions of the valve fell out, releasing isobutane, according to the Exxon letter, which was ignited by a welding machine 70 feet away.

One worker was knocked off a scaffold next to the alkylation unit and left dangling over the fire, according to two sources. Another worker was burned over most of her body.

Exxon's safety procedures and training for operators on the alkylation unit were lacking, equipment was not properly maintained, and required inspections were not carried out within required time periods, according to a copy of the citations seen by Reuters.

"We cooperated with OSHA's investigation and shared extensive information and records," said Exxon spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker. "We are contesting the citations and associated penalty." Huffaker said "nothing is more important" to Exxon than maintaining a safe workplace for workers and residents near its facilities.

Eight of the nine citations were listed as serious, each carrying a fine of USD12,675. The ninth, for failing to carry out external visual and ultrasonic inspections of piping, totaled USD63,373.

The latter fine was higher because Exxon was cited in 2016 for violating the same inspection standard at a Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex, OSHA said in the citation.

In a report issued in May after a two-year investigation of a 2015 explosion at an 86-year-old Torrance, California, refinery then owned by Exxon, the CSB said the company lacked a procedure for operating a fluidic catalytic cracking unit in an idled mode, as was being done when the explosion took place.

Exxon sold the Torrance refinery to PBF Energy Inc in July 2016. In 2012, the EPA inspected the Baton Rouge refinery as part of a risk management prevention program. It found Exxon had not examined in five years more than 1,000 underground pipes, many of which were corroded, according to the agency's report on the inspection. The EPA also said emergency and shutdown procedures failed to provide needed details for operators.

Huffaker said in an email that Exxon contested the violations, and said the EPA withdrew all but two of its findings. She did not specify the two violations but said Exxon resolved those issues.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair, Inc. has announced the start-up of a new air separation plant to supply 700 tons per day of nitrogen to Samsung’s display manufacturing complex in Tangjeong, South Korea, as per the company's press release.

Samsung’s Tangjeong complex, the world’s first and largest sixth-generation flexible Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) panel plant, is expanding to meet increasing demand for future generations of displays.

OLEDs are used in a variety of products including televisions, mobile devices, digital cameras, virtual reality headsets and laptops. Praxair’s nitrogen is being used for cooling and purging applications in Samsung’s manufacturing process.

This is Praxair’s third plant supporting the facility. The company has been supplying Samsung’s display operations with nitrogen, oxygen, argon, helium and other gases since 2005, including its LCD factory in Tangjeong.

"Praxair has enjoyed a relationship with Samsung for more than 25 years and is committed to supporting their expanded production capabilities with a broad array of gases, applications technologies and customer support," said B.S. Sung, president of Praxair Korea. "We have been recognized as a consistently reliable supplier to Samsung and look forward to a long future together supporting their growing requirements in the country and throughout the world."

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2016, Praxair, Inc. announced it had signed a long-term contract to supply industrial gases to Hyundai Oilbank (Hyundai), a leading oil refining company in South Korea.

Praxair, Inc., a Fortune 300 company with 2016 sales of USD11 billion, is a leading industrial gas company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies are making our planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, primary metals and many others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's imports of polypropylene (PP) decreased to about 75,900 tonne in first six months of this year, down 5% year on year, compared to the same period of 2016. Not all PP grades accounted for the decrease in shipments, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

June imports of PP into Russia increased to 14,700 tonnes against 15,400 in May, the decrease accounted only for homopolymer PP raffia grade. In general, PP imports into Russia totalled 75,900 tonnes in January-June 2017, compared with 79,900 tonnes year on year. The reduction in external supplies was seen only for homopolymer PP and PP random copolymers, while imports of PP block copolymers, on the contrary, increased.

Overall, the structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

June imports of homopolymer PP decreased to 5,200 tonnes from 7,000 tonnes a month earlier.Local companies decreased their shipments of homopolymer PP raffia grade from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Overall imports of this PP grade reached 26,200 tonnes in the first six months of 2017, compared to 36,900 a year earlier.

June imports of PP block copolymers in Russia increased to 3,500 tonnes against 3,300 tonnes in May. Local companies increased purchasing of PP block copolymers for non-pressure pipes extrusion. Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia reached 20,400 tonnes in January-June 2017, compared to 15,700 tonnes a year earlier.

Imports of PP random copolymers in June were about 2,800 tonnes, compared with 2,200 tonnes in May because of an increase in purchases from the local producers of PP films. Total imports of PP random copolymers in Russia were 13,600 tonnes in January - June 2017, compared with 14,300 tonnes year on year.

Imports of other propylene polymers for the reported period increased to about 15,700 tonnes compared with 13,100 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ESPANOLA corruption scandal in Bolivia had led President Evo Morales to cancel two petrochemical plant contracts with two European companies, as per Plastemart.

The contract was cancelled after a complaint by Senator Oscar Ortiz, who accused the president and contract proceedings of corruption. As a result, Guillermo Acha - President of the country’s state owned oil company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos - was dismissed.

A contract to purchase drilling equipment for USD149 million was reportedly mishandled. Officials decided to terminate the contracts before they were signed and finalized.

The construction of the propylene and polypropylene plant with the Italian company Tecnimont and its Spanish partner Tecnicas Reunidas, was to be the president’s biggest bid to industrialize natural gas, which is the country’s main source of wealth. It was the country’s largest contract, at USD2billion.

Ortiz said he wants to investigate why the Italian company had been awarded three contracts, the conceptual engineering study, the strategic support service and the engineering and construction project for the polypropylene (PP) and propylene plant.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Austrian chemical company Borealis is carrying out feasibility studies for a polypropylene (PP) unit and a mixed-feed steam cracker at Borouge, the petrochemicals complex it owns jointly with Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc in Ruwais, UAE. The study for the new PP unit- known as PP5, is in its latter stages, with a final investment decision expected later this year. The new plant would have a production capacity of around 600,000 tpa. Abu Dhabi refiner Takreer is building a new 500,000 tpa propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at Ruwais that is planned to start up in the third quarter of this year. This will create a significant excess of propylene in the complex that would easily support a new PP plant, Borealis chief executive Mark Garrett said in March 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - July contract price of ethylene in Europe was agreed at EUR50/tonne below the level of June.
But European polyethylene (PE) producers reduced their export prices more significantly that the amount of reduction of ethylene prices, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Negotiations over export prices of European PE to be shipped to the CIS markets began back last week. Many negotiators said most European producers had reduced substantially their export PE prices. In some cases, the price decrease reached EUR70/tonne from May.

Deals for July shipments of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were discussed in the range EUR950-1,030/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR1,000-1,100/tonne FCA. Some companies reported that they have achieved prices at the level of EUR920/tonne FCA, but this was more likely an exception.

July deals for low density polyethylene (LDPE) were negotiated in the range of EUR1,080 - 1,150/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR1,130 - 1,210/tonne FCA.
MRC