HPCL, GAIL JV in talks with AP government to set up new petrochemical plant at Kakinada

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned refinery Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd are looking for viability gap funding of 2,000 crore to set up a petrochemical plant at a cost of 32,000 crore at Kakinada, according to Plastemart.

Both the companies in the joint venture are in talks with the state government on various aspects of the proposed 1 mln ton ethylene derivatives plant.

The authorities said the government cannot provide such huge funds and instead they can benefit from the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) to the tune of about Rs 300 crore.

In the joint venture between the companies and the state government, the latter will facilitate permissions. Both companies will get land from GMR company in the Kakinada special economic zone (SEZ).

As MRC wrote before, HPCL and its partner Lakshmi N Mittal will invest about USD3 bln in setting up a petrochemical complex at the Bhatinda refinery in Punjab. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), a joint venture between HPCL and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd, Singapore, plans to set up an up to 1.2 mln ton naphtha cracker, expandable to 1.7 mt.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
MRC

Total says crude exports from Congo Republic Djeno terminal unaffected

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French oil and gas company Total said on Monday that crude exports from its Djeno terminal in Congo Republic was ongoing and unaffected following a strike last week and the sinking of a loading buoy in an unrelated accident, as per Reuters.

Traders said on Friday that the company had declared a force majeure on exports of Djeno crude following the incident.

A spokeswoman for Total said: "Exports from Djeno remain unaffected and safely continue with the second available loading buoy," adding that the tanker that was loading at the time of the buoy incident was safely disconnected.

She added that the strike at the terminal ended on Friday, while an investigation into the buoy accident was ongoing.

As MRC informed before, in early July 2017, Total signed a deal with Tehran to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars, the world's largest gas field, marking the first major Western energy investment in the Islamic Republic since the lifting of sanctions against it. Total will be the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, alongside Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC with 30%, and National Iranian Oil Co subsidiary Petropars with 19.9%. The project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day, or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate, Total said in a statement, adding that the gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

Perstorp Capa grades given food contact approval in US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Perstorp has acquired food contact use approval for its Capa for Bioplastics product grades 6500D and the new 6800D, as per the company's press release.

By adding Capa 6800D to its product portfolio, Perstorp can now offer a higher molecular weight product to give customers more choices and flexibility in finding the right formulation.

Capa 6500D and Capa 6800D now approved for food contact use in the US. (Food Contact Notification by FDA)
The new Capa 6800D for Bioplastics extends Perstorp’s range of products for biodegradable food applications
Capa for Bioplastics is durable, stable and easy to process as well as offering best-in-class biodegradability
Bioplastics is a focus area for Perstorp. It is an important part of the company’s commitment to the environment and vision for a more sustainable future. Capa for Bioplastics exhibits excellent biodegradability properties and can improve bioplastic solutions, as well as enabling unique product characteristics. In the bioplastics market, Capa is typically used for applications like bags and films, paper cups and packaging.

"We have had food contact approval in Europe (EFSA) already for a few years," says Jesper Fahlen, global product manager Capa. "This approval for our Capa 6500D as well as for the new Capa 6800D verifies that Capa is safe for food applications, enabling bioplastic packaging for a more sustainable future."

The new Capa 6800D grade further extends Perstorp’s Capa portfolio. It is a high molecular weight linear polyester derived from caprolactone monomer. Like Capa 6500D, the Capa 6800D variant does not compromise on performance; being just as durable, stable, and easy to process while offering best in class biodegradability.

"The bioplastics market is rapidly growing and Perstorp sees huge potential for biodegradable packaging and food applications," says Marie Gronborg, Executive Vice President at Perstorp. “"ith the broader portfolio we meet our customers’ need for formulation efficiency by offering different choices of molecular weight. By helping manufacturers move from conventional plastics to bioplastics we are, together, reducing the pollution our planet is facing."

As MRC reported previously, in the first half of 2017, Synthomer plc acquired Perstorp Oxo Belgium AB from the Swedish Perstorp Holding AB for EUR 78 million. Perstorp Belgium is a niche additives business serving the decorative and industrial coatings industries. In 2016, the business generated earnings before interest and tax of EUR 8 million and had gross assets of EUR 21 million. The company operates from a single site in Ghent, Belgium, and has 41 employees, who will all be transferred with the business.

Perstorp is one of the world leaders in various sectors of the specialty chemicals market, it's pioneer in formalin chemistry, plastics and surface materials. Perstorp was founded in 1881 and is controlled by PAI partners,a major European private equity company. The company has around 1,500 employees in with 22 production plants in Europe, Asia and North America.
MRC

CPC Taoyuan starts up sulfur recovery units with DuPont technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has awarded DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont) the contract to supply the technology license, engineering and proprietary equipment for a MECS DynaWave wet gas scrubbing unit to be installed at its Taoyuan refinery in Taiwan in August 2015, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This scrubbing system has recently gone into operation for two sulfur recovery units (SRUs) at the site, in time for CPC to comply with strict emissions reduction regulations.

In the past, seven to eight days were required after turnaround of the SRUs at the CPC refinery before acid gas could be fed to the units and commence normal operation. As a result, off-gas from the catalyst would be released directly to the stack and into the air, causing environmental issues. CPC researched different solutions to resolve these issues, and finally opted for the MECS DynaWave scrubber, a scrubbing technology licensed by DuPont.

Licensed by DuPont, MECS DynaWave scrubbers are designed to work with a variety of reagents and handle multiple functions in one vessel. As such, the process makes it possible to quench the incinerated gas and remove potential particulates while absorbing the remaining acids from the Claus TGTUs. The technology also offers the flexibility of bypassing the SRU or the SRU tail gas system during maintenance and repairs, so operations can continue without interruption.

As MRC reported earlier, CPC Corp. is in negotiations with an unidentified Indonesian firm regarding the purchase and relocation of CPC's Kaohsiung, Taiwan, naphtha cracker to Indonesia. In addition to purchasing the cracker, the Indonesian company is also interested in acquiring the technology as well as operation and maintenance expertise, and has proposed a partnership with CPC in Indonesia.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

China June oil refinery throughput close to record

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's oil refineries ramped up throughput in June to the second highest on record, with some independent plants raising output even as state oil majors prepare to take drastic steps to cut production during the peak summer season, reported Reuters.

Throughput last month reached 46.08 MMt, or 11.21 MMbpd, a 2.3% rise year-on-year and up from May's 10.98 MMbpd, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

That was just shy of December's record volume of 11.26 MMbpd.

The higher throughput came after another month of strong crude oil imports and as top refineries prepared to cut output in the third quarter.

"Refinery runs were impressive considering that refinery maintenance was still heavy," said Nevyn Nah, analyst at Energy Aspects.

Independent refiners, known as "teapots" raised their runs after receiving additional crude import quotas, while oil majors kept their throughput roughly flat year on-year, he said.

For the first six months, refinery production in the world's second-largest fuel consumer gained 3% from a year earlier to 275.21 MMt, or about 11.1 MMbpd.

Upcoming cuts to production by the oil majors will not be as deep as many in the market expect, added Nah, because the planned cuts were from very high levels in the first quarter.

The NBS data on Monday also showed domestic crude oil output fell 2.3% last month versus a year ago to 16.21 MMt, or 3.94 MMbpd, but up from May's 3.83 MMbpd.

Output during the January-June period was down 5.1% on-year at about 3.89 MMbpd.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, China's Sinopec group, parent of Sinopec Corp, will invest USD29.05 billion to upgrade four refining bases between 2016 and 2020 to produce higher-quality fuels. Sinopec's upgrades come as China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, is embracing more stringent fuel standards in its battle against pollution and suffering an overall glut in refining capacity. After the upgrades, the total refining capacity of the four refining sites will reach 130 MMtpy, or 2.6 MMbpd, while ethylene capacity will reach 9 MMtpy, Sinopec said. The sites are in the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Zhenhai on the east coast and Maoming-Zhanjiang in southern Guangdong province. After the expansions, the bases will make up 45% of Sinopec's total refining capacity and 65% of its ethylene capacity.
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