Blast rocks naphtha cracker of IOCL Panipat refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian oil major, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), witnessed a massive blast in its refinery at Panipat, Haryana, as per Apic-online.

A domestic source informed that the blast took place in the Naphtha Cracker of the refinery on Monday afternoon. One contractual employee of IOCL was reportedly killed in the accident while 5 others were injured.

An investigation by technical team is underway to understand the cause of the accident.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
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India oil ministry seeks petrol, diesel excise duty budget cut

MOSCOW (MRC) - India's oil ministry is pushing for a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the upcoming 2018/19 budget to cushion the impact of rising oil prices on its vast consumer base, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces elections in key states later this year, and a nationwide election in early 2019, has faced pressure over a rise in retail prices of petrol and diesel to a record level. India has the highest retail prices of petrol and diesel among South Asian nations as taxes account for about 40-50 percent of the pump prices. A litre of petrol costs 72.23 rupees (USD1.13) while diesel is sold at 63.01 rupees. Petrol and diesel account for about half of India's refined fuel consumption.

"We can only recommend. It is up to the finance ministry to take a decision," a senior oil ministry official said.

A cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the budget, due to be unveiled on Feb. 1, would pose challenges as the government is struggling to tackle a widening fiscal gap amid falling tax revenues due to the implementation of a goods and services tax (GST) regime from July. In 2016/17, the petroleum sector contributed around $81 billion, about a third of total revenue receipts, for federal and state finances. India raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up federal finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax last October by 2 rupees a litre. Sources said the ministry has also sought inclusion of petrol, diesel, jet fuel and natural gas in the GST to help companies claim tax credits against the tax paid on the purchase of equipment meant to produce refined fuel.

"We cannot claim input tax credit for almost 70 percent of our volumes ... So usually we lose out about 1.5 billion rupees quarterly on that," J. Ramaswamy, head of finance at Hindustan Petroleum Corp, said.

The oil ministry officials said the addition of refined products in GST will help reduce retail prices even if the government levies a charge on top of its highest GST rate of 28 percent. The ministry has also sought federal support for laying fuel and gas pipelines in the northeast of the country to give the region a boost. Economic development in India has largely been concentrated in the western and southern states that have better infrastructure and more accessible energy supplies. State-controlled India Oil has sought government support for laying a 650-kilometre (404 mile) fuel pipeline in the northeast, costing 13 billion rupees, as the project is economically unviable due to low fuel demand in the region, one of the sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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Fluor named a Fortune world most admired company for 18th consecutive year

MOSCOW (MRC) – Fluor Corporation announced today that the company was named to Fortune magazine’s 2018 World’s Most Admired Companies list for the 18th consecutive year, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“Fluor’s 60,000 global employees embody our core values of safety, integrity, teamwork and excellence on a daily basis,” said David Seaton, Fluor’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Fortune’s recognition of the importance of these core values is a testament to the outstanding work of our employees on projects around the world."

Now in its 35th year, Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list is considered a definitive report card on corporate reputations. Fortune collaborates with Korn Ferry to identify and rank the world’s most admired companies. The rankings are compiled by querying thousands of executives, directors and analysts to measure corporate reputation and performance.

Companies are evaluated against nine key attributes: ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of management, social responsibility to the community and the environment, innovativeness, quality of products or services, wise use of corporate assets, financial soundness, long-term investment value and effectiveness in doing business globally.
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Evonik and Siemens to generate high-value specialty chemicals from carbon dioxide and eco-electricity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik and Siemens are planning to use electricity from renewable sources and bacteria to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into specialty chemicals, as per Evonik's press release.

The two companies are working on electrolysis and fermentation processes in a joint research project called Rheticus. The project was launched today and is due to run for two years. The first test plant is scheduled to go on stream by 2021 at the Evonik facility in Marl, Germany which produces chemicals such as butanol and hexanol, both feedstocks for special plastics and food supplements, for example. The next stage could see a plant with a production capacity of up to 20,000 tonnes a year. There is also potential to manufacture other specialty chemicals or fuels. Some 20 scientists from the two companies are involved in the project.

"We are developing a platform that will allow us to produce chemical products in a much more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way than we do today", explains Dr. Gunter Schmid, technical project responsible of Siemens Corporate Technology. "Using our platform, operators will in future be able to scale their plants to suit their needs." The new technology combines multiple benefits. It not only enables chemicals to be produced sustainably, it also serves as an energy store, can respond to power fluctuations and help stabilize the grid. Rheticus is linked to the Kopernikus Initiative for the energy transition in Germany which is seeking new solutions to restructure the energy system. The Rheticus project will receive 2.8 million euros in funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

"With the Rheticus platform, we want to demonstrate that artificial photosynthesis is feasible", adds Dr. Thomas Haas, who is responsible for the project in Evonik’s strategic research department Creavis. Artificial photosynthesis is where CO2 and water are converted into chemicals using a combination of chemical and biological steps, in a process similar to how leaves use chlorophyll and enzymes to synthesize glucose.

Siemens and Evonik are each contributing their own core competencies to this research collaboration. Siemens is providing the electrolysis technology, which is used in the first step to convert carbon dioxide and water into hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO) using electricity. Evonik is contributing the fermentation process, converting gases containing CO into useful products by metabolic processes with the aid of special micro-organisms. In the Rheticus project, these two steps - electrolysis and fermentation - are scaled up from the laboratory and combined in a technical test facility.

"Rheticus brings together the expertise of Evonik and Siemens. This research project shows how we are applying the Power-to-X idea", says Dr. Karl Eugen Hutmacher from the BMBF. Using electricity to generate chemicals is an idea from the Power-to-X concept. As one of the four pillars of the Kopernikus Initiative, the idea is to help convert and store renewable, electrical energy efficiently. At the same time, the Rheticus platform also contributes to the reduction of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, as it uses CO2 as a raw material. Three tons of carbon dioxide would be needed to produce one tonne of butanol, for example.

Evonik and Siemens see great future potential in the Rheticus platform. It will make it simple to scale plants to the desired size - the chemical industry will be able to adapt them flexibly to local conditions. In future, they could be installed anywhere where there is a source of CO2 - power plant waste gas or biogas for instance.
"Its modular nature and flexibility in terms of location, raw material sources and products manufactured make the new platform attractive for the specialty chemicals industry in particular", says Haas. "We are confident that other companies will use the platform and integrate it with their own modules to manufacture their chemical products", adds Schmid.

As MRC reported earlier, in August 2017, half a year after the announcement of the 2030 strategy, MOL Group reached an important milestone in its industrial transformational journey. The license agreements signed with Evonik and thyssenkrupp, will enable MOL to produce propylene oxide, a key component for the production of polyether polyols. MOL intends to become a significant producer of polyether polyols, high-value intermediates for products applied in the automotive, packaging and furniture industries.
MRC

Chemetall becomes BASF new global brand for innovative surface treatment technologies

MOSCOW (MRC) -- It is just over one year since BASF’s Coatings division acquired Chemetall, a leading global surface treatment supplier, as per BASF.

Being well-known within the industry for its high-quality products and solutions, Chemetall will operate as a brand of the Surface Treatment global business unit of BASF’s Coatings division. During festive events at its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany and facilities worldwide, the new brand image of Chemetall was officially introduced. Martin Jung, Senior Vice President, Surface Treatment, BASF’s Coatings division, recognized this milestone: “One plus one is greater than two! Our new brand image reflects the impressive know-how of BASF in chemistry and coatings applications with the market-leading expertise in applied surface treatment from Chemetall. Together, the businesses will offer unmatched solutions competence to customers."

BASF has long been recognized as a global innovation leader. Chemetall enjoys a great history of global recognition for providing its customers with high-performance products and individual solutions. The combination of expertise and innovation power of two global market leaders will accelerate innovation and drive even more customer success.

Julia Murray, Global Marketing Communications Surface Treatment, said: “The Chemetall brand is recognized for its technology leadership, and we take a great deal of pride in our customer-focused and customer-centric approach, locally and globally. Being part of BASF’s Coatings division creates opportunities to increase customer benefits from our combined expertise and commitment to continuous innovation. We expect to further advance our customers’ access to best-in-class technologies, systems, and solutions across the value chain, always with the goal of enhancing efficiencies and value for our customers."

Under the Chemetall brand, BASF develops and manufactures customized technology and systems solutions for applied surface treatment. The products protect metals from corrosion, facilitate forming and machining, allow parts to be optimally prepared for the painting process and ensure proper coating adhesion. These products are used in a wide range of industries and end-markets, such as automotive, aerospace, aluminum finishing, and metal forming.

The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, as well as decorative paints. We create advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet our partners’ needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2016, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about EUR3.2 billion.

In 2016, BASF acquired Chemetall, a leading global supplier of applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries and end markets. With this expansion in portfolio, BASF becomes a more complete solution provider for coatings.
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