Indian SRF to set-up BOPET film line in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SRF has received capex approval for setting up of a BOPET film line in a new entity to be incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Europe at a cost of 58 million euro to be financed by loan and/or internal accruals, as per Indian-Commodity.

The new capacity is being set up to serve customers in Europe, Russia and other markets. The board of directors at its meeting held on February 7, 2018 has approved for the same.

SRF is a leader in refrigerants, engineering plastics and industrial yarns in India. The company also manufactures polyester films and fluoro specialties. Besides India, SRF has a presence in Dubai, South Africa and Thailand.

Equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities, SRF is one of the largest manufacturers of a spectrum of standard and speciality Bi-axially Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BOPET) and Bi-axially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) films. SRF exports packaging films to around 70 countries. Conforming to the global standards, SRF’s packaging films are predominantly used in flexible packaging of soaps, detergents, tea, shampoo sachets, food packaging, cable, insulation, ducting tape, textile etc.
MRC

Linde establishes Asia-Pacific Digitalization Hub in Singapore

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Linde Group announced the launch of its Asia Pacific Digitalization Hub, a strategic initiative to rapidly identify, develop and trial emergent digital technologies for industrial applications in the region and beyond, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In partnership with Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), Linde will invest over USD23 million in the Hub, which will expand the company’s digital capabilities and further extend its lead in the digital transformation of the gases and engineering industries, improving safety and process efficiency, and delivering better value to its customers.

At the Asia Pacific Digitalization Hub, Linde Digitalization teams will work alongside engineers and lines of business on projects and technology trials across the region. Though the Hub will be decentralized to better take advantage of the diversity and opportunities around Asia Pacific, Singapore will serve as a nexus for the Hub.

Prof. Dr. Aldo Belloni, Chief Executive Officer at Linde AG, said, “Linde has had a long and proven history of innovation and technological excellence that continues to this day. Digitalization is central to our global strategy for growth and provides opportunities for Linde to differentiate by delivering better solutions and convenience for our customers. The Asia Pacific Digitalisation Hub builds on the successful Digital Accelerator at our Munich headquarters, and is an affirmation of our continued commitment to innovation."

Mr. Sanjiv Lamba, Member of the Executive Board, Linde AG, and Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific, said, “Asia Pacific is Linde’s fastest growing market, and the region is especially open to new technologies and innovative gases applications. The Asia Pacific Digitalisation Hub will capitalize on the tremendous innovation coming out of the region, allowing Linde to extend its lead in digitalizing the gases business. With its forward-thinking approach and openness to innovation, Singapore is a natural choice of partner for Linde."

MRC

Forties pipeline system of Ineos is safe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Forties Pipeline System (FPS) of Ineos is safe, as per Rigzone with reference to an Ineos spokesperson's confirmation.

The declaration follows the discovery of a crack in the FPS at Red Moss, south of Aberdeen, which resulted in a controlled shutdown of the pipeline Dec. 11.

"Ineos takes its responsibility for ‘safety, health and environmental’ very seriously and is fully committed to delivering a continually improving performance across all its operations," the Ineos representative told Rigzone.

"We have recently acquired the FPS but have already implemented a strict and regular inspection regime," the spokesperson added.

Christopher Haines, head of oil and gas at BMI Research, supported the spokesperson’s claims, stating that the pipeline monitoring system did its job and prevented the crack from turning into a larger issue.

"While most infrastructure in the North Sea is aging, I think it would be unlikely that this becomes a regular occurrence," Haines stated when asked if he thought similar structural weak-points could be found in the system in the near future.

The FPS was offline for a total of 17 days in December. According to Genscape’s oil markets and business development director, Hillary Stevenson, around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of North Sea production was shut-in during this period.

"Ineos also reduced rates at the Grangemouth refinery due to the FPS shut down," Stevenson said.

"The 110,000-bpd crude distillation unit (CDU) remained offline as of Dec. 27 after being shut since Dec. 15, and the 65,000 bpd CDU was briefly offline Dec. 13 to Dec. 14. Also at the refinery, the 39,600 bpd catalytic reformer was shut at 11:16 (GMT) Dec. 24," Stevenson added.

Ineos revealed that the FPS had been shut for a second time in two months Feb. 7, due to an unexpected closure of the feed control valves on the pipeline supplying the Kinneil gas processing plant. The company said, however, that it aimed to restart the pipeline overnight.

Production from more than 80 North Sea fields is moved onshore via Ineos’ 1.15 million bpd FPS to the Kinneil crude stabilization plant, where oil and NGL combined flow is stabilized in three processing trains for consumption at Ineos’ 210,000 bpd refinery in Grangemouth, or exported via the Dalmeny, Scotland, storage terminal and Hound Point port.

The pipeline outage in December affected several oil and gas firms, including BP plc, Total SA, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Eni, ConocoPhillips, EnQuest and Premier Oil.

Following the discovery of the crack, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. HSE declined to comment on the expected completion date of the investigation but confirmed that it was still ongoing as of Jan. 4.

A recent Bloomberg article highlighted that these types of investigations are not automatically triggered by the UK Health and Safety Executive. Incidents must be severe or unusual enough to meet the regulator’s criteria for a probe, Bloomberg quoted Martin Wayland, a member of HSE’s gas and pipeline team, as saying.

As MRC informed before, in early November 2017, Ineos completed its acquisition of the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) and associated pipelines and facilities from BP. The 235-mile pipeline system links 85 North Sea oil and gas assets to the UK mainland and the Ineos site in Grangemouth, Scotland, delivering almost 40% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas production.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

Ineos Styrolution implements new distribution structure in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Styrolution announced that it has significantly expanded its distribution agreements with Albis Plastic and the Ultrapolymers Group in Europe, as per GV.

According to Ineos Styrolution, the new structure will give both distributors access to the company’s entire speciality portfolio as well as its standard products. For styrenic speciality products, both distributors have access to all EMEA countries with the exception of Malta, Israel, and the sub-Sahara Africa. For standard products, the agreement covers all European countries. This agreement does not affect existing distribution agreements with other local distributors.

As MRC informed earlier, Styrolution was founded in October 2011 as a joint venture between BASF and INEOS. On November 17, 2014, INEOS completed the purchase of BASF's 50% share - making Styrolution a wholly owned, standalone company within INEOS. And in January 2016, Styrolution changed company names and visual identity to Ineos Styrolution to mark Ineos ownership.

Ineos Styrolution is the leading, global styrenics supplier with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 80 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering the best possible solution, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, toys/sports/leisure, and packaging.INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,100 people and operates 15 production sites in nine countries.
MRC

Commissioning underway for ExxonMobil’s ethane cracker in Baytown, Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has announced that a new 1.5 MMtpy ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas complex is mechanically complete with commissioning progressing well, as per the company's press release.

Project startup is expected during the second quarter of 2018.

The new ethane cracker, part of ExxonMobil’s multi-billion dollar Baytown chemical expansion project, will provide ethylene feedstock to the new performance polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, which began production in the fall of 2017.

"With the completion of the project in Baytown, we are on the verge of fully realizing one of ExxonMobil’s most significant U.S. Gulf Coast investments," said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. "Our new ethane cracker will allow us to economically meet rapidly growing demand for high-performance polyethylene products around the world while continuing to sustain economic development and create jobs for decades to come."

The project has created more than 10,000 construction jobs and 4,000 related jobs in nearby Houston communities since construction began in 2014. Once operational, it is expected to support 350 new permanent positions at the Baytown complex, USD870 million a year in regional economic activity and USD90 million per year in local tax revenues.

The Baytown chemical expansion project is a key component of ExxonMobil’s previously announced Growing the Gulf initiative. In addition to the ethane cracker in Baytown, ExxonMobil and SABIC are proposing to build a jointly owned petrochemical complex in San Patricio County, Texas, that would include a 1.8 MMtpy ethane cracker - the largest capacity of any ethane cracker built to date.

Massive new supplies of oil and natural gas have dramatically reduced energy costs and created new sources of feedstock for U.S. refining and chemical manufacturing. Most of ExxonMobil’s planned new chemical capacity investment in the Gulf region is focused on supplying export markets such as Asia with high-demand products, which will contribute to strengthening the United States’ balance of trade. Recent changes in the U.S. corporate tax rate also create an environment for increased future capital investments in projects such as these, and will further enhance the company’s competitiveness in global markets.

"The US chemical industry is rapidly expanding along the Gulf Coast due to abundant supplies of domestically produced natural gas, as demonstrated by the investments ExxonMobil alone is making," Verity said. "This expansion will not only increase the nation’s existing manufacturing and export capacity, but also further stimulate economic growth and create thousands of full-time jobs."

ExxonMobil Chemical Company is one of the largest petrochemical companies worldwide. The company holds leadership positions in some of the largest-volume and highest-growth commodity petrochemical products in the world. ExxonMobil Chemical Company has manufacturing capacity in every major region of the world, serving large and growing markets. More than 90% of the company's chemical capacity is integrated with large refineries or natural gas processing plants.
MRC