Iraq signs agreement to build oil refinery near Kirkuk

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq has signed an agreement to build a 70,000-Mbpd oil refinery near the northern city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry said on Thursday, reported Reuters.

The agreement was signed with Ranya International, a company based in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, north and east of Kirkuk, which would be an investor in the refinery, the ministry said in a statement.

The plant would produce high octane gasoline for cars and other petroleum products, it said, without giving details about the cost or further information about Ranya International.

Iraq, OPEC’s second largest oil producer, wants to build new refineries as its oil processing capacity was severely curtailed by damage to its largest plant in Baiji, north of Baghdad, when it was captured by Islamic State militants in 2014.

Baiji was retaken by Iraqi forces in 2015 and it should be brought back on line partially this year. Iraq now relies on the Doura refinery, in Baghdad, and Shuaiba, in southern Iraq.

The Kirkuk project follows the announcement in January of plans for four other refineries to be built in the port of Fao on the Gulf, the southern region of Nasiriya, the western Anbar province and Qayara near the northern city of Mosul.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the recent successful contract award from PETRONAS in Malaysia, CTCI once again delivers a bright record in implementing its southbound strategy by securing the JG Summit Stage-1 Expansion Package 2 Aromatics Extraction and Butadiene Extraction Unit Project in the Philippines, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract signing ceremony between JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation and CTCI was recently held in Manila in December 2017.

CTCI Group Vice Chairman Michael Yang (left) and JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation Chairman Mr. James Go
CTCI Group Vice Chairman Michael Yang (left) and JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation Chairman Mr. James Go
This project is an important milestone which marks CTCI’s re-establishment in the Philippines market, having completed the LVN Isomerization and Gas Oil Hydrotreater units project with Petron, the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines.

JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, Inc., one of the largest publicly-listed trading companies in the Philippines, with business areas covering petrochemicals, telecommunications, power, food and beverage, retail, banking, publishing, aviation, real estate and property development. JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation is currently the country’s largest manufacturer of polyethylene and polypropylene resins, while its affiliate company, JG Summit Olefins Corporation, owns and operates the first and only naphtha cracker plant in the Philippines.

With years of active development in the Southeast Asia market, CTCI has garnered JG Summit’s trust, which has commissioned CTCI for this contract with its outstanding technological expertise and competitiveness in the global market. Once the project is completed, the local market will be able to enjoy more competitive petrochemical products from a well-integrated supply chain, starting with the naphtha cracker facility upstream, and with the butadiene, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plants downstream, all located within the JG Summit Petrochemicals Complex.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Analysis of the planned delayed coking units (DCU) capacity of refineries shows that the Jieyang refinery in China has the highest planned DCU capacity globally with 153 Mbpd, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Saudi Arabia has the second highest with 104 Mbpd and Panjin II and Palu are jointly in third with 78 Mbpd, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The Jieyang refinery in China has the highest planned DCU capacity globally with 153 Mbpd during 2018 to 2022. The refinery is expected to start operations in 2020 with a total capex of USD9.5bn and Petrochina Pdvsa Guandong Petrochemical Co Ltd is the operator of the refinery

The Jizan refinery in Saudi Arabia has the second highest planned DCU capacity with 104 Mbpd. The refinery is expected to start operations in 2018 with a total capex of USD7.0bn. Saudi Arabian Oil Co is the operator for the refinery.

The Jieyang refinery in China has the highest planned DCU capacity globally with 153 Mbpd during 2018 to 2022.
The Jieyang refinery in China has the highest planned DCU capacity globally with 153 Mbpd during 2018 to 2022.
Panjin II and Palu refineries are jointly in third for planned DCU capacity in 2022, each with a capacity of 78 Mbpd. The refineries are expected to start operations in 2021 and 2019, respectively. China North Industries Group Corporation is the operator for Panjin II refinery, while PT Palembang GMA Refinery Consortium is the operator for Palu refinery.

Duqm I has the fourth highest planned DCU capacity with 52 Mbpd. The refinery is located in Oman and is expected to start operations in 2021. Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries LLC is the operator. The refinery has a total capex of USD7.0bn.

The Barmer refinery in India has the fifth highest DCU capacity with a capacity of 47 Mbpd. The refinery is expected to start operations in 2022 with a total capex of USD6.5bn and HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd is the operator.

The remaining refineries with planned DCU capacities are Pulau Muara Besar in Brunei, Aliaga in Turkey, Zhanjiang III in China, and Mostorod II in Egypt. These have capacities of 46 Mbpd, 40 Mbpd, 32 /Mbpd and 25 Mbpd, respectively.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- To Build New Olefins Facility in Yeosu, South Korean GS Caltex is planning to invest approximately USD1.8-billion to build a new olefins production plant in Yeosu, South Korea, reported Apic-online with reference to several industry sources citing a company statement.

The project involves construction of the company's first mixed feed cracker, which will have the capacity to produce 700,000 t/y of ethylene and 500,000 t/y of polyethylene. Construction is expected to start this year with operations anticipated to begin in 2022.

According to GS Caltex's website, the company has a 790,000-b/d refinery at Yeosu, as well as an aromatics facility producing over 1.35-million t/y of paraxylene, 900,000 t/y of benzene and other aromatics products. It also produces 180,000 t/y of polypropylene.

As MRC informed before, in 2013, CB&I was awarded a contract by GS Caltex for the license, basic engineering and catalyst supply for a new paraxylene (PX) unit to be built in Yeosu, Korea. The unit uses the BP paraxylene technology, exclusively licensed by CB&I, and has a world-scale design capacity. Start-up took place in 2016.

GS Caltex is an equally-owned joint venture of GS Holdings and Chevron.
MRC

December HIPS imports fell by 28% to 1,430 tonnes, compared to 1,980 tonnes a month earlier. The reduction was caused by a sharp decrease in imports from China, which totalled 20 tonnes in December versus 400 tonnes a month earlier.

Overall GPPS imports dropped by 4% in 2017 to 24,600 tonnes from 25,700 tonnes a year earlier.

Styrolution's shipments accounted for 50% of the total GPPS imports or 12,300 tonnes versus 63% or 16,100 tonnes in 2016. Material for the production of XPS-boards accounted for.about 48% of the total GPPS imports. Imports of material for the production of refrigerators accounted for 28% or 6,800 tonnes.

December HIPS imports fell by more than 2 times to 750 tonnes from 1,610 tonnes a month earlier.

Overall HIPS imports grew by 5% last year to 21,400 tonnes from 20,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Styrolution's shipments grew by 3% to 8,350 tonnes from 8,080 tonnes a year earlier. Shipments of Hungarian Polimeri Europa's material increased by 10% year on year to 5,860 tonnes from 5,350 tonnes a year earlier. Converters directly purchased 17,600 tonnes or 82% of the total GPPS imports last year.

MRC