Exxon nears final approval of Beaumont oil refinery expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) - Exxon Mobil Corp is nearing final approval of a major expansion to its Beaumont, Texas, refinery that could make it the largest crude processing plant in the United States, according to three sources familiar with the company’s deliberations, as per Reuters.

A go-ahead would signal Exxon’s confidence in U.S. shale production and in global demand for gasoline and other fuels. Exxon continues to evaluate increasing its North American light crude refining, but has not made any decisions, spokeswoman Sarah Nordin said on Wednesday. “The Beaumont refinery is being considered as part of that evaluation,” she said.

CDUs do the primary refining of crude oil and provide the feedstock for units that produce gasoline, diesel and other products. Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery can process as much as 635 Mbpd of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

One of the sources, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations, said the company was still calculating the size of the new CDU. “They’re still crunching the numbers,” the source said.

Exxon has considered the total capacity for an expanded Beaumont refinery at between 700 and 850 Mbpd. In 2016, Exxon added 20 Mbpd in light crude refining capacity at Beaumont.

A new expansion will take advantage of the growth in U.S. shale production, which is expected to about double the nation’s oil output to more than 11 Mbpd later this year, from 5.6 Mbpd in 2011, according to the EIA. Nordin said any expansion would take place between 2019 and 2022 within the 2,000-acre Beaumont site where the refinery and an adjoining chemical plant are located to “minimize environmental impact."

The project, if approved, would create up to 1,850 construction jobs and between 40 and 60 permanent jobs upon completion, Nordin said. "The expanded unit would enhance the Beaumont refinery’s competitive position and establish it as a leader in the North American refining industry," she said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has selected seven projects to receive approximatelyUSD$44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development through the funding opportunity announcement, Design and Testing of Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The DOE selected seven projects to receive approximately USD44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development The DOE selected seven projects to receive approximately USD44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development.

These projects will advance competitive operation of our nation's fossil-based power-generation infrastructure by reducing energy consumption and capital costs associated with next-generation carbon capture systems. Specifically, the projects will target one of two areas: 1) engineering-scale testing of transformational solvent- or membrane-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies, or 2) designing a commercial-scale, post-combustion CO? capture system at an existing coal-fueled generating unit. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French battery maker Saft, part of energy group Total, said on Thursday it had formed an alliance with European partners Siemens, Solvay and Manz to research, develop and build a new generation of batteries, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The move is part of European efforts to develop battery manufacturing to compete with Asian and U.S. manufacturers. The European Union's executive arm invited the bloc's industry chiefs in October last year to work towards a European battery consortium which could benefit from the executive's support and funding.

Saft said Siemens, Solvay and Manz had committed to work with it in the fields of materials, equipment and digitalisation of industrial processes.

It said the partnership, focusing on advanced high-density Li-ion and solid-state technology, would target the market for electric vehicles, railway, marine, aviation, energy storage and speciality industries. "These new generation batteries will provide performance, cost and safety advantages, compared to current lithium-ion products," Saft said in a statement.

Saft said the alliance was not exclusive and the companies would work together over the next seven years to reach a common goal.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced it has been awarded both a license and engineering (LBED) and a proprietary equipment supply contract by Cangzhou Dahua New Materials Co., Ltd.(CDNM) to build a new polycarbonate plant in Cangzhou City, China, as per Hydrocarbomprocessing.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors.

Under the terms of the two contracts, KBR will provide its proprietary PCMAXTM technology, basic engineering design package and proprietary equipment supply for a 100 Mtpy single train plant in Cangzhou. CDNM intends to expand annual production at a later stage to 200,000 metric tonnes.

The plant will utilize KBR's phosgene-based interfacial polycarbonate PCMAXTM technology. KBR's unique PCMAXTM technology offers a wide range of high-quality product grades with minimal capital investment.

"KBR has been our most trustworthy partner for decades," said Xie Huasheng, Chairman of CDNM. "The polycarbonate market in China is booming, and we believe that by choosing KBR's advanced technology, we can achieve the best quality of products and place ourselves in the leading position in this new market." "We are extremely pleased and honored to be CDNM's strategic partner," said John Derbyshire, President, KBR Technology and Consulting. "China is one of our most important markets and KBR is excited to be a part of this significant project."

KBR globally licenses and designs polycarbonate synthesis and compounding plants as well as complementary phenolic technologies, including phenol/acetone, and bisphenol-A (BPA). KBR's integrated phenolics offering provides advantages in raw materials, utilities, OPEX and maintenance costs.

Revenue associated with this project was booked into a backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Technology and Consulting Business Segment in the fourth quarter of 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bangkok Polyethylene, a PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) subsidiary, is likely to undertake a planned shutdown at its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the company has schedule to shut the plant in early-September 2018. The planned shutdown is expected to remain in force for around two weeks.

Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, PTT is on track to start commercial operations at its new 400,000 mt/year metallocene C6 linear low density polyethylene plant at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, in the first quarter of 2018.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
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