Formosa Petrochemical building USD9.4B chemical complex in St. James Parish

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan-based Formosa Petrochemical Corp. will build a USD9.4 billion chemical manufacturing complex in St. James Parish, reported Business Report with reference to state and company officials.

The complex - located along the west bank of the Mississippi River, down from the Sunshine Bridge - will be built in two phases and produce ethylene, propylene, ethylene glycol and associated polymers.

Formosa plans to operate the complex under its subsidiary, FG LA LLC, and is branding the St. James site as "The Sunshine Project."

Construction could begin as soon as 2019. The project is expected to create 1,200 new direct jobs averaging USD84,500, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project would result in an additional 8,000 indirect jobs.

As MRC informed before, on 19 March, 2018, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) undertook an emergency shutdown at its No. 1 cracker in Mailiao owing to technical issues. The plant remained off-line for around one day. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 700,000 mt/year, propylene production capacity of 350,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 109,000 mt/year.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Aspen Technology, Inc. the asset optimization software company, has announced that Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers, has selected Aspen Mtell software, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The scope of the first rollout is their production site in Stenungsund, Sweden.

Aspen Mtell is part of the aspenONE® Asset Performance Management (APM) software suite combining big data, machine learning and process knowledge expertise to maximize performance across the design, operations and maintenance asset lifecycle. Aspen Mtell mines historical and real-time operational and maintenance data to discover the precise failure signatures that precede asset degradation and breakdowns, predict future failures and prescribe detailed actions to mitigate or solve problems.

The company’s selection of Aspen Mtell was based on its successful performance in a competitive predictive maintenance “proof of concept” project for a business-critical compressor on site. Predictive maintenance is a key initiative for Borealis and this initial project effectively demonstrated the tangible benefit of automating such data analysis and knowledge work. The decision to move forward with Aspen Mtell was further supported by the demonstrated rapid speed of deployment, accurate early detection of asset degradation and ability to scale the solution system-wide.

Through asset performance management - enabled by a blend of historical and real-time process, asset and enterprise data - organizations can transform asset maintenance into optimum reliability, extending the life of assets and maximizing the return on capital employed.

"Borealis has embarked on a digital journey and the ability to bring transparency to all our operating processes is a priority for us. Aspen Mtell predictive maintenance software’s ease of implementation will allow us to develop data analytics, including pattern recognition and early anomaly detection, in all operating functions, leading to increased performance in safety, quality, reliability and overall improved performance in manufacturing," Martijn van Koten, Executive Vice President Operations, Borealis said. "With significantly earlier warning of asset degradation provided by Aspen Mtell software, we will have the time to work collaboratively to mitigate the losses of unplanned downtime and to minimize disruptions to our customers."

"Borealis’ implementation of Aspen Mtell builds on its investment in AspenTech advanced solutions to support its overall digital strategy. These technologies intelligently extract knowledge and value from the multiple large data sources available to end users in order to drive asset optimization. Adding Aspen Mtell will give Borealis predictive and prescriptive maintenance capabilities that will drive optimum reliability, extending the life of assets and maximizing the return on capital," Antonio Pietri, President and Chief Executive Officer, AspenTech.

As MRC reported earlier, in late March 2018, Borealis and United Chemical Company LLP (UCC) signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for the development of a world-scale polyethylene project, integrated with an ethane cracker, in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- French energy company Total on Thursday reported record high quarterly oil and gas output while beating profit forecasts helped by higher prices, Reuters.

New projects and recent acquisitions powered an increase in output of more than 5 percent to 2.703 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), topping the 2.663 million boe/d expected by analysts.

It raised output from new projects such as Yamal LNG in Russia and Moho Nord in Congo, while adding assets, including Maersk Oil and Al Shaheen in Qatar.

Net adjusted profit of USD2.9 billion topped the USD2.77 billion expected by analysts in a poll.

Higher oil prices are helping energy companies too, with Royal Dutch Shell also posted higher profits on Thursday.

“Oil prices continued to rebound in the first quarter 2018,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.

“Brent rose to an average of USD67 per barrel, supported by strong demand, OPEC-non-OPEC compliance and geopolitical tensions,” he said.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's polypropylene (PP) imports totalled 28,400 tonnes in the first three months of the year, which was practically equal to the level in the same time a year earlier. The decrease in demand for homopolymer PP was offset by the growth in demand for propylene copolymers, according to MRC DataScope.

March PP imports into Ukraine rose to 9,700 tonnes, compared with 8,900 tonnes in February; the main increase accounted for the supply of propylene copolymers. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 28,400 tonnes in January-February 2018, which is practically the same as in Q1 2017. Demand grew only for propylene copolymers, with PP random copolymer accounting for the greatest increase.

The structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

March imports of homopolymer PP to the Ukrainian market dropped to 6,200 tonnes from 6,500 tonnes a month earlier. Homopolymer PP raffia grade from Saudi Arabia accounted for the main decrease. Overall shipments of homopolymer PP reached 20,200 tonnes in the first three months of 2018, down by 9% year on year.

March imports of PP block copolymers into the country increased to 1,300 tonnes, compared with 1,100 tonnes in February. Demand for injection moulding propylene copolymers improved from local companies. About 3,300 tonnes of PP block copolymers were imported over the stated period, whereas this figure was slightly over 2,900 tonnes a year earlier.

March imports of PP random copolymers reached 2,000 tonnes versus 1,200 tonnes a month earlier, demand for PP increased from pipes and injection moulding products producers. Overall imports of PP random copolymer reached 4,400 tonnes in January-March 2018, whereas this figure was 2,800 tonnes a year earlier.

Overall imports of other propylene copolymers were about 580 tonnes over the stated period.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. and CB&I announced that, following the closing of the combination, the combined company intends to retain the name McDermott, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"The name McDermott provides a strong foundation for the combined company and a platform on which we can build our future together," said McDermott President and Chief Executive Officer David Dickson, who will continue to lead the combined company. "We are known today as a company that delivers excellence in project execution in a cost-efficient delivery structure for the global energy industry. Together, McDermott and CB&I will have the integrated technology, engineering expertise, unmatched experience and global reach to design and build the energy infrastructure of the future."

CB&I’s industry-leading business that provides proprietary process technology licenses, associated engineering services, catalysts and engineered products will use the Lummus brand name. Lummus also offers process planning, project development services and a comprehensive program of aftermarket support primarily for the petrochemical and refining industries. The Lummus business will be housed with the combined company’s leading edge initiatives, including McDermott’s "Digital Twin” software platform Gemini XDTM, under the umbrella of McDermott Technology.

CB&I’s world-renowned tank business will also keep its current branding. CB&I has the most extensive global experience of any storage tank construction company in the industry, having built in excess of 46,000 storage structures in more than 100 countries on all seven continents.

The combination is expected to close in May 2018. It remains subject to customary conditions, including approval by McDermott’s and CB&I’s stockholders and other closing conditions.

As MRC informed before, Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has been awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The project includes the license and engineering design of the unit, which is to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China.The Dongguan plant will be one of the largest single-train dehydrogenation units in the world. Clariant's technology partner CB&I will base the plant's design on its Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation technology, which uses Clariant's tailor-made Catofin catalyst and Heat Generating Material (HGM).
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