New GES contract win for WorleyParsons Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- WorleyParsons has been awarded a general engineering service (GES) contract by Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd (YASREF), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

YASREF operates a full-conversion refinery that covers about 5.2 million square meters in the Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. WorleyParsons will deliver engineering and consultancy services for the refinery to optimize the production of YASREF’s facilities.

The services will be provided from WorleyParsons’ offices in Saudi Arabia for a term of three years with an option to extend for a further three years.

“We are pleased to be awarded this contract by YASREF to allow us to continue to support them in optimizing the facilities in the Yanbu Industrial City,” said Andrew Wood, Chief Executive Officer of WorleyParsons
MRC

LyondellBasell Bayport Complex receives prestigious Safety Award

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, has announced that its Bayport Complex located in Pasadena, Texas, has received the Distinguished Safety Award (DSA) from American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) for exemplary safety performance in 2017, as per the company's press release.

The DSA represents the highest achievement in safety and reflects excellence in occupational safety, process safety and occupational health in the domestic refining and petrochemical manufacturing industries.

"Safety is a core value for LyondellBasell and we are very proud of the Bayport Complex for this recognition of safety excellence," said Dale Friedrichs, LyondellBasell vice president, Health, Safety and Environment. "It is not about measuring the number, it’s about knowing our people go home safe at the end of every shift, every day."

The LyondellBasell Bayport Complex is one of only three manufacturing sites in the country to receive the prestigious honor this year. The announcement was made at the AFPM National Occupational and Process Safety Conference in San Antonio on May 16.

"From the moment you set foot on our site, you will hear our safety message, see it in action and understand our mission," said Stephen Goff, Bayport Complex site manager. "This achievement is the result of our team having great attention to detail and remaining vigilant when it comes to safety."

In addition to the Bayport Complex, four other LyondellBasell sites received top safety awards from AFPM. The Elite Gold Safety Award, which recognizes facilities with safety performance in the top one percentile, was presented to the company’s Chocolate Bayou facility in Alvin, Texas, as well as its Clinton, Iowa, facility. Additionally, LyondellBasell’s Victoria, Texas, and Edison, New Jersey, plants received the Elite Silver Safety Award, which recognizes facilities with safety performance in the top five percent.

The AFPM Safety Awards Program is part of a comprehensive safety program developed by AFPM’s Safety and Health Committee to promote accident prevention in the petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing industries.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2016, LyondellBasell made the final investment decision to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the US Gulf Coast. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons) and will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology. The start-up of the new plant is scheduled for 2019.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Exxon Beaumont refinery overhauling coker, hydrotreater

MOSCOW (MRC) - Exxon Mobil Corp plans to carry out work on the coker at its 362,300 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery in May and June while a hydrotreater is shut for overhaul, sources familiar with plant operations said, as per Reuters.

Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Nordin confirmed that the Beaumont refinery was overhauling some units.

"The Beaumont plant has shut down some of its units and associated operations for planned maintenance beginning May 13, 2018," Nordin said. "We have communicated this turnaround to our customers and expect to meet all contractual commitments."

Exxon is overhauling the 40,000 bpd CHD-2 diesel hydrotreater through the last week of June, the sources said. Maintenance work is also being done on a sulfur recovery unit.

Work will be performed on two of the furnaces on the 40,000 bpd coker. One furnace will remain in operation while the other is shut, the sources said.

The Beaumont refinery coker converts residual crude oil from distillation units into motor fuel feedstocks and petroleum coke, which can be used as a coal substitute.

Hydrotreaters remove hydrogen sulfide from motor fuels and their feedstocks in compliance with U.S. environmental
rules.


MRC

Egypt aims for USD10B foreign investment in oil, gas in 2018/19

MOSCOW (MRC) - Egypt aims for foreign investment in the oil and gas sector to reach about USD10 billion in the 2018/19 fiscal year that begins in July, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Molla said he expected foreign investments to total the same amount for the current fiscal year, marking a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

The 25 percent gain comes as a result of foreign companies investing in major gas projects in the Mediterranean, he said.

Egypt aims to increase its gas production from newly discovered fields, which include the mammoth Zohr asset discovered by Italy’s Eni in 2015.

Once a gas exporter, Egypt hopes to halt imports by 2019.
MRC

Clariant debuted additive solutions and launched AddWorks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has introduced new additive solutions for plastics materials, as per the company's press release.

"Our innovations focus on higher performance at better convenience for a sustainable future," says Stephan Lynen, Head of Clariant BU Additives. "At Chinaplas 2018 we demonstrated our technical and market capabilities around the theme of e-mobility. The immense changes in mobility call for lighter, safer and smarter vehicles. We offer new additive solutions, such as AddWorks, and technical capabilities to respond to this demand. We are accompanying this with a series of investments such as new production facilities in China."

Clariant’s new AddWorks solutions - AddWorksATR 146, AddWorks LXR 568 and AddWorks TFB 117 - are specifically aimed at improving performance and efficiency of plastics materials for compounders, polymer and fiber producers in China’s major plastics manufacturing segments. All three solutions are part of the globally available portfolio.

The full AddWorks portfolio consists of differentiated market-specific synergistic additive blends that streamline production processes and create value for customers while enhancing performance. Each solution is customized to specific market needs, underlined by broader considerations such as emission reduction, and less energy and resource usage.

To support the significant investment in electric vehicles in China, Clariant launched two additive innovations that improve the lifetime of lightweight automotive parts and under-the-hood applications and reduce VOC emissions in an easy to use single solution.

AddWorks ATR 146 is a new low dosage, sulfur-free heat and light stabilizer for filled polypropylene (TPO) compounds used in interior applications. Its exceptional heat and light stability and long term color retention offers the automotive industry unmatched performance. It shows no surface cracking after 700 hours at 150°C, which enables dashboards, instrument panels, door panels and pillars to maintain their aesthetics longer than with traditional stabilizers. It also contributes to reducing blooming and VOC emissions, supporting the common effort to make automotive interiors healthier and odorless.

AddWorks LXR 568 is a high performance processing stabilizer that helps to prevent plastic resins, especially polyolefins, from degradation at high processing temperatures. For the automotive industry, this reduces the tendency of injection molded polypropylene interior car parts to turn brittle during heat exposure, enabling them to maintain a defect-free surface. It also has low migration and low fogging that support healthier in-cab environments.

AddWorks LXR 568 combines outstanding color and melt flow protection with good resistance to hydrolysis and high thermal stability. This makes it ideal for interior and under-the-hood powertrains and wider application areas such as packaging films. It is available in free-flowing pills and micro-pills which are easy and convenient to use.

Within the next three years, China is expected to account for 40% of the world’s nylon production and more than 30% of the nylon resin consumed globally. The new AddWorks TFB 117 offers a number of benefits to help stabilize and smoothen fiber production processes, protect color, and improve heat stability and mechanical properties of fibers. AddWorks TFB 117 ensures smooth spinnability with less filaments breakage, even at low processing temperatures and at high speed spinning up to 5,500 m/min.

In addition to AddWorks, Clariant presented Exolit OP 1400, a highly stable non-halogenated flame retardant enhancing safety during the charging process. It also provides outstanding thermal stability for under the hood applications. Exolit OP 1400 has been awarded the Clariant EcoTain® label for outstanding sustainability and performance.

Clariant also introduced two ranges of performance waxes that smoothen the production of automotive plastics for under the hood applications, Licowaxand Licocare RBW. The recently launched Licocare RBW is a series of multi-purpose additives based on crude rice bran wax. They offer better shaping flexibility, better mechanical properties and enhanced surface finish, which results in a reduced rejection rate and a more effective dosage.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Clariantwas 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.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
MRC