Equinor says effort to restart Mongstad refinery continues

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Work to restart Norway's Mongstad oil refinery continued, following a power outage that shut the facility earlier in the day, as per Reuters.

The unexpected outage happened during routine maintenance on the site's power supply, triggering an evacuation of most workers.

As it was said earlier, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded a feasibility study contract from Equinor Energy AS to evaluate the possibilities for building a hydrogen production plant, including CO2 capture and export facilities, in Eemshaven.

Equinor ASA operates as an energy company. The Company develops oil, gas, wind, and solar energy projects, as well as focuses on offshore operations and exploration services. Equinor serves customers worldwide.
MRC

Parts of Norwegian Mongstad oil refinery up and running

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equinor's oil and cogeneration plants at Norway's Mongstad refinery are up and running, with more parts of the facility expected to restart during Thursday, reported Reuters with reference to the firm's statement.

"The crude oil plant and cogeneration plant (are) up and running. We expect more parts of (the) Mongstad refinery to be re-started today as work is currently ongoing to prepare for start-up," said Equinor spokeswoman Elin Isaksen.

An unexpected outage at Mongstad occurred on Wednesday during routine maintenance on the site's power supply, triggering an evacuation of most workers.

All workers who had been evacuated were now back at work, added Isaksen, declining to give an estimate on current output.

Equinor's largest refinery, on the western coast of Norway, was built in 1975 and has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 226,000 barrels per day, according to the company. Last October Mongstad sustained an unexpected outage that lasted two weeks when a naphtha leak shut down the plant.

As MRC wrote previously, in April 2018, Wood has won new contract to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) for Statoil’s Mongstad refinery near Bergen, Norway.
MRC

Indian Oil posts 50% jump in Q1 net at Rs 70.9 bn; income up at Rs 1.52 trn

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) reported 50.27 per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 70.92 billion for the first quarter of the current financial year, as per Business-standard.

The country's largest fuel retailer had posted net profit of Rs 47 billion in the same quarter of last financial year.

IOC said in a regulatory filing that its net income increased to Rs 1.52 trillion during April-June quarter of the 2018-19, from Rs 1.32 trillion in the year-ago period.

Expenses remained higher at Rs 1.42 trillion as against Rs 1.25 trillion in the said period.

As per MRC, Indian Oil to invest Rs7,812 crore for expansion IOC to invest Rs.1,843 crore in upgrading Koyali refinery in Gujarat to produce Euro-IV complaint fuel, Rs.1,327 crore to be spent on Barauni refinery in Bihar.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

BPA plant shuts by Sinopec Mitsui

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Mitsui Chemicals Co has undertaken a planned shutdown at its Bisphenol A (BPA) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source informed that the company has started maintenance at the plant on August 16, 2018. The plant is expected to remain shut until mid-September 2018.

Located in Shanghai, China the plant has a production capacity of 120.000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in March 2016, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Hankuk Carbon Co., a company listed on the Korea Exchange, entered into a strategic alliance agreement to engage in collaborative business activities relating to the processing of composite materials.

Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Chemicals Co. Ltd. manufactures and distributes chemical products. The сompany produces and sells bisphenol A and other related chemical products.
MRC

Reliance cancels VGO cargo buy from Nayara on FCC shutdown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, has canceled lifting of vacuum gas oil (VGO) cargo from local refiner Nayara Energy due to the shutdown of its gasoline-making unit, reported Reuters with reference to three sources.

Reliance announced that it has shut a gasoline-producing fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit in its export-oriented 704 Mbpd refinery. The unit is expected to restart within two weeks, it said.sp

Reliance was to lift 40,000 tonnes of VGO, a feedstock for FCC, from Nayara’s refinery in Vadinar later this month, the sources said.

Reuters on Wednesday reported that Reliance has declared force majeure on gasoline exports from its Jamnager refinery in western India.

A U.S based trade source said Reliance has declared force majeure on 4 gasoline cargoes bound to the United States due to shutdown of the FCC.

Reliance’s two refineries at Jamnagar have the capability to process about 1.5 MMbpd oil.

Reliance and Nayara Energy did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comments.

Asia’s gasoline crack fell on Thursday but remained close to its highest level this year due to supply disruptions after Reliance Industries declared force majeure on gasoline supplies the previous day.

As MRC informed before, RIL shut down its cracker, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants in Hazira on 23 March, 2017 for a 25-day turnaround. Located at Hazira near Surat in Gujarat, the cracker has a production capacity of 1.1 mmt/year and the downstream PP plant has a production capacity of 600,000 mt/year. The PE plant has a capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC