Reliance shuts Hazira PVC plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is rumoured to have undertaken an unplanned shutdown at its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Hazira, as per Apic-online with reference to market sources.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company has taken the plant off-line earlier this week owing to technical issues. The unplanned outage is expected to remain in force for around two weeks.

Polymerupdate team members attempted to reach out to company officials to confirm the rumour. However, there was no official response confirming the shutdown.

Located at Hazira in the western Indian state of Gujarat, the plant has a production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, RIL undertook planned shutdown at its anouther PVC plant last year. The company commenced turnaround at its plant in late May, 2017, and the facility remained off-line for around 3 weeks. As per earlier plans, the plant was supposed to be shut in mid-May 2017. Located at Dahej in Gujarat, India, the plant has a production capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP and SOCAR Turkey announced that they have signed a heads of agreement (HoA) to evaluate the creation of a joint venture that would build and operate a world-scale petrochemicals complex in Turkey, said BP.

The proposed facility, in Aliaga in western Turkey, would produce 1.25 million tonnes per annum (tpa) of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840,000 tpa paraxylene (PX) and 340,000 tpa benzene.

PTA is used to manufacture polyesters, which have many uses including food and beverage containers, packaging materials, fabrics, films, and other consumer and industry applications.

Following the signing of the HoA, BP and SOCAR Turkey now expect to undertake design work for the facility, which would allow for the integration of feedstock supplies from the nearby new STAR refinery and Petkim petrochemicals complex, both owned by SOCAR Turkey.

Vagif Aliyev, Chairman of the Board of SOCAR Turkey, said: "We entered the Turkish market in 2008 with the acquisition of Petkim and since then have realized giant projects such as the STAR refinery, TANAP, Petlim Container Terminal and Petkim Wind Power Station. The area covering all of SOCAR Turkey’s projects in Aliaga has recently become the first Private Industrial Zone in Turkey. The immediate proximity to the feedstock and infrastructure provided by SOCAR’s other facilities will contribute significantly to the competitive power of the new facility. Expanding our immense refining and petrochemical complex, built at the gateway to world markets on the Aegean coast of Turkey, we aim to continue to contribute to the economies of the two brother countries – Turkey and Azerbaijan."

Luis Sierra, CEO for BP’s global aromatics unit said: “If taken forward, this would be the largest integrated PTA, PX and aromatics complex in the Western Hemisphere and BP’s first major new aromatics platform since our Zhuhai site in China opened nearly 20 years ago. The combination of BP’s leading proprietary technology and integration with SOCAR’s new refinery could create an outstanding platform to serve Turkey’s growing polyester packaging and textiles industry. We look forward to drawing on the strengths of both BP and SOCAR to explore the creation of a highly competitive facility."

BP and SOCAR expect to work towards a potential final investment decision in 2019, which could result in start-up of the new plant in 2023.

BP’s latest proprietary PTA technology has significantly lower capital and operating costs when compared with other PTA technologies. It is more energy efficient, uses less water and produces less solid waste than similar technologies on the market.

BP and SOCAR are longstanding partners in a number of major oil and gas production and transportation projects in Azerbaijan, Turkey and the wider region, including the Shah Deniz 2 gas project in Azerbaijan that began production early this year, exporting natural gas to Turkey and beyond.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is involved in exploration of oil and gas fields; producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate; marketing petroleum and petrochemical products and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in domestic and international markets.

BP estimates that its latest generation PTA technology delivers 65% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 75% less water discharge and 95% less solid waste disposal than conventional PTA technology of the 1990s*.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co. stated that it will continue its previously announced program to increase prices for its Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalysts by 3 to 9 percent in 2019 based on product type and specific customer commitments, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We will continue pricing actions necessary to sustain our on-going investment in next-generation products, enhanced technical services, and leading manufacturing capabilities to serve our global customers," said Tom Petti, Grace’s President, Refining Technologies. "Grace remains focused on mitigating the impact of escalating raw materials costs and controlling expenses."

Grace continues to experience strong demand for its premium FCC catalysts technologies as refiners around the world work to optimize FCC unit profitability by maximizing petrochemical and alkylate feedstocks and processing more challenging crudes.

"The FCC unit is a critical component of refinery profitability and we are committed to partnering with our customers to maximize their FCC product value," continued Petti. "We have consistently demonstrated our ability to provide custom product solutions and expert-level technical support to create significant incremental profits for our clients."

As MRC informed previously, in July 2016, BASF closed the previously announced transaction to divest its global Polyolefin Catalysts business to W. R. Grace & Co.

A leader in polyolefin catalysts and licensing, Grace has the world’s broadest portfolio of polypropylene and polyethylene catalyst technologies used to produce thermoplastic resins for a variety of applications. A leading innovator and strategic partner to its customers, Grace supplies catalyst solutions for all polyolefin processes, as well as polypropylene process technology and process controls. Grace employs approximately 3,700 people in over 30 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Sudan and South Sudan have begun negotiating with a Russian company to build a refinery on the Red Sea for both countries’ benefit, Sudan’s state news agency SUNA said on Wednesday, citing Sudan’s oil minister, said Reuters.

The agency did not identify the Russian company, and no further details were immediately available.

As MRC informed earlier, Trinity Energy subsidiary A&A Oil and Gas Ltd has been awarded a licence to build a 50,000 bpd refinery near the Paloich oilfield, around 350 km from the border with Ethiopia. Preliminary feasibility studies have been carried out by Amec Foster Wheeler and Engineers India Ltd (EIL). East Africa imports roughly 15 million tpy of petroleum products mostly from Asian refineries. Trinity is planning to build a modular 25,000 bpd facility that can be quickly scaled up the capacity in multiples of 25,000 bpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a sizeable technology contract by HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd. (HRRL) for the license and basic engineering design of two 490 KTA polypropylene plants in Pachpadra Tehsil, Barmer District, Rajasthan, India, as per the company's press release.

The plants will use Lummus' proprietary NOVOLEN process reactors and proprietary NHP catalyst to produce a full range of leading polypropylene products for the Indian and regional markets.

"This is the largest Novolen licensed polypropylene award to date, and the largest polypropylene plant in India," said Daniel M. McCarthy, Executive Vice President of McDermott's Lummus Technology business. "Our process includes a high degree of flexibility to adjust to market demand, and HRRL will enjoy the full benefits of economies of scale and technology capability for this world-scale plant."

McDermott's Lummus Technology is a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals, refining, gasification and gas processing technologies, and a supplier of proprietary catalysts and related engineering. With a heritage spanning more than 100 years, encompassing approximately 3,100 patents and patent applications, Lummus Technology provides one of the industry's most diversified technology portfolios to the hydrocarbon processing sector.

This award was reflected in McDermott's third quarter 2018 backlog.

McDermott defines a sizeable contract as between USD USD1 million and USD50 million.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry.
MRC