Major US Gulf Coast refiner awards engineering contract

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Primoris Services Corporation has announced a new engineering award valued over USD17 million with a major Gulf Coast refiner, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract was secured by Primoris Design and Construction, part of the Power, Industrial, and Engineering segment.

The award is for detailed engineering and procurement services. The scope of work includes a new process unit, storage tanks, and interconnecting piping.

Engineering work on this project begins immediately, and completion is planned for the second quarter of 2020.

As MRC reported before, in H2 December 2018, Lyondell Basell Industries (LBI) restarted the large coker at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery. The 57,000 bpd coker was shut by a Nov. 28 fire that filled a heater with hard carbon deposits. The heater has to be cleaned before the unit can restart. The coker was shut for a four-week overhaul in October and November.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Shell Chemical LP (Shell) announced the start of production of the fourth alpha olefins (AO) unit at its Geismar, Louisiana, USA chemical manufacturing site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 425,000-tonne-per-year capacity expansion brings total AO production at Geismar to more than 1.3 million tonnes per annum. Start-up operations began in December 2018.

Alpha olefins are key ingredients in many finished products that people use and enjoy every day, including laundry detergents, motor oils, and hand soaps.

"Our team delivered this world-class expansion project safely, on time and within budget," said Graham van’t Hoff, Executive Vice President for Shell’s global chemicals business. "This is a key growth project for Shell’s global chemicals business. Geismar will continue to play a leading role in providing the materials for products that an increasing number of people need and enjoy."

The new unit strengthens Shell’s leading position in the US Gulf Coast and illustrates the strategic value of its integrated downstream business. The Geismar site is supported with advantaged ethylene feedstock from Shell’s nearby Norco, Louisiana and Deer Park, Texas manufacturing sites, enabling the site to respond to market conditions.

The expansion project contains around 3,570 tonnes of steel, 18,290 meters of concrete and 85 linear kilometers of pipe. Several new pieces of infrastructure were built as part of the expansion, including a new water cooling tower, a significant expansion of the site’s rail loading capabilities, and the repurposing of a previously idled tank farm.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative and environmentally-compliant oil refining facilities, has announced that the company and its engineering partners, Axens NA and McDermott International, have begun its first week of meetings to kick off the intensive effort to complete the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) of the Davis Refinery located in Belfield, North Dakota, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Meridian announced just one month ago its signed agreement with McDermott International under which McDermott will finalize the FEED for the Davis Refinery. Following the completion of that FEED effort, the Parties will be prepared to enter into a comprehensive turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC). Agreement to build the Davis Refinery. Meridian has been working with Axens NA since 2016 to define the underlying proprietary process technology for the Davis Refinery unit operations and has entered into process book supply and license agreements with Axens this past September for the proprietary process units for the full 49,500 bpd Davis Refinery.

These meetings mark the full implementation of the integrated project partnerships that Meridian has assembled to develop the cleanest refineries on the planet. Axens NA provides a complete range of solutions to ensure the highest level of performance with a reduced environmental footprint, and McDermott is a premier, fully - integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry.

William Prentice, CEO of Meridian, said of this Engineering Summit, "Meridian’s mission is to drive the reinvention of the refining industry, and the Davis Refinery is the future of domestic US refining. To fulfill this mission, Meridian requires Partners that share this vision, and possess the expertise and professionalism to complete Davis and follow-on projects in a reliable and cost-effective manner."

Meridian VP of Operations, Tom Johnson, also commented, "The entire Meridian, Axens, and MDR team is extremely excited to be a part of this innovative project. The team looks forward to delivering a completed oil refinery that meets the conditions of the EPA's approved Synthetic Minor Source Air Quality permit."

Meridian has completed and invested a significant portion of project financing and will continue to invest its own development financing for this next phase through completion of the FEED, as well as site preparation and grading at the Davis site as weather permits. Full project financing, as arranged by Meridian’s investment bankers, financial advisors, and placement agents, including CIBC, will close upon completion of the FEED, in time for full construction to resume later in 2019.

Lance Medlin, Meridian EVP of Projects had this to say, "The Davis Refinery is being designed as a cutting-edge facility, setting a new standard in how emerging energy needs are addressed at regional levels. Meridian’s partnership with McDermott and Axens NA for the engineering and development of the Davis Refinery is another step in what has consistently proven to be the right direction in refining."

Mark Fonda, EVP of Engineering for Meridian Energy Group, commented, "The Davis Refinery has the distinct advantage of being a greenfield, innovative, advanced technology project, which will be the most efficient, smartest, ultramodern refinery ever built. As such, the EPC effort will emphasize clean, efficient use of space, time and resources while maintaining the highest priority for environmental, health and safety compliance."

As MRC wrote earlier, in October 2018, Meridian Energy Group selected Axens as the technology provider for the final stages of basic engineering design for its 49,500 BPD Davis refining complex being constructed in Billings County, North Dakota. The project will utilize Axens’ Suite of clean fuels technologies to refine local Bakken tight oil and produce ultra-low sulfur transportation fuels while minimizing energy consumption and environmental footprint.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Loop Industries, Inc, a leading technology innovator in sustainably produced plastic, and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions’ division, Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH, a leading global polyester technology provider and polyester plant engineering firm, have entered into a strategic collaboration that would shape the future of PET and Polyester manufacturing, as per Plasticsinsight.

The Global collaboration agreement integrates their respective technologies intended to offer a turn-key industrial solution for the license to manufacturing companies that are seeking a commercially viable technology to produce sustainable PET and polyester plastic.

Sami Pelkonen, CEO of the Electrolysis & Polymers Technologies business unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, said, "We have successfully established a large variety of patented technologies and processes in the global market. This agreement will enable a very resource efficient and cost-attractive solution for the production of sustainable PET and polyester. The collaboration with Loop Industries is an important milestone on the way to producing sustainable PET and polyester."

Daniel Solomita, Founder and CEO of Loop Industries, commented, "This Global Collaboration Agreement allows for Loop’s technology to rapidly transform the plastic market and fully capitalize on our disruptive potential as the leader in the circular economy for PET plastic. thyssenkrupp’s extensive engineering expertise and proven Melt-To-Resin technology provides Loop with a world class partner to bring the Waste-to-Resin manufacturing solution to market."

According to Solomita, "WTR is a key pillar of Loop’s commercialization blueprint to meet global demand from consumer packaged goods and other brands for Loop branded sustainable resin. The two companies plan to license the respective technologies developed by Loop and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions to manufacturing partners in different regions around the world in order to quickly roll out multiple WTR plants decoupling PET plastics from fossil fuels over the next decade."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkey has resumed imports of Iranian crude oil after a one-month hiatus in November when US sanctions on Iran were reimposed, reported Reuters with reference to trading and shipping sources.

The United States granted Turkey and other countries import waivers in early November. Turkey said it was permitted to take 3 million tonnes a year, equivalent to about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), under the waiver.

Turkey used to import about 200,000 bpd of Iranian crude before Washington announced last year that it would pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions.

Turkey had reduced its imports from Iran in the months prior to sanctions coming into force in early November. Its imports fell to zero in November.

But in December Turkey took delivery of two tankers carrying Iranian crude, equivalent to about 54,000 bpd during December, according to a shipping and trading source familiar with the matter.

The Solan tanker delivered into the port of Aliaga, while the Sea Topaz I discharged at Tutunciftlik.

So far in January, Turkey is set to receive a cargo from the Iranian-owned tanker Sinopa, the sources and Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking showed.

Turkish officials and Tupras were not immediately available to comment.
MRC