KBR receives contract for solid acid alkylation technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR Inc. has announced that it has entered into a contract with Wynnewood Refining Co. LLC (Wynnewood) for engineering and design services relating to KBR's Solid Acid Alkylation Technology (K-SAAT™) for Wynnewood's refinery located in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, US, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide basic engineering and design (BED) services for its K-SAAT™ technology and the opportunity to utilise the technology to revamp the existing hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation unit at the Wynnewood Refinery.

K-SAAT™ produces alkylate, which is an ultra-clean gasoline blendstock. It does this by combining light olefins and isobutane using a solid catalyst, avoiding complex acid handling and cooling cost.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. has issued USD400 million (449 billion won) worth of overseas bonds for the first time since its founding, as per BusinessKorea.

The company has sold the bonds to institutional investors in Asia and Europe. The US dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes carry a coupon rate of 3.914 percent. A total of 92 institutional investors participated in the bond offering, subscribing to USd1.5 billion (1.68 trillion won) worth of bonds.

Hanwha Total Petrochemical has decided to invest the funds from the overseas bond offering in its facilities. The company will make a 1.43 trillion won (USd1.27 billion) investment in its plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, by 2020 to boost production of ethylene to 460,000 tons, polyethylene 400,000 tons and polypropylene 400,000 tons.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings assigned aa1 and BBB rating with a stable outlook, respectively, to the senior unsecured notes to be issued by Hanwha Total Petrochemical.

As MRC reported before, Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co Ltd said in December 2017 it plans to spend USD331.29 MM on a new factory in South Korea to increase polyethylene (PE) output by 400 Mtpy by 2019.

Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Five workers were hospitalized after a hydrofluoric acid leak on Wednesday at Monroe Energy’s Trainer, Pennsylvania refinery, a report with Delaware Online said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The situation was under control within 30 minutes and there was no risk to the community, the company said in a statement.

Monroe Energy, which is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, operates the 190,000 barrel-per-day refinery.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco has hired Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) and Riyad Bank to advise it on financing Amiral, a petrochemical project it plans to develop with France’s Total, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with the matter.

The Saudi state-owned oil producer approached banks for the financing of the project, which is expected to be around USD5 billion, late last year, sources told Reuters at the time.

Total declined to comment. Aramco, Riyad Bank and SMBC did not respond to requests for immediate comment.

Aramco, the world’s largest crude producer, plans to boost investment in refining and petrochemicals in a bid to cut reliance on crude as demand for oil slows.

Plans for the giant Amiral petrochemical complex in the Saudi city of Jubail were announced in April 2018.

The project - scheduled to start up in 2024 - will be located next to the Satorp refinery, which is also jointly owned and operated by Aramco and Total.

The companies said last year the facility would comprise a mixed-feed cracker with a capacity to produce 1.5 million tonnes a year of ethylene. It will also have other units producing high-value petrochemicals.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2018, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement to invest in a refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China, part of its strategy to expand in downstream operations globally. The memorandum of understanding between the company and Zhejiang province included plans to invest in a new refinery and co-operate in crude oil supply, storage and trading, according to details released by the Zhoushan government after a signing ceremony in the city south of Shanghai.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Citgo Petroleum Corp idled the small gasoline-producing unit at its 157,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery this week for economic reasons, sources familiar with plant operations said Reuters.

The 13,000-bpd FCCU 1 was shut on Monday for “non-operational reasons” the company said in a notice filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The sources said FCCU 1 was not profitable for the refinery to operate.

Citgo is majority owned by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, whose refining network operated at reduced rates last year amid lack of spare parts, underinvestment and insufficient flow of light crude to mix with Venezuela’s heavy and extra heavy grades.
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