Residents told to shelter in place after Texas petrochemical plant fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Residents of a Houston-area community were told to remain indoors and schools in six communities were closed, after a petrochemical plant fire that burned for days released high levels of a cancer-causing chemical into the air, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The three-day blaze at Mitsui unit Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas, was extinguished early on Wednesday after it destroyed 11 giant tanks containing fuels. No injuries were reported. The City of Deer Park, 20 miles (32 km) east of Houston, issued a shelter-in-place advisory to its 34,000 residents after reports of “action levels” of benzene or other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) within city limits, the municipality said on its website.

Inhaling benzene, a carcinogenic chemical, can cause minor irritation to skin, eyes and the respiratory system, while severe exposure can harm the nervous system or lead to unconsciousness, according to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

ITC, which reported that workers monitoring the scene of the fire had detected increased levels of benzene, said on its website the levels observed were “below those that represent an immediate risk.” A spokeswoman for ITC could not say what levels were detected. Residents were advised to remain indoors, turn off air conditioning and heating systems, and close doors and windows, making sure to plug any gaps, holes or cracks with wet towels or sheets to prevent the entry of potentially harmful vapors.

A state highway was closed in the city and the Deer Park Independent School District and five other nearby school systems canceled classes. The fire, which began on Sunday morning, destroyed 11 tanks holding up to 80,000 barrels of gasoline and other fuels. The site had as many as 242 tanks able to hold up to 13.1 million barrels of fuels before the fire.

The cause of the blaze has not been determined, officials said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality estimated that on the first day of the fire, 6.2 million pounds of carbon monoxide and thousands of pounds of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and toluene were released.

The environmental regulator said it was investigating the incident. It has cited Intercontinental Terminals for violations of state air-emissions rules 39 times over the past 16 years. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said on Wednesday that air-monitoring systems near the site along the nation’s busiest petrochemical shipping port found no hazardous levels of volatile organic compounds or particulate matter.

The federal agency said it will test local waterways for possible contamination from the millions of gallons of water and foam that were dropped on the fire since Sunday. Some of the liquids leaked out of a containment dike and into a nearby drainage ditch that feeds into the Houston Ship Channel, the EPA official said.

The Harris County district attorney’s office has assigned an environmental prosecutor for any possible wrongdoing, a spokesman said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oman’s oil ministry denied being part of a USD3.85 billion plan to build an oil refinery in Sri Lanka, a day after the government in Colombo announced the country’s participation, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Sri Lankan officials told a news conference on Tuesday that a joint venture between the Oman oil ministry and a Singapore investment vehicle owned by India’s Accord Group had agreed to build the 200,000 barrel per day refinery near Chinese-controlled Hambantota port on the island’s south coast.

The ministry was to take a 30 percent stake, the officials said, representing what would be Sri Lanka’s biggest single foreign direct investment. “No one on this side of the panel is aware of this investment in Sri Lanka,” Salim al-Aufi, undersecretary of Oman’s ministry of oil and gas, told a news conference on Wednesday.

“It came as news to me, I don’t know who is signing the check for USD3.8 billion.” Sri Lankan officials could not be reached for immediate comment on the Oman denial. It was a public holiday in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Any big deal in Sri Lanka involving Indian investment will pose a challenge to China, which had until recently been on track to be the dominant foreign investor on the island.

India has become concerned in recent few years about China muscling into Sri Lanka and other countries in a region where India is the traditional power.

China is the biggest buyer of Omani oil, importing about 80 percent of the Middle Eastern nation’s overall crude exports in January, according to an Oman government website.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's Nan Ya Plastics (part of Formosa Petrochemical) aims to run its 2-ethyl hexanol unit at full capacity by the end of March after the plant restarted March 10, as per Apic-online.

The 2-EH unit is located at Mailiao and has a production capacity of 205,000 mt/year.

The unit was shut down unexpectedly February 12 due to a technical issue, with a total production loss of 12,000 mt."We are only running at 80% of our operating rate at the moment, but we will reach full output capacity by end-March," said a company source.

Nan Ya Plastics is the largest 2-EH producer in Taiwan.

As MRC informed before, on 19 March, 2018, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) undertook an emergency shutdown at its No. 1 cracker in Mailiao owing to technical issues. The plant remained off-line for around one day. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 700,000 mt/year, propylene production capacity of 350,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 109,000 mt/year.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company"s chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petrochemical Company has undertaken an unplanned shutdown at its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Qatar informed that the company has halted operations at the plant last week. The plant is slated to remain off-line for around 30 days.

Located at Mesaieed Industrial City, Qatar, the LLDPE plant has a capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in February 2017, Qatar Petroleum announced a plan to integrate the activities of Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC), which is part of Mesaieed Petrochemical, into Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), which is part of Industries Qatar, through a service agreement arrangement. The result will be a single company, QAPCO, operating the facilities of both companies.

Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) is a Qatar-based company established in 1974 and is a joint venture between Industries Qatar (80%) and Total Petrochemicals (20%). The company is currently one of the largest producers of low density polyethylene (LDPE) in the region. In addition to LDPE, QAPCO also produces linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), ethylene, and sulfur, which it sells to over 4500 industry customers in 145 countries through its extensive global marketing network.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, has turned to selling fuels to Venezuela from India and Europe to circumvent sanctions that bar US-based companies from dealing with state-run PDVSA, reported Reuters with reference to trading sources and Refinitiv Eikon data.

Reliance had been supplying alkylate, diluent naphtha, and other fuel to Venezuela though its US-based subsidiary before Washington in late January imposed sanctions aimed at curbing the OPEC member’s oil exports and ousting Socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

At least three vessels chartered by the Indian conglomerate supplied refined products to Venezuela in recent weeks, and another vessel carrying gasoil is expected to set sail to the South American nation as well, according to the sources and data.

Reliance, an Indian conglomerate controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has significant exposure to the financial system of the United States, where it operates subsidiaries linked to its oil and telecom businesses, among others.

The Indian market is crucial for Venezuela’s economy because it has historically been the second-largest cash-paying customer for the OPEC country’s crude, behind the United States.

Additional sanctions against Venezuela are possible in the future, as US President Donald Trump’s administration has not yet tried to prevent companies based outside the United States from buying Venezuelan oil, a strategy known as "secondary sanctions."

Refinitiv Eikon trade data shows that Reliance shipped alkylate, a component for motor gasoline, to Venezuela on vessels Torm Mary and Torm Anabel in recent weeks. Those originated in India and passed through the Suez Canal.

It also shipped a gasoline cargo using tanker Torm Troilus to Venezuela and is preparing to send 35,000 tonnes of gasoil in a vessel called Vukovar to the South American nation.

"Reliance is also supplying some products from its Rotterdam storage," a source familiar with Reliance’s operation said.

Reliance did not respond to emails seeking comment. PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment.

In a statement last week, Reliance said its US unit has completely stopped all business with PDVSA. Reliance also halted all supply of diluents including heavy naphtha to Venezuela and does not plan to resume such sales until sanctions are lifted, according to the release.

Venezuela has overall imported some 160,000 barrels per day of fuel and diluents for its extra heavy oil output since the U.S. measures were imposed, according to PDVSA and Refinitiv data, below levels prior to the sanctions but still enough to supply gas stations and power plants.

Reliance is among the biggest buyers of Venezuelan oil, although the company has recently said it has not increased crude purchases from Venezuela. In 2012, Reliance signed a 15-year deal to buy between 300,000 to 400,000 bpd of heavy crude from PDVSA.

Ship tracking data obtained by Reuters showed that Reliance’s average purchases from Venezuela were less than 300,000 bpd in 2018 and in the first two months of this year.

Venezuela has suspended its oil exports to India, its main cash market, Azerbaijan’s energy ministry said on Tuesday, citing Manuel Quevedo, Venezuela’s oil minister and PDVSA president. Quevedo met with the Azeri minister of Industry and Energy Parviz Shahbazov in Baku.

But Venezuela’s crude exports to India have not stopped. A very large crude carrier (VLCC) is anchored off Venezuela’s Jose port waiting to load oil bound for India, and at least six other vessels of the same size are underway to India’s Sikka and Vadinar ports, according to the Refinitiv data.

PDVSA’s second largest customer in India is Nayara Energy , partially owned by Russian energy firm Rosneft , one of PDVSA’s primary allies.

As MRC informed before, in February 2016, RIL was awarded a contract worth Rs. 100 crore to Petron Engineering Construction Ltd for its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Gujarat. The LLDPE plant is part of RIL's J-3 project in Jamnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The J-3 project boasts of a petroleum refinery and allied petrochemical plants for the production of plastics and fibre intermediates.

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