Formosa to raise refinery runs as maintenance ends

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp will raise the throughput at its crude oil refinery during the second-half of April after finishing maintenance at a crude unit, reported Reuters with reference to a company spokesman.

Formosa’s Mailiao refinery, which can process 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, will raise its throughput to over 82 percent from 70 percent currently, K.Y. Lin, a company spokesman said.

The plant has been operating at lower capacity because of planned maintenance on a 180,000 bpd crude distillation unit that has kept it shut since the start of March.

Formosa, one of Asia’s top ten largest refinery by capacity, also operates three naphtha crackers with a total capacity of about 2.93 million tonnes per year.

All the crackers are currently operating at full capacity, said Lin.

However, Formosa may need to reduce cracker runs after a fire at its sister company Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC) on Sunday caused by a gas leak, Lin said, though it is still too early to determine what is the next step.

Formosa Petrochemical supplies pyrolysis gasoline or pygas, a by-product from naphtha cracking, to FCFC.

FCFC’s No. 3 aromatics line was affected by the gas leak and fire and prolonged shutdown would mean a lack of a processing outlet for the pygas, which would have to be stored or sold to a third party.

FCFC also off takes naphtha from the Mailiao refinery.

As MRC informed earlier, 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).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Weir Oil & Gas announced it has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU), a non-profit public higher education institution founded in 1920, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement will result in the company sharing their oil and gas expertise with ASOUI via workshops, seminars, joint projects and internship programs focusing on the technologies and products utilized in oil field equipment, as well as rotating machinery.

Weir and ASOIU will offer workshops involving the hands-on training of students in assembly, repair, inspecting and testing of equipment, as well as seminars on design, operation and testing of specific equipment to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Additionally, both parties will establish joint projects and Weir will enroll selected students in internship programs to prepare them for the industry.

Weir’s General Manager of Russia and Central Asia, Altug Bilgic, and ASOIU’s Rector, Mustafa Babanli, were on hand for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. Also in attendance was Dr. Carole Crofts, the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

"Weir is delighted to have signed this Memorandum of Understanding with Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University,” said Altug Bilgic, General Manager of Russia and Central Asia, Weir Oil & Gas. “The University is a highly-regarded institution and we look forward to providing real-world opportunities to expand on their current teachings."

"Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University recognizes Weir as a leader in the oil and gas industry and is thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from their expertise,” said Mustafa Babanli, Rector, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University. “We believe that for our teachers and students alike, the education and support Weir can provide will lead to bettering our institution and preparing our students to be part of the industry’s future."

As MRC informed earlier, Honeywell announced that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will use Honeywell UOP's Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology to supply high-quality hydrogen as part of the modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF will increase the production capacity of Alkylethanolamines (AEOA) by 20% at the BASF Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

After the start-up in 2020, BASF’s global annual nameplate capacity of AEOA will be more than 110,000 metric tons per year at its production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Geismar, USA; and Nanjing, China.

"As one of the world’s leading suppliers of amines, we continue to support the fastgrowing customer demand for products of our Alkylethanolamine portfolio by increasing our capacity.

The demand is particularly high for high-performance products in the Water- and Gas Treatment industries", said Dr. Andrea Frenzel, President, BASF Intermediates Division.

"The additional capacity in Ludwigshafen will primarily serve our strong European customer base", adds Dr. Frank Stein, Senior Vice President, BASF Intermediates Amines Europe. "We have highly efficient manufacturing processes, and with this investment, we provide our customers greater flexibility and reliability of supply than before."

The versatile Alkylethanolamines are mainly used as precursors for flocculants applied in water treatment and in the coatings industry where they act as binders between pigments and resins. Other applications include gas treatment, fabric softeners, lubricants in metalworking fluids and polyurethanes.

With about 300 different amines, BASF has the world’s most diverse portfolio of this type of chemical intermediates. Along with alkyl-, alkanol- and alkoxyalkylamines, the company offers heterocyclic and aromatic as well as specialty amines.

The range is completed by an expanding portfolio of chiral amines of high optical and chemical purity. The versatile products are used mainly to manufacture process chemicals, pharmaceuticals and crop protection products, as well as cosmetic products and detergents. They also serve to produce coatings, special plastics, composites and special fibers.

As MRC informed before, in September 2018, BASF’s Coatings division opened a new laboratory for automotive OEM coatings at its site in Munster, Germany.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners are holding back from ordering Iranian oil for loading in May pending clarity on whether Washington will extend a waiver from US sanctions against the OPEC-member, reported Reuters with reference to four sources.

In November, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed broad economic sanctions.

Washington, however, gave a six-month waiver to eight nations including India, allowing them to import some Iranian oil until early May. India, Iran’s top oil client after China, was allowed to buy about 9 million barrels a month.

India hopes to get clarity in seven to 10 days on any extension of the waiver, as well as the amount of oil that could be purchased if an extension is given, the sources said.

"We don’t know about U.S. thinking, whether they will allow India to buy oil or not," said one of the sources, all of whom declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Under the current waiver, India can buy about 300,000 bpd of Iranian oil - about half the amount before the sanctions were imposed - and New Delhi wants to keep buying Iranian oil at that level, Indian sources said last month.

Since November only state-run Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals have been buying Iranian oil.

State-refiners and India’s oil ministry did not respond to Reuters request for comments.

Brian Hook, the special US envoy for Iran, in March said Washington is pursuing its plan to bring Iranian crude exports to zero. Last week Hook said three of eight importers granted waivers by Washington have cut shipments to zero.

"Sanctions against IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) have also added to the uncertainty over supply of Iranian oil ... in the current scenario when enough alternatives are available it is better to wait for a clarity," said another of the sources.

Trump on Monday designated Iran’s Guards a foreign terrorist organization. Iran’s president Rouhani said Tehran will resist US pressure and hailed IRGC as defenders of Iranians.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cristal, the majority-owned subsidiary of Saudi-based Tadawul-listed National Industrialisation Company (Tasnee), has sold its North American titanium dioxide (TiO2) assets to US chemicals giant Tronox for USD1.67bn (SAR6.26bn), said Constructionweekonline.

According to a Saudi bourse missive, the transaction closed on 10, April 2019 following the green light from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Under the deal, Cristal – which is 79% Tasnee-owned – will receive a cash consideration of $1.67bn (SAR6.26bn) and a 24% equity position in Tronox.

Tasnee said cash received will be “substantially used to fully prepay the outstanding bank debt of Cristal, which is consolidated in Tasnee’s consolidated financial statements”. The two directors of Tasnee’s Board, Talal Ali Al Shair – in his personal capacity – and Mr. Ibrahim Al Qadi – as the representative of Gulf Investment Corporation – own 1% and 20% of Cristal shares, respectively.

The remaining shares are owned by Tasnee, which added that any further material developments pertaining to the transaction will be announced “in due course”.

Speaking on the move, Mutlaq H. Al-Morished, chief executive officer of Tasnee, said: “This transaction enables Cristal and Tronox to position the combined businesses for long-term success in the [TiO2] global industry that will benefit from a fully integrated global asset base and derive significant synergies.

“This also allows Tasnee to focus on its petrochemical assets, downstream business and other strategic business development opportunities, while substantially deleveraging its consolidated balance sheet."

The deal has been two years in the making after it was originally announced in February 2017. However, according to Reuters, the FTC said in December 2017 that it would go to court to block the deal, arguing that two of the three top suppliers of chloride process titanium dioxide.

Acording to an FTC statement, the agreed merger is agreed on the prereqwusite that, among other requirements, Tronox sells titanium dioxide producing facilities in Ashtabula, Ohio.

Uses for the chemical include paint and plastics production, as well as for industrial coatings.
MRC