API revises standard to reduce worker fatigue in refineries, chemical plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Petroleum Institute issued a revised standard aimed at reducing fatigue among workers in the nation’s refineries and chemical plants, the trade group said.

The fatigue standard, officially called Recommended Practice (RP) 755, was first issued in 2010, based on the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s finding that worker fatigue was one of the factors in the 2005 explosion at BP Plc’s refinery in Texas City, Texas, which killed 15 workers and injured 180 others.

The revised RP 755 is intended to further tighten the limits on the number of consecutive hours and days work may be required including during malfunctions and shutdowns.

“The second edition of RP 755 advances unified and condensed requirements to avoid fatigue for all workers involved in safety sensitive processes,” said Debra Phillips, vice president of API’s Global Industry Services division in a statement issued on Thursday.

The United Steelworkers union (USW), which represents 30,000 workers in the oil industry did not reply to a request for comment on Thursday.
USW officials have in the past criticized the standard for being too easy for refinery and chemical plant managers to bypass or abuse.

It is up to individual companies to decide how to implement RP 755, if at all.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. announced it has been awarded a sizeable contract by ADNOC Refining to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Refinery Offgases (ROG) project at the Ruwais Refinery in Abu Dhabi, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The scope of work in the concept study phase includes evaluating various technology configurations and options for the recovery of hydrogen, ethane and sales-grade LPG or C3 and C4. The ROG FEED services will be used as the basis for the preparation of the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) estimate and inquiry phase.

Work on the project will begin immediately, and the contract award will be reflected in McDermott's second quarter 2019 backlog.

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2018, ADNOC unveiled plans to invest AED 165 billion (USD45 billion) alongside partners, over the next five years, to become a leading global downstream player, enabling it to further stretch the value of every barrel it produces to the benefit of ADNOC, its partners and the UAE.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European diesel market is finding unexpected support from disruption in the refining sector from the shutdown of Russia’s Druzhba pipeline due to contaminated oil and after a Russian refinery went bust, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Diesel refining margins, a measure of the profitability of making diesel from crude, hit a six-week high of nearly USD15 a barrel on Thursday and were trading close to this level.

Oil in the 1 million barrel per day (bpd) Druzhba pipeline running from Russia to eastern Europe via Belarus was contaminated by chemical compounds which made it unusable by several European refineries that rely on its supply.

"It’s all a matter of how much strategic stocks can be released because literally between German, Polish and Hungarian refineries, there are probably five or six refineries which are completely land-locked and there is literally no other way to supply them than the pipeline," one trader said.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are making available to their domestic refiners around 8 million barrels of crude from strategic stocks to tackle the Russian Druzhba pipeline shutdown, industry sources said on Friday.

Traders said that Total’s 240,000 barrel per day Leuna refinery in Germany had slashed runs because of the contamination by around 30 percent but exact details could not be immediately confirmed.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), as per the company's press release.

Effective May 1, 2019, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR50 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) -by EUR50 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last increased its prices for all PS grades on 1 April 2019. Thus, April prices for the said products grew, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR120 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR120 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.6 billion in net sales in 2018, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,500 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - German chemicals giant BASF expects to eke out some profit growth in 2019 as it banks on business to perk up with car production in the latter half of the year and on benefits from ongoing cost cuts, said the company.

BASF, which held its annual shareholder meeting on Friday, reported a drop in first-quarter operating profit of 24 percent, hurt by weakness in the firm's basic chemicals business and a slump in prices for materials used in polyurethane foams.

The maker of petrochemicals, coatings, catalytic converters and foams, said it still aims to grow operating profit this year at the lower end of a 1-10 percent range from 6.35 billion euros in 2018, despite analyst predictions of a decline in full-year earnings.

"What's important is the state of our customer industries," Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller told shareholders at the meeting. "Automotive saw a very weak start to the year. But there are still forecasts for a very slight growth rate over the full year... That has to mean more cars will be manufactured in the second half and that means more business for BASF."

First-quarter operating profit, or earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted for one-off items, fell to 1.73 billion euros (USD1.93 billion) versus a company-provided analyst forecast of 1.75 billion. The shares were little changed at 72.35 euros at 1128 GMT.

The company experienced lower volumes and prices for basic petrochemicals made from oil distillates and had to mark down prices of intermediate chemicals used in heat insulation slabs and upholstery foams.

Weak demand and global trade disputes, which began late last year, led to a decline in global auto production of 6 percent during the quarter and continued to weigh on BASF's automotive coatings and catalytic converters businesses.

Earnings at BASF's agricultural chemicals and seeds unit were bolstered by assets acquired from domestic rival Bayer as well as by higher prices.
MRC