Israel investigates hydrocarbon leak at Oil Refineries unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Israel’s Oil Refineries (ORL) said it had been informed of an investigation by the Ministry of Environmental Protection at its Gadiv Petrochemical Industries unit, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It said the investigation concerned a hydrocarbon leak that occurred a few months ago.

ORL, Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group, said at this stage it was unable to predict the results of the investigation and its implications for ORL and Gadiv.

As MRC informed earlier, Israel’s Oil Refineries (ORL) reported lower quarterly net profit, saying timing differences on the value of its inventory offset higher refining margins. ORL, Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group, earned USD63 million in the third quarter, down from USD74 million a year earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday agreed stricter energy efficiency targets for certain types of ships in an effort to speed up action to cut the sector’s emissions, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee has been meeting in London this week to discuss tougher rules on sulfur emissions and other measures towards meeting a long-term goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.

The international shipping sector accounts for about 2% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

Under its Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), the IMO set mandatory targets for new ships on the maximum amount of CO2 emissions allowed for different vessel types and sizes to provide the same amount of transportation.

A draft of the agreement shows that new container ships will now be required to be up to 50% more efficient by 2022, compared with the previous target of up to 30% more efficient by 2025.

New general cargo ships, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and hybrid diesel-electric cruise ships will also have to be up to 30 percent more efficient by 2022.

“Your work in this session has strengthened the energy efficiency framework,” IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim told delegates in London.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) said the move could reduce CO2 emissions by about 750 million tonnes from 2022 to 2050, equating to around 2% of all emissions from international shipping over that period.

“The IMO’s decision to move up and tighten energy efficiency targets for some new ships is a modest but necessary step to combat climate change,” said Dan Rutherford, ICCT’s marine program director.

However, some environmental campaigners said the target is already being beaten by some of the most efficient ships being built today and stricter goals should be set.

As MRC informed earlier, the upcoming International Maritime Organization sulfur regulations for marine fuel will lead to a deficit of 600,000 barrel per day of marine gasoil in 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec’s Jinling refinery exported a cargo of 35,600 tonnes of gasoline from its Nanjing plant to Singapore on May 12, marking its first light distillate shipment to a foreign destination, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

Sinopec is boosting exports of a range of refined fuel products to ease a build-up of domestic supplies, the company said via its official newspaper.

China raised fuel export quotas by 30% in its latest allocation as record refinery output exceeds domestic demand for fuel.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2018, China's Sinopec Corp joined a group planning to build an oil refinery in Alberta, an enterprise that would strengthen demand for the Canadian province's heavily discounted crude.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nanjing?Sasol said it has reached beneficial operation of its new alkoxylation plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, the company's "largest" expansion project in the region, as per Apic-online.

The facility, with a capacity of around 150,000 t/y, is based on state-of-the-art technology and has the option of using branched or linear alcohols to meet differentiated customer requirements.

As part of the project, Sasol also expanded its research and development and technical support capabilities within the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2018, Honeywell announced that Secunda Synfuels Operations, an operating division of Sasol South Africa Ltd., will use a Honeywell Connected Plant service to monitor the operating reliability of its two Honeywell UOP CCR Platforming units at its refinery in Secunda, South Africa.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia’s Antipinsky oil refinery said it had filed for bankruptcy, weeks after a London court ordered its assets be frozen in response to a lawsuit from a trading house, said Hydracarbonprocessing.

The refinery, which has a capacity of 9 million tonnes per year, had halted operations on several occasions in recent months because of a lack of funds to pay for crude oil deliveries, according to industry sources.

Last month, a London court issued a worldwide order to freeze 225 million euros (USD251 million) in assets belonging to the refinery in response to a lawsuit by Russia’s VTB Commodities Trading.

The court order applied to the refinery’s equipment and property in Russia’s Siberian region of Tyumen, as well as petroleum products stored there and at one of its tankers in the northern port of Murmansk, among other assets.

The order also forbade the refinery from selling vacuum gas oil (VGO) to other companies without the consent of VTB Commodities Trading.

Court data on Monday showed there were 346.5 billion roubles (USD5.37 billion) of claims against the refinery.

The refinery, which last month announced plans to file for bankruptcy, alleged its insolvency was in part tied to the fact that some traders had stopped making advance payments for oil products.

“Unfortunately, in 2019 a string of traders, including VTB Commodities Trading, in violation of agreements that had been previously reached, stopped providing advances for the purchase of petroleum products,” the refinery said in a statement.

“This led to a decrease in the volume of purchased oil and to the plant stopping its processing on April 26.”

As MRC informed earlier, Russia’s Antipinsky oil refinery does not plan to receive oil this month and has removed itself from the delivery schedule. A London court has issued a worldwide order to freeze 225 million euros (USD252 million) in assets belonging to the oil refinery, owned by New Stream Group.

JSC Antipinsky Refinery was founded in July 2004 on the territory of one of the major oil and gas producing constituents of the Russian Federation - Tyumen Region, where most of Russian oil (64%) and natural gas (91%) reserves are concentrated.
MRC