Lanzhou Petrochemical completes maintenance at No. 4 Cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanzhou Petrochemical has brought on-stream its No. 4 cracker following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has completd turnaround at the cracker on June 12, 2019. The cracker was shut for maintenance on April 27, 2019.

Located in Lanzhou, Gansu province of China, the No. 4 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 460,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 230,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in April 2019, LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced that PetroChina will use the LyondellBasell Hostalen "Advanced Cascade Process" (Hostalen ACP) technology to produce 1,100,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) capacity.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) signed a hydrogen supply agreement with Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (SASREF), said Refiningandpetrochemicalsme.

The agreement is to supply SASREF with the hydrogen gas that is required in SASREF’s future production operations starting in 2020 for an initial term of twenty years.

Al-Saadoon, expressed his delight at the new agreement, indicated that this agreement is a result of the ongoing collaboration between the companies after signing the supply agreement for CO2 in 2017. Both companies will continue to jointly explore growth and site integration opportunities.

This agreement aligns with the Saudi 2030 Vision and the continuation efforts to utilise all available resources through effective partnerships to maximise the added value of the company's products and enhance its revenues.

According to Sipchem’s CEO, Abdullah Al-Saadoon, both companies will continue to “jointly explore growth” and potential site integration in the future.

As MRC informed earlier, Sahara Petrochemicals has announced that its current CEO, Salah Mohammed Bahmdan, will head up the new group that will be formed from its merger with Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp said it was going ahead with an oil development project in Argentina that could produce up to 55,000 barrels of oil-equivalent per day (boepd) within five years, reported Reuters.

The project will include 90 wells, a central production facility and export infrastructure connected to a pipeline and refineries, the company said.

However, the country last month awarded permits for hydrocarbon exploration in 18 areas off its southern coast to companies, including Exxon, to boost its reserves, which fell in the last decade due to regulations that discouraged foreign investment in the energy sector.

If the expansion is successful, Exxon said it could invest in a second phase in the block, which would produce up to 75,000 boepd.

ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina operates the block and holds a 90 percent interest, while Gas y Petroleo del Neuquen holds the rest.

As MRC informed before, ExxonMobil said that it has completed an expansion at its Singapore refinery to upgrade its production of EHC Group II base stocks, strengthening the global supply of high-quality base stocks and enhancing the integrated facility’s competitiveness.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Belarus increased in the first four months of 2019 by 17% year on year, totalling about 12,800 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the statistical committee of the Republic of Belarus, in April of this year local converters increased significantly in the volume of PVC purchases under pressure from the seasonal factor and expectations of a serious price increase in May-June from key suppliers - producers from Russia. Total imports were about 34,500 tonnes, compared to 3,300 tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, imports of unmixed PVC reached 12,800 tonnes in January-April 2019 versus 10,900 tonnes a year earlier, with local windows producers accounting for a increase in demand.

Russian producers with the share of about 87% of the Belarusian market were the key suppliers of resin to Belarus over the stated period.
Producers from Ukraine and Germany with the share of 7% and 3% were the second and third largest suppliers, respectively.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil said that it has completed an expansion at its Singapore refinery to upgrade its production of EHC Group II base stocks, strengthening the global supply of high-quality base stocks and enhancing the integrated facility’s competitiveness, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The expansion will enable customers to blend lubricants that satisfy more stringent specifications, help lower emissions and improve fuel economy and low-temperature performance. Customers will achieve short-term and long-term cost savings through blending optimization and reformulation.

"The safe, on-schedule completion and successful startup of this expansion further enhances ExxonMobil’s competitiveness in manufacturing Group II base stocks," said Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants. 'It further establishes ExxonMobil as a key producer of fuels and petrochemical products and affirms our confidence in Singapore, where we operate ExxonMobil’s largest global integrated refining and petrochemical complex."

Supply to customers is expected in the third quarter of 2019, and builds upon recent expansions at ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam facility, which along with existing production in Baytown, Texas strengthens the global supply of high-quality base stocks.

ExxonMobil’s EHC product line has been designed to maximize the performance of all major automotive engine oil grades and to enhance the performance of finished lubricants used in multiple industries.

Construction of the expansion began in 2017 and was completed safely and on schedule with 1 million workforce hours. At peak construction, more than 300 workers were employed.

Earlier this year, ExxonMobil announced a final investment decision on a multi-billion dollar expansion of the Singapore integrated manufacturing complex as part of the company’s plan to significantly increase earnings potential of the site.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas.
The full project, part of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil’s broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant’s polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC