Yokogawa to establish open process automation test bed for ExxonMobil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it has been selected by ExxonMobil to be the Open Process Automation (OPA) system integrator responsible for establishing the company’s OPA Test Bed, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Development work and experiments conducted on the Test Bed will support ExxonMobil’s effort to move towards a standards-based, open, secure and interoperable process control architecture.

ExxonMobil will use the Test Bed to evaluate candidate components and standards and provide the basis for moving OPA technology into initial industrial field trials. Yokogawa’s development office for the Test Bed will be located near ExxonMobil’s Houston Campus in Spring, Texas, and the initial stage is planned to be operational in Q4 2019.

ExxonMobil and Yokogawa are members of The Open Group Open Process Automatio Forum (OPAF), an international forum of end users, system integrators, suppliers, academia, and standards organizations who are working together to develop the specifications for utilizing OPA technology in next-generation process control systems. An OPA-based control system is designed to support the integration of best-in-class components and provide both configuration and application portability across components from different suppliers.

The ExxonMobil OPA Test Bed will leverage the existing OPA development work and technological expertise of Yokogawa’s US Technology Center. To house the Test Bed and facilitate the objectives of this collaborative project, Yokogawa will open an office near Spring, Texas. ExxonMobil intends to share the results of systems tests using the Test Bed with their collaboration partners and OPAF. ExxonMobil will also encourage their collaboration partners to utilize the Test Bed to evaluate additional components that will be used in their independent field trials.

"We are looking forward to working with Yokogawa to stand up and operate the Test Bed for ExxonMobil and our collaboration partners," stated Brad Houk, project manager for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "This is an important milestone in the use of OPAF’s standards to create an industrial control system. ExxonMobil’s key criteria for system integrator selection included a demonstrated understanding of the technical requirements to create an OPA system from heterogeneous components and the ability to function as an agnostic broker of components from all suppliers."

Tsuyoshi Abe, a Yokogawa senior vice president and head of the company's Marketing Headquarters, commented, “Yokogawa is proactively participating in open architecture initiatives such as Open Process Automation with industry players globally. We are honored to be selected for this key project, and are looking forward to working with ExxonMobil, its collaboration partners and the industry at the Test Bed facility to accelerate creation of an OPA ecosystem."

As MRC reported before, 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

BP Whiting, Indiana refinery plans Aug gasoline unit overhaul

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP Plc plans to shut the small gasoline-producing unit at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery for a planned overhaul by mid-August, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The 65,000-bpd gasoline-producing Fluidic Catalytic Cracking Unit 600 (FCCU 600) will be shut along with other units at the Whiting refinery, the sources said.

As MRC informed previously, in May 2018, hte - the high throughput experimentation company was selected by BP to evaluate commercial catalysts for both naphtha reforming and hydrocracking applications using high throughput technology under commercially relevant conditions for its refineries around the world.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

China June crude oil throughput rises to record on new plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s crude oil throughput rose to a record in June, up 7.7% from a year earlier, following the start-up of two new, large refineries, reported Reuters with reference to official data.

Crude processing volumes last month reached 53.7 million tonnes, or about 13.07 million barrels per day (bpd), beating the previous record in April of 12.68 million bpd, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The hefty processing rates were supported by the start-up of two major new refineries. Private firm Hengli Petrochemical ramped up its 400,000-bpd refinery in Dalian to full capacity in late May and Zhejiang Petrochemical began trial runs at a similar-sized facility on the east coast.

"The high output data was mainly due to the two new plants, but still the figure exceeds our estimates as many refineries were shut for maintenance," said Wang Zhao, an analyst with Sublime Information Co, a local consultancy, based in Zibo in eastern China’s Shandong province.

"We expect throughput to be lower in the coming months on extended plant shutdowns because inventories of gasoline and diesel were at the high end and domestic fuel demand remained weak," said Wang.

Refineries in Shandong, the country’s hub for smaller independent plants, cut throughput to curb losses after Hengli marketed gasoline at a 12% discount to the rates offered by plants in Shandong.

The NBS data also showed that China’s crude oil output last month climbed 1% from a year earlier to 16.1 million tonnes, or about 3.92 million bpd, up from May’s 3.82 million bpd.

First-half crude output rose 0.8% from a year ago to 95.39 million tonnes. The tepid growth highlights the geological challenges of mature fields and the lack of new discoveries that state oil majors face in trying to boost domestic oil output.

Natural gas production in June rose 13.1% from a year earlier to 13.9 billion cubic meters (bcm). Output for the first half increased 10.3% from a year earlier to 86.4 bcm.

The much faster growth in gas production, which exceeds analysts forecast of 6% to 8%, was spurred by state oil majors’ efforts in focusing spending increases on production of the cleaner-burning fuel.
MRC

Bulging fuel stocks put spotlight on slack oil consumption

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sluggish consumption growth is depressing oil prices even as Saudi Arabia and its allies try to prop up the market by cutting their production, reported Reuters.

US refineries have so far this year processed 48 million barrels of crude and other liquids, less than at the same point in 2018, according to an analysis of weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gross inputs into refineries have averaged 16.90 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with 17.15 million bpd in 2018.

Refineries had a much heavier and longer maintenance season between February and April than at the same point last year.

Most refiners have not yet made up for the lost production, with daily processing rates mostly below prior year levels.

Even with restricted crude run rates, however, gasoline stocks are just 4 million barrels below 2018 levels while distillate inventories are 15 million barrels above last year.

Refiners have reconfigured their equipment to maximize output of middle distillates and minimize production of residual fuel oil ahead of the introduction of new marine fuel regulations at the start of 2020.

So far production of distillate fuel oil has increased by 115,000 bpd compared with 2018, while gasoline output is also up by 85,000 bpd, as refiners squeeze extra valuable fuels from their raw inputs.

Refiners are likely seeking to increase stocks of distillates to ensure adequate stocks at bunkering terminals and smooth the introduction of the new marine fuel rules.

The heavy maintenance undertaken between February and April should ensure most refineries can undergo lighter than normal maintenance in October and November, boosting fuel supplies even further later in the year.

In theory, heavy crude processing during the second half of the year should cut excess crude stocks and help rebalance the market. But the softness of consumption may now be putting that out of reach.

Consumption weakness and rising fuel stocks explain why oil prices have failed to rise in recent weeks despite diplomatic tensions in the Middle East Gulf and a slowdown in new well drilling in the United States.
MRC

Petrobras starts sale process for refining and logistics assets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA announced the start of a sale process for refining and logistics assets, according to a securities filing, reported Reuters.

Petrobras, as the company is known, said the nonbinding phase involves refineries Abreu e Lima (Rnest), Landulpho Alves (Rlam), Presidente Getulio Vargas (Repar) and Alberto Pasqualini (Refap).

"Potential buyers qualified for this phase will receive a descriptive memorandum containing more detailed information on the assets," the company said in the filing.

As MRC informed before, in H2 June 2019, Petrobras said it had signed a deal with local antitrust regulator CADE regarding the proposed sale of some of its refining installations. According to a securities filing, the company said the agreement will allow for increased competition in Brazil’s refining sector, by attracting new players to the business.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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