Bilfinger awarded seven-year ExxonMobil maintenance contract

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bilfinger UK has secured a seven-year contract with ExxonMobil Chemical to provide preventative maintenance at its Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP), said Hydrocarbonengineering.

The multi-million-pound agreement will see Bilfinger become the embedded provider of maintenance services at the Mossmorran facility and the Braefoot Bay tanker terminal on the Forth.

It is estimated that the contract – part of ExxonMobil’s ?20 million annual maintenance spend at the facility – will see the engineering provider deploy up to 100 000 man-hours annually on inspection programmes as well as mechanical, process and infrastructure maintenance.

Bilfinger, which has a base in Grangemouth, has taken over from the incumbent provider with approximately 55 personnel transferring under TUPE arrangements.

Phill Maurer, Managing Director at Bilfinger UK, said: “This seven-year agreement is testament to the strong relationship we’ve formed with ExxonMobil and is a significant addition to our portfolio of support partnerships at major facilities across the UK."

"Our experience and breadth of expertise means we’re ideally placed to deliver a well-managed maintenance strategy focused on achieving the best possible outcome for ExxonMobil. We look forward to welcoming our new Fife colleagues to Bilfinger."

Jacob McAlister, Plant Manager of the Fife Ethylene Plant, said: “Preventative maintenance is key to the safe and reliable operations at FEP. ExxonMobil’s Fife Ethylene Plant operates under the most demanding of engineering standards and it is vital that we chose a contractor with the knowledge, expertise and innovative solutions to ensure these are met the first time, every time."

“Many contract personnel have worked with us for a long time and have extensive knowledge of the plant. We are delighted they will transfer over to the new supplier and continue their relationship within FEP."

The FEP contract extends the existing relationship between ExxonMobil and Bilfinger, which also provides specialist services to the ExxonMobil facility in Fawley, Hampshire.

FEP began operations in 1984 and produces over 800 000 tpy of ethylene. A major employer in the area for more than 30 years, over 270 employees and core contractors work at FEP with more than 60%s living within ten miles of the plant.

As MRC informed earlier, Bilfinger has been chosen as maintenance partner for a EUR60 million contract by SABIC UK Petrochemicals Limited to carry out a range of services across facilities on its Teesside site.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

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) -- Shenhua Xinjiang Mining Co has brought on-stream its polypropylene (PP) unit following a maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source informed that, the company has resumed operations at the unit on September 24, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019.

Located at Xinjiang, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

The company also operates the low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit at the same site. This plant's production capacity is 270,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, last year, the company conducted maintenance works at LDPE unit in Xinjiang from 4 to 28 August.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

Shenhua Group Corporation Limited was a Chinese state-owned mining and energy company. Shenhua Group was founded in October 1995 under the auspices of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It was the largest coal-producing company in China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has increased the manufacturing capacity for neopentyl glycol (NPG) at its headquarters facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and is set to further boost capacity of the chemical intermediate globally, said the company.

Production capacity at Ludwigshafen, said BASF in a statement 26 Sept, has been raised by 10 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa), bringing the company’s total NPG production volumes to 215ktpa globally.

In addition, the German chemicals supplier is expecting to increase its NPG production in Nanjing, China, by 40ktpa as of 2020.

With a manufacturing footprint in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Freeport, Maine, US; as well as in Nanjing and Jilin in China, BASF is claimed to be one of the world's leading NPG manufacturers.

"The production expansion in Ludwigshafen underlines our clear commitment to continuously support the growth of our European customers," said Michael Britt, SVP acids and diols in BASF's intermediates division.

Neopentyl glycol is an organic chemical intermediate, used as a building block for the synthesis of polyesters, paints, lubricants, and plasticisers.

When used in the manufacture of polyesters, it enhances the product’s ability to remain stable when exposed to heat, light, and water.

As MRC informed earlier, that BASF last week resumed No 1 naphtha cracker after maintenance turnaround in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

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) -- US crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week as refineries trimmed production heading into the less active autumn season, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration.

Crude inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week to Sept. 20, compared with analyst expectations in a poll for a 249,000-barrel decline. Overall inventories fell to 419.5 million barrels.

After 11 straight weeks of drawdowns, stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for US crude futures rose 2.3 million barrels, the EIA said.

"The report was bearish due to the overall rise in crude oil inventories and the large rise at the Cushing delivery hub. The slight rise in domestic production was also bearish, if not notable, as the rig count has been on the decline," said John Kilduff, partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital in New York.

Crude production rose by 100,000 barrels per day, back to its record weekly rate at 12.5 million bpd hit a month ago, though EIA weekly figures on output are generally revised.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 480,000 bpd.

Oil prices rose modestly after the report, though remained lower on the day due to ongoing concerns about global growth and the swift restoration of production by Saudi Aramco after attacks two weeks ago damaged its facilities.

US crude futures fell USD1.19, or 2%, to USD56.10 a barrel, as of 10:54 a.m. ET (1454 GMT). Brent crude dropped USD1.30 to USD61.81 a barrel.

Refinery utilization rates fell 1.4 percentage points to 89.8% of total capacity, the lowest since May, and refinery crude runs dropped by 194,000 bpd, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks rose by 519,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a 296,000-barrel increase.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3 million barrels, versus expectations for a decline of 733,000 barrels, the data showed.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PKN announced the technological start-up of the olefin unit at its Plock refinery is underway following an emergency shutdown earlier this month, said Hellenicshippingnews.

PKN said it took advantage of the unit failure to carry out maintenance planned for October-November on the unit. The company said in a statement the olefin unit start-up will be complete on September 25. The unit failure happened on September 4 after “one compressor was switched off in an emergency”.

As MRC informed earlier, in H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN ORLEN facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

PKN ORLEN would be the first refining and petrochemicals company in Europe to use the Honeywell UOP MaxEne technology for molecule management of a naphtha stream to produce high-quality products including olefins, aromatics and gasoline.
MRC