Repsol to restart it fluid catalytic cracker in Coruna in late March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol's Coruna started a programmed halt in early January that will run to the end of March and will include the finalization of three CO2 emission reduction projects at the 1.7 million cu m/yr fluid catalytic cracker, among other work, reported S&P Global.

Repsol will invest EUR64 million in the work. The work will mean halting six of the refinery's conversion units one by one.

Project G-52 will be directed towards energy efficiency and CO2 reduction, while G-53 will reduce the atmospheric particle emissions from the unit.

At the same time, project G-54 will involve the installation of a new compressor in the gas recovery unit and the substitution of steam turbines for electric motors in both that unit and the FCC.

As MRC informed before, Spain’s Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

We also remind that in Q1 2016, Repsol completed the construction work of its new metallocene polyethelene plant at its Tarragona site. Repsol started up the plant and began production and marketing of this new product during Q2 2016.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

PKN Orlen to reduce fuel prices to minimum

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland's largest fuel concern, PKN Orlen, said on Monday it will reduce fuel prices as much as possible, said Thefirstnews, citing Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek.

"We have decided to reduce fuel prices as much as possible at PKN Orlen stations. As a responsible company, we encourage everyone to stay at home, but we realise that many people throughout Poland, including uniformed and medical services, must now maintain maximum mobility," Obajtek wrote.

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 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

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

Polytama to take off-stream PP plant in Indonesia for turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Polytama Propindo is planning to take its polypropylene (PP) unit in Indonesia off-stream for a routine maintenance work by the end of March, 2020, reported CommoPlast.

The company will shut its PP plant following the shutdown at its feedstock supplier - PT Pertamina.

The unit has an annual capacity of 240,000 tons/year and would remain off-line for about 20 days.

Meanwhile, PT Pertamina would shut its 578,000 tons cracker from 18 March to 18 April 2020.

As MRC wrote previously, in 2017, the company conducted maintenance at this plant from end-January to mid-February.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

PT Polytama Propindo was established in 1993 as a signifcant manufacturer of polypropylene resin (PP resin) in Indonesia. Polytama is taking a leading role in Indonesia's fast growing economy by utilizing the country wealth i.e. the secondary processing yield of oil and natural gas , through industrial manufacturing. The factory located in Balongan, Juntinyuat district, Indramayu-West Java, using one of the best technology in the world, the Spheripol technology of Montell (now LyondellBasell), with an installed capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year.

Two years later the construction of the factory was completed on July 27, 1995 and PT Polytama Propindo started the production (the product trade name: Masplene), the supply of raw material propylene with high purity from PERTAMINA refinery UP-VI (now RU-VI ) Balongan. In 1996, and the plant capacity grown to 180,000 tons per year. Response to the addition of propylene production capacity of PERTAMINA RU-VI in 2004, PT Polytama Propindo increased its capacity to 200,000 tons per year.
MRC

Pertamina to shut down its cracker in Indonesia for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Pertamina plans to shut its cracker in Indonesia for maintenance works from 18 March, 2020, reported CommoPlast.

This cracker with a production capacity of 578,000 tons will remain off-stream until 18 April 2020.

As MRC informed before, in November 2018, CPC Corp. of Taiwan and Indonesia's PT Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a new naphtha cracker in Indonesia. The project, expected to cost USD6.47-billion, would in-volve the production of almost 1-million t/y of ethylene, meeting local demand.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

Fire killed five people at Petronas-Aramco refining complex in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire killed five people at a refining and petrochemicals complex in southern Malaysia owned by Petronas and Saudi Aramco, reported Reuters with reference to authorities' statement on Monday.

It was the second fire in less than a year at the USD27 billion Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor.

Petronas and Saudi Aramco each have a 50% stake in the PRefChem joint venture, which owns and operates the refinery and some petrochemical plants at PIC.

The Johor State fire and rescue department said the fire and a blast occurred on Sunday night at the diesel hydro theater unit, which was removing sulphur from raw diesel using hydrogen gas.

Other than the fatalities, one other person has suffered burns, the fire department said, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Petronas directed queries to the joint venture company Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical (PRefChem), which has not responded to a Reuters request for comment.

As MRC wrote before, PRefChem abruptly shut down its cracker in Pengerang, Malaysia, on 25 October 2019, due to an unspecified technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces 1.2 million tons/year of ethylene and 600,000 tons/year of propylene. Sources with knowledge of the matter said then that it might take roughly ten days for the cracker to come back online.

We also remind that the company received commercial ethylene and propylene at its new cracker in Pengerang on 13 September, 2019.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

PrefChem a joint venture between Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, and Saudi Aramco. The Pengerang Refining development, part of Petronas’ USD27 billion Pengerang Integrated Complex, consists of a 300,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) oil refinery and a petrochemical complex with a production capacity of 7.7 million tonnes per year in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC