MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) has announced the winners of the 2019 Annual Safety Awards, part of an ongoing mission to enhance and recognize outstanding workplace safety, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The awards are part of a comprehensive program developed by the AFPM Safety and Health Committee to promote safe operations in the refining and petrochemical industries and to recognize facilities with outstanding occupational and process safety records.
"There is nothing more important to the fuel and petrochemical industries than safety. Our member companies go above and beyond requirements to keep our people, communities and facilities safe, and the AFPM Safety Awards recognize their strong commitment to safety and their persistence to improve on their already outstanding records,” said AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson.
"The recipients represent leaders within our industries, and we are pleased to acknowledge these facilities for their excellent safety records, proactive programs, and impressive safety cultures," Thompson continued.
The highest honor, the Distinguished Safety Award, is awarded to the top sites with outstanding safety performance, program innovation and safety leadership. We proudly bestow this honor on a record nine facilities this year for achieving a sustained, exemplary level of safety performance: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP – Borger Plant, ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Polyolefins Plant, LyondellBasell Industries – Clinton Complex, Marathon Petroleum Corporation – Martinez Refinery, Phillips 66 – Bayway Refinery, Phillips 66 – Ferndale Refinery, Phillips 66 – Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex, Phillips 66 – Santa Maria Refinery and Phillips 66 – WRB Refining, LP - Borger Refinery.
The Elite Gold Award, which historically on average recognizes facilities with safety performances in the top one percentile and that have demonstrated superior and consistent safety performance, program innovation and leadership, has been given to eight facilities this year: Chevron U.S.A. Inc – Richmond Refinery, CITGO Petroleum Corporation – Lemont Refinery, ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Chemical Plant, ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Beaumont Polyethylene Plant, Flint Hills Resources, LLC – Peru Plant, LyondellBasell Industries – Chocolate Bayou Polymers Facility, LyondellBasell Industries – LaPorte Complex and LyondellBasell Industries – Matagorda Complex.
The Elite Silver Award, which recognizes those sites that have attained top industry safety performance for the application year and demonstrated excellent program innovation and leadership over time. The Elite Silver Award has historically on average recognized the top five percentile of industry safety and was awarded to eight facilities this year: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP – Drilling Specialties Conroe Plant, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP – Orange Plant, ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Pensacola Specialty Elastomers Plant, ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Plastics Plant, LyondellBasell Industries – Corpus Christi Operations, LyondellBasell Industries – Edison Catalyst Manufacturing, LyondellBasell Industries – Victoria Site and Valero Energy Corporation – Wilmington Asphalt Plant.
As MRC informed previously, global oil consumption cut by up to a third in Q1 2020. What happens next in the oil market depends on how quickly and completely the global economy emerges from lockdown, and whether the recessionary hit lingers through the rest of this year and into 2021.
Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.
And in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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