MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) has confirmed that a fire broke out on Wednedsday at 2.40pm local time in a compressor house at the company's methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway, said Chemweek.
Emergency services were dispatched and police, fire, and health services are at the scene, the company says. The fire was put out at 3.40pm, it says.
When the fire started, site's air separation unit and the methanol plant were shut down, Equinor says. Personnel at the factory were evacuated and all emergency response procedures implemented, it says. Equinor's emergency response organization was assembled and authorities were notified.
"Nobody was injured in the fire," Equinor says. "We are working to get an overview of the consequences and the cause of the fire."
The Tjeldbergodden plant has the capacity to produce 900,000 metric tons/year of methanol, according to IHS Markit data.
We also remind that BP and Equinor confirmed they are shutting in production on their platforms, while Chevron, BHP and others said they are evacuating some personnel and considering decisions on production reductions.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
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