MOSCOW (MRC) -- A chemical unit has been shut down at ExxonMobil’s 233,000-barrels/day Gravenchon refinery and petrochemical complex in Port Jerome, France, with intermittent flaring expected as a result, reported Chemweek with reference to the company's statement.
The unplanned shutdown of the unspecified unit was expected to start around midday local time on Wednesday, with teams onsite to limit the duration of the works and flaring, ExxonMobil said in a public alert statement. No further information was disclosed.
ExxonMobil also operates a steam cracker at Gravenchon, which is scheduled for a maintenance turnaround between April and May this year. The maintenance program was set originally to take place last year, according to IHS Markit data. The cracker has the capacity to produce up to 400,000 metric tons/year of ethylene and other products including up to 80,000 metric tons/year of butadiene.
OPIS is an IHS Markit company.
As MRC informed earlier, last year, Exxon Mobil Corp announced it will lay off about 1,900 employees in the United States as the COVID-19 pandemic batters energy demand and prices.
We remind that ExxonMobil has undertaken a planned shutdown at its cracker in Singapore. The company halted operations at the cracker for maintenance on September 14, 2020. The cracker was expected to remain off-line till end-October, 2020. Located at Jurong Island, Singapore, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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