MOSCOW (MRC) -- About 600 gallons of petroleum and water mixture that leaked from Chevron Corp's wharf at its Richmond, California, oil refinery has been contained, reported Reuters with reference to the regional air pollution regulator's official twitter account.
The investigation is ongoing, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) said in a tweet.
Chevron in an emailed response said a sheen was observed at around 3 p.m. (2300 GMT) on the water near the wharf at its 245,271 barrel-per-day Richmond refinery. The release was stopped, while clean up was ongoing, it added.
“We have issued a community notice and ask the public to remain clear of the area so crews can quickly contain and clean up the released volumes,” the company said, adding it is working with the US Coast Guard and the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR).
The spill triggered a “Level 2” incident alert and health advisory from the Contra Costa Health Department for residents of Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo, according to local media reports.
California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks plans to introduce a bill to increase fines and penalties in order to provide more effective deterrence, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia tweeted.
“Park District closed local beaches and petroleum washed ashore along South Richmond shoreline which will harm wildlife and marine life,” Gioia said.
As MRC informed previously, in December 2020, Chevron Corporation made a 2021 organic capital and exploratory spending program of USD14 billion and lowered its longer-term guidance to USD14 to USD16 billion annually through 2025. This capital outlook will continue to prioritize investments that are expected to grow long-term value and deliver higher returns and lower carbon, including over USD300 million in 2021 for investments to advance the energy transition.
We remind that in March 2018, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP successfully introduced feedstock and commenced operations of a new ethane cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas. At peak production, the unit will produce 1.5 million metric tons/3.3 billion lbs. per year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
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