Indian HMEL may halt naphtha exports from 2021–2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), part-owned by steel tycoon L N Mittal, may halt naphtha exports from the 2021-2022 fiscal year when it starts its USD3.1 B cracker, reported Reuters with reference to the chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

Like other Indian refiners, is also building a petrochemical complex linked to its refinery to cater for an expected surge in demand for goods ranging from plastics to paints and adhesives.

The cracker will have an annual capacity of 1.2 MMt with a provision to raise it to 1.5 MMt, M. K. Surana told Reuters. He said the project would cost about USD3.1 B.

State-owned refiner HPCL and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd each own a 49% stake in the project.

The cracker will have the flexibility to use naphtha, gases generated during crude oil processing and kerosene, he said.

"The project will be ready in 2021 and then we may not export naphtha," Surana said.

HMEL has recently raised capacity of its Bathinda plant in northern India by 28% to about 230,000 bpd.

HMEL is not a regular exporter of naphtha. But after recent expansion it is estimated to annually export about 250,000 t of naphtha.

As MRC informed earlier, state-owned refiner HPCL is building a new 9 mln tpa refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Pachpadra in Rajasthan and a petrochemical complex at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh as part of a Rs 61,000-crore expansion. HPCL will also invest part of the amount over the next four years for expanding and upgrading its existing refining capacity to meet higher quality fuel norms, the company said in an investor presentation. HPCL is upgrading both its Mumbai and Visag refineries to produce fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced it has entered into an Engineering agreement for the residue hydroprocessing unit at the Jordan Petroleum Refinery (JPRC) Expansion Project, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This award follows an earlier decision for KBR as selected licensor for its proprietary Veba Combi Cracking (VCC) technology.

KBR will provide the basic design package for the unit using its proprietary VCC slurry phase hydrocracking technology. This unique technology is capable of processing a wide range of feedstocks and enables production of fuels that meet environmental specifications without further upgrading.

The VCC technology will be implemented at JPRC's refinery in Jordan and will be the core of the refinery's expansion plans to increase production to 120,000 bpd.

KBR's portfolio of refining technologies enables refiners to process a wide variety of crudes, including heavy opportunity crudes, while retaining the flexibility to adjust the fuel mix and quality to meet ever changing market demands. KBR's experience as a technology developer and licensor, along with comprehensive studies and proven project delivery capabilities, has resulted in KBR licensing, designing or constructing more than 60 greenfield refineries and well over 1,000 refining units of every type and size around the world.

Revenue associated with this project will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Technology and Consulting Business Segment in the Q4 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Praxair, Inc. announced it has started up three new vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) plants at the Daesan petrochemical complex located on the west coast of the Korean peninsula, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Praxair will start up a fourth VPSA plant in early 2018. Under a long-term contract, the VPSA plants will supply a combined 750 tpd of oxygen to Hyundai Oilbank, one of the leading refinery companies in Asia with a capacity of 520,000 bpd of crude oil and other feedstock.

Hyundai has produced gasoline and propylene in South Korea for more than 50 yr. The oxygen is being used in their residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) process.

Praxair was the first to develop VPSA technology and is the leader in VPSA applications for oxygen production. With more than 250 VPSA plants globally, over the last 25 yr the company has built a strong track record of supply reliability and technical expertise.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, part of Sinopec Group, has brought on-stream a polypropylene (PP) plant following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has completed maintenance at its plant on October 29, 2017. The plant was taken off-line on October 13, 2017.

Located at Shanghai in China, the plant comprising of two units have a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year each.

As MRC informed before, on 10 May 2017, Shanghai Petrochemical restarted its two PP units following a maintenance turnaround. The units were under maintenance from April 20, 2017. Located in Shanghai, China, the units have a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year each.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — The owner of top South Korean oil refiner SK Energy said on Wednesday that it would spend about USD897.8 MM to build a new desulfurization unit by 2020, part of a push to churn out cleaner shipping fuels, said Reuters.

Under the plan, a 40,000-bpd Vacuum Residue Desulfurization (VRDS) will be added to an 840,000-bpd refinery in the southeastern city of Ulsan, South Korea's SK Innovation said in a stock exchange filing.

The move comes as tougher international regulations on sulfur emissions are due to take effect from 2020, the company said in a separate statement.

The firm added that the unit would also help in producing high value-added products including diesel and naphtha by processing cheaper residual fuel oil.

SK Energy has a total refining capacity of 1.115 MMbpd—a combined 840,000 bpd at five crude distillation units (CDUs) in Ulsan and 275,000 bpd at two CDUs in the western city of Incheon.
MRC