Fire breaks out at Pemex refinery, 9 people hurt

MOSCOW (MRC) — A major fire broke out at Mexican state oil producer Pemex's Salina Cruz refinery on Wednesday after a crude spill, injuring nine people and extending the shutdown of the plant into a second day, said Reuters.

The blaze began in the pump house of Salina Cruz, Mexico's largest refinery, on Wednesday morning, and the company was working to put it out, a Pemex spokeswoman said.

A Pemex spokesman said the fire had not yet reached the refinery's nearby massive storage tanks, adding that efforts were under way to prevent that from happening.

Eight of the injured have been released from the hospital, the company said on its Twitter page.

Images sent by local emergency workers showed a tall, thick plume of black smoke spewing from towering flames at the refinery on the Pacific Coast in the southern state of Oaxaca.

An official at the Oaxaca state emergency services said some of the local neighborhoods near the refinery had been evacuated.

The fire occurred a day after heavy rains prompted the refinery to suspend operations and evacuate personnel.

Tropical Storm Calvin provoked flooding that busted though dams meant to contain a form of heavy oil, causing a spill that later ignited, the company statement said.

It added the blaze had been contained. However, it was unclear when operations might resume. The refinery has a capacity of 330,000 bpd.

For over a year Pemex has been searching for investment partners to boost the aging facility's productivity, but with no takers to date.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico's state-owned oil firm Pemex said on Tuesday on Twitter that conditions are present to safely restart operations at its Salina Cruz refinery in the southern state of Oaxaca, reported Reuters.

Pemex had said earlier in the day that heavy rains, due to Tropical Storm Calvin, had prompted it to suspend operations and evacuate personnel at the refinery, which has a capacity of 330 Mbpd.

As MRC informed before, in November 2015, Fluor Corp. announced that ICA Fluor, its industrial engineering and construction joint venture with Empresas ICA, had signed a contract with Pemex to supply detail engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the utilities and offsites that are part of the Tula refinery upgrade at Hidalgo, Mexico. The total contract value is USD1.1 billion.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As of 1 June 2017, or as existing contracts permit, BASF SE has increased its European selling prices for a number of petrochemical products, said the producer on its site.

Thus, June prices of the following products rose, as stated below:

- 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) - by EUR200/mt;
- tetrahydrofuran (THF) - by EUR150/mt;
- polytetramethylene ether glycol (PolyTHF) - by EUR300/mt;
- N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) - by EUR150/mt;
- gamma butyrolactone (GBL) - by EUR150/mt.

BDO and its derivatives are used for producing engineering plastics, polyurethanes, solvents and elastic spandex fibers.

PolyTHFa is a registered trade mark of BASF Group in many countries.

As MRC informed before, in March, 2017, BASF increased the prices of the mentioned above products, as follows:

- 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) - by EUR200/mt;
- tetrahydrofuran (THF) - by EUR150/mt;
- polytetramethylene ether glycol (PolyTHF) - by EUR260/mt;
- N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) - by EUR150/mt;
- gamma butyrolactone (GBL) - by EUR150/mt;
- N-ethylpyrrolidone (NEP) - EUR150/mt.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has finalized the divestment of its polyolefin cross-linkable compounds business in Italy to family-owned group Finproject SpA, said the producer on its site.

As MRC informed before, in late 2016, Solvay completed the sale of its 70.59% stake in Solvay Indupa to Brazilian chemical group Unipar Carbocloro, following the approval earlier this month of the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE.

Besides, in early July 2016, Solvay completed the divestment of its shareholding in Inovyn (London), bringing to an end Solvay's chlorvinyls joint venture with Ineos. Solvay received exit cash proceeds amounting to EUR335 million (USD370.7 million). The dissolution of the jv follows regulatory clearances from the relevant authorities.

Inovyn was formed on 1 July 2015 as a jv between Ineos and SolVin, a subsidiary of Solvay. Solvay and Ineos signaled their decision to end their chlorvinyls jv in March this year.

Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 27,000 employees spread across 58 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR10.9 bn in 2016, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has completed the EUR2.6 million (USD3.5 million) expansion of its US research and development facilities in Houston, Texas, as per the company's press release.

Carried out in phases over a period of three years, the investment in the site - which employs around 40 scientists - will support the company's Protective Coatings, Marine Coatings and Specialty Coatings businesses.

Part of AkzoNobel's ongoing investments in its global RD&I activities, the Houston upgrade follows an investment of EUR12.6 million in a research and innovation hub in Felling, UK, announced earlier this year.

"Our new state-of-the-art research and development facilities in Houston enhance our unique capability to develop and deliver products and innovations with specific performance requirements for North America. Our development capabilities are now second to none," said Steve Feldman, Vice President for Protective Coatings North America.

Added Chuck Hampton, Business Director of AkzoNobel's North America Marine Coatings business: "I am delighted that the investment and upgrade at our Houston site is now complete. The work underlines our commitment to technology and product innovation and providing technical support for our customers".

"As well as offering a more rewarding work environment for our employees, the upgraded facilities will bring us closer to our customers by delivering new testing and applications capabilities, and help us work closely with industry to continue developing solutions for their specific needs."

Additional capabilities at the facility include a dedicated area for experimental paint making, a modern paint application laboratory and environmentally controlled drying areas for conditioning of test panels. Enhanced chemical resistance testing equipment is also available to support the Ceilcote and Enviroline lining ranges in North America.

As MRC reported earlier, AkzoNobel said on 9 June 2016 that it was adding marine and protective coatings capacity at its existing performance coatings site at Lipetsk, south of Moscow. The new capacity was expected to be operational in the third quarter of this year. It will enable AkzoNobel to supply protective coatings for the regional oil and gas, mining, power and infrastructure markets, as well as marine coatings for ship building, maintenance and repair. The investment represents a further expansion for the multi-business site at Lipetsk.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
MRC