Mexican president-elect sets out plan for new USD8B oil refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico’s next government plans to build what could be the country’s largest oil refinery, with construction set to begin as soon as next year, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The winner of July’s presidential election is seeking to end Mexico’s massive fuel imports, nearly all of which come from the United States, while boosting domestic refining during the first half of his six-year term.

While his aides have provided some details on the plans, Lopez Obrador himself has mostly spoken in general terms and had not previously provided numbers.

"It will be a refinery that will produce 400,000 barrels per day of gasoline with an approximate cost of USD8 billion that we want to build in three years," Lopez Obrador told a group of business leaders in the northern city of Monterrey, in broadcast comments.

Mexico’s largest refinery at present is the 330,000-barrel-per-day Salina Cruz, owned and operated by state-run oil company Pemex in the southern state of Oaxaca.

It was not clear if Lopez Obrador was referring to the planned refinery’s crude processing capacity or its gasoline production. Two aides did not respond to requests for comment.

Salina Cruz, like Pemex’s other five refineries, has recently been producing far below capacity due to accidents and operational problems, as well as Pemex’s focus on maximizing the value of its oil even if that means refining less domestically.

Mexico’s refining network can process up to 1.6 million bpd of crude. It has been working this year at around 40 percent.

Rocio Nahle, Lopez Obrador’s pick to be the next energy minister, told Reuters in February that the next government wanted to add crude processing capacity of between 300,000 and 600,000 bpd.

Lopez Obrador has previously said the new refinery will be built in Dos Bocas, Tabasco, along Mexico’s southern Gulf coast.

"The commitment is to produce gasoline in Mexico," Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday. "We want to produce gasoline because we have the raw material, we have crude oil."

He added the project launch will happen "in the first days" of his government. He takes office in December.

Mexico produces about 1.84 million bpd of crude, more than 60 percent of which is exported, while it imports over 1 million bpd of refined products, including gasoline and diesel, according to U.S. and Mexican government data.

In July, Pemex’s six domestic refineries produced about 213,000 bpd of gasoline.

As MRC informed earlier, 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) -- The planned merger of Poland’s two largest refiners PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos could restrict competition in the east European country, reported Reuters with reference to BP's statement.

Poland’s biggest oil refiner PKN Orlen said in February it planned to buy at least a 53 percent stake in Lotos, mostly from the state.

London-based oil and gas group BP has not filed any official complaint with Polish or European Union authorities but will consider its options in the future, a company spokeswoman said.

"If this merger were to go ahead, 95 percent of the (country’s supply and infrastructure) market would be controlled by two companies," the BP statement said.

"We believe that a competitive market is in the best interest of Polish consumers and that this merger could restrict that competition unless there is a guaranteed competitive cost of supply and infrastructure access."

In the first half of 2018, PKN Orlen owned 1,771 petrol stations in Poland, BP had 537 stations and Lotos 484, according to data from POPiHN, a Polish organization that provides research into local fuel market.

"We are in a dialogue with the European Commission. According to our analyses, the transaction will not threaten the competition," a PKN Orlen spokeswoman said.

PKN plans to ask the European Commission later this year for anti-monopoly approval of the deal.

As MRC informed before, British oil and gas company BP will increase investment in the United States after the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in early February 2018. BP invested USD90 billion in the United States over the past decade, excluding USD65 billion in fines and clean up costs over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, making it the country's biggest investor in the energy sector.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has acquired Ortloff Engineers Ltd, a privately held licensor and industry-leading developer of specialized technologies that drive high returns in natural gas processing and sulfur recovery, as per Worldofchemicals.

Ortloff will become part of Honeywell UOP's gas processing and hydrogen business, bringing the industry's most advanced expertise in the recovery of high-value natural gas liquids (NGLs) from natural gas streams. Ortloff technologies are specialized to maximize gas separation, providing customers with high operational flexibility and greater returns on their plant investments. Ortloff also specializes in unique technologies for removing sulfur from refinery feedstocks, ensuring greater plant reliability and operability over the refinery lifecycle.

Honeywell UOP has worked closely with Ortloff since 2002, proving the effectiveness of these technologies with its customer set and establishing a long record of commercial success. This has helped gas processors secure financing for new projects and win long-term supply contracts with customers.

Based in Midland, Texas, Ortloff was founded in 1962 and is recognized worldwide as a leader in cryogenic gas liquids recovery, LNG processing, sulfur recovery and sour gas processing plant design. Ortloff has patented processes for NGL recovery including supplemental rectification with reflux (SRX), recycle split vapor (RSV), and single column overhead recycle (SCORE) technologies with extremely high recoveries and efficiencies, including more than 99 percent of ethane and nearly 100 percent of propane.

"For decades, Ortloff technology has defined the forefront of gas processing technology. That enables our customers to realize very high returns from their investments in natural gas separation. This differentiated, highly advanced technology, allows our customers to meet stringent process guarantees, while their operations perform at a best-in-class level. Ortloff also has unmatched expertise in sulfur recovery that tie in extremely well with our gas and refining portfolios," said John Gugel, president of Honeywell UOP.

"Ortloff complements our existing offerings perfectly, enabling Honeywell UOP to better meet customer needs for high-recovery NGL extraction plants globally Our joint technology offerings are installed in more than 50 gas plants around the world, allowing our customers to capture the greatest value from their natural gas resources," said Rachelle Goebel, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP's gas processing and hydrogen business.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF SE plans to increase the production capacity of 1,6-Hexanediol (HDO) at its Ludwigshafen Verbund site by more than 50 percent, as per Worldofchemicals.

After the start-up in 2021, BASF’s global annual nameplate capacity of HDO will be more than 70,000 metric tons per year at its production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Freeport, Texas, US.

HDO adds value in many applications by giving hydrolysis resistance, flexibility, adhesion and weatherability to the end-products. Due to its superior performance compared to other materials, BASF’s customers use the intermediate to formulate high quality industrial, automotive, wood or leather coatings, polyurethane plastics, adhesives and cosmetics.

HDO also serves as a raw material for environmentally-friendly applications including low volatile organic compound formulations for coatings and adhesives. In addition, there is the production of reactive thinners in the formulation of epoxy systems which are used for the efficient production of rotor blades for modern wind turbines and many other applications.

"By increasing our HDO production capacity, we will continue to support the fast-growing customer demand for high-quality HDO formulations globally. The expansion is in line with the general trend for high performance and environmentally friendly technologies in the automotive, furniture and packaging industry. As one of the leading global producers of HDO with decades of experience, we have highly efficient manufacturing processes and are supplying HDO to our customers across all regions," said Dr Andrea Frenzel, president, BASF intermediates division.

"With the investment we provide our customers more flexibility and reliability of supply than we did before. The volumes from the additional capacity in Ludwigshafen will mainly serve the strong European customer base as well as the fast-growing Asian market,” added Michael Britt, Senior vice president, BASF intermediates Europe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexpol TPE has optimised the extrusion equipment and production capacities at its site in Lichtenfels, Germany, with the installation of a filtration system from Trendelkamp Technologie GmbH, as per GV.

In addition, all extrusion lines were equipped with granulate classifiers from Trendelkamp.

According to Dominik Fehn, Production Manager Hexpol TPE GmbH, the family owned company from Nordwalde, Germany, was selected due to customisation options of the screen changer as well as excellent communication and quick response times. The filtration systems are characterised by heat insulation and rectangular breaker plates that save energy and also reduce pressure loss over the screen changer, as stated by Trendelkamp.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2013, the Hexpol TPE group, a manufacturer of custom-formulated TPE and flexible polymer compounds, appointed MLPlastics as its distribution partner in the North of Germany.
MRC