Honeywell: USB devices pose a significant threat to industrial facilities

MOSCOW (MRC) -- New, first-of-its-kind research released by Honeywell shows that removable USB media devices such as flash drives pose a significant – and intentional – cybersecurity threat to a wide array of industrial process control networks, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Data derived from Honeywell technology used to scan and control USB devices at 50 customer locations showed that nearly half (44 percent) detected and blocked at least one file with a security issue. It also revealed that 26 percent of the detected threats were capable of significant disruption by causing operators to lose visibility or control of their operations.

The threats targeted a wide variety of industrial sites, including refineries, chemical plants and pulp-and-paper manufacturers around the world, and the threats themselves ranged in severity. About 1 in 6 targeted industrial control systems or Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

"The data showed much more serious threats than we expected, and taken together, the results indicate that a number of these threats were targeted and intentional," said Eric Knapp, director of strategic innovation, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security. "This research confirms what we have suspected for years – USB threats are real for industrial operators. What is surprising is the scope and severity of the threats, many of which can lead to serious and dangerous situations at sites that handle industrial processes."

The research marks the first commercial report to focus exclusively on USB security in industrial control environments. It examined data collected from Honeywell’s Secure Media Exchange (SMX) technology, which is specifically designed to scan and control removable media, including USB drives. Among the threats detected were high-profile, well-known issues such as TRITON and Mirai, as well as variants of Stuxnet, an attack type previously leveraged by nation-states to disrupt industrial operations. In comparative tests, up to 11 percent of the threats discovered were not reliably detected by more traditional anti-malware technology.

"Customers already know these threats exist, but many believe they aren’t the targets of these high-profile attacks,” Knapp said. “This data shows otherwise, and underscores the need for advanced systems to detect these threats."

The research, which is presented in the Honeywell Industrial USB Threat Report, recommends that operators combine people training, process changes, and technical solutions to reduce the risk of USB threats across industrial facilities.


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TechnipFMC awarded major contract for MIDOR refinery project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TechnipFMC has signed a major Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract by Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) for the modernization and expansion of their existing complex near Alexandria, Egypt, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This EPC contract covers the debottlenecking of existing units as well as the delivery of new units including a Crude Distillation Unit, a Vacuum Distillation Unit, a hydrogen production facility based on our steam reforming technology, as well as various process units, interconnecting, offsites and utilities.

Starting in 2022, the modernized complex will exclusively produce Euro V products, with a 60% increase in the refinery’s original capacity to 160,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

Nello Uccelletti, President of TechnipFMC’s Onshore/Offshore business, stated: "This award demonstrates our long-standing relationship with MIDOR which started in 2001, with the delivery of their grassroot refinery. Over the years, we have supported our client with studies and engineering services. In 2015, we finalized a joint agreement with SACE to ensure an export credit facility to support a major expansion and modernization project, while carrying out early works including FEED and open book estimate. We are proud to support our client MIDOR in improving the production quality of their refinery, considered the most advanced of the Mediterranean region and African continent."

The company is working with MIDOR to complete the remaining conditions precedent to enable project work to commence. The Company will include the contract award in its inbound when all the requirements are fulfilled. Moreover, in the spirit of cooperation with the Egyptian government, TechnipFMC has also been awarded a contract for the basic design of the Assiut refinery Hydrocracker complex.
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Japan Osaka Gas looks to Southeast Asia for LNG business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Osaka Gas Co Ltd is considering expanding its Southeast Asia operations, a top executive said, tapping a region where natural gas demand is booming but domestic reserves are dwindling fast, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Osaka Gas, one of the world's biggest gas utilities and importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is increasingly turning abroad as it faces faltering demand at home due to a mature market and shrinking population. One opportunity is Vietnam, Kazuhisa Yano, Executive Chairman and Chief Asia Representative of Osaka Gas, told the Reuters Commodity Summit interview series.

Vietnam is one of Asia's fastest-expanding energy markets due to a large population and sharp economic growth, but reserves at its existing oil and gas fields are declining fast. "We will ... study Vietnam's gas market," Yano said on Tuesday, talking to Reuters while attending an industry conference in Singapore.

"There are several industry parks in Vietnam, and (there is) demand for gas for such kinds of industrial (purposes)." Vietnam does not currently import any LNG, but is planning to start in coming years, like other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said this week that Southeast Asia is at the heart of future LNG demand growth, which it expects to increase by a third globally to 500 billion cubic metres (370 million tonnes) by 2023.

While Osaka Gas reviews Vietnam as a potential market, it will also look into expanding its current operations in the region.

The firm already has subsidiaries for operations such as sales and trading in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, Yano said. Like Vietnam, domestic gas reserves are running out in the Philippines, and LNG will soon be needed to meet demand from new power generation projects.

Yano said Osaka Gas was considering entering that market as a supplier.
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Sonatrach to use Honeywell tech to produce clean fuels

МОSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Sonatrach S.p.A. will use a suite of Honeywell UOP technologies to produce 200,000 metric tons per year of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a high-octane gasoline additive that reduces emissions in automobile exhaust, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Honeywell will provide technology licensing, design services, key equipment and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents for the project at Sonatrach’s refinery in Arzew, Algeria.

"With these technologies, Sonatrach can supply MTBE to the region’s refineries to produce fuels that meet increasingly strict specifications, including Euro V,” said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Process Technology & Equipment business. “As a single licensor of all technologies in the process, Honeywell UOP can provide Sonatrach the greatest value in the shortest timeframe to commissioning."

MTBE is produced from a chemical reaction between methanol, which typically is derived from natural gas, and isobutylene, which is derived from butane obtained from crude oil or natural gas. Due to its high octane number, it is an effective anti-knocking fuel additive to produce cleaner-burning gasoline.

Included in the technology package is UOP’s Butamer™ technology, which isomerizes normal butane into isobutane. UOP has more than 85 Butamer units currently in operation worldwide.

The package also includes a UOP C4 Oleflex™ unit to dehydrogenate isobutane into isobutylene. C4 Oleflex features low energy consumption, low emissions and a fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system which minimizes environmental impact. This results in a lower cash cost of production, and higher return on investment than competing technologies. Honeywell UOP has been awarded 55 dehydrogenation projects since 2011.

The contract also includes a UOP Ethermax™ unit that converts isobutylene and methanol into a high-octane MTBE blending agent that contains no benzene or aromatics. The Ethermax technology delivers a high MTBE yield and is currently used in 44 units worldwide.

Sonatrach is the largest company in Algeria, employing 120,000 people and accounting for almost one-third of Algeria’s gross national product. Sonatrach operates the Hassi Messaoud oil field, the largest in Algeria, in addition to several other fields.
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President-elect Lopez Obrador slams Mexico's Pemex for crude import plan

MOSCOW (MRC) - Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized state-run Pemex’s plan to import U.S. light crude from refiner Phillips 66, calling it a sign of the country’s failed economic policies, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Pemex is set to begin crude imports in November, for the first time in over a decade. It needs them to feed Mexico’s main refinery, which is working below capacity due to a lack of light oil.

The purchase of 1.4 million barrels of U.S. Bakken crude will follow a tender awarded earlier this week to Phillips 66. Up to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude imports are planned for the last quarter of 2018.

“This announcement ... is another example of the great failure of neo-liberal economic policies in the last 30 years,” Lopez Obrador said on Twitter. Once he takes power in December, Lopez Obrador could force Pemex to halt the imports, which would likely impact domestic refining and boost the need for other kinds of imported fuel.

The issue has divided opinion among his allies. One of his economic advisers, Abel Hibert, said earlier this month that crude imports could continue as a way to increase processing levels at Mexico’s refineries, even after Lopez Obrador takes office.

“I think Pemex has good reason to do it due to current market conditions,” he told local media. Mexico’s light crude output has declined faster than expected this year, hit by operational problems at the Xanab oilfield.

Pemex chief executive Carlos Trevino has said the company’s goal of producing 1.95 million bpd of crude this year will not be met, and that the 2019 target is also likely to be missed. If Pemex does not start crude imports for its refining network, purchases of finished fuel, especially gasoline, would grow again to satisfy Mexico’s consumption of about 1.5 million bpd, analysts have said.

Lopez Obrador’s main plan for the oil industry involves building a new mid-size refinery to boost fuel production while reducing crude exports with the final goal of halting them.

He has criticized his predecessor’s opening of the oil and gas industry to foreign investment but has not given details of how he would reverse the country’s dwindling crude production.
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