Blaze at HollyFrontier refinery extinguished

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire at HollyFrontier Corp’s 39,330 barrel-per-day (bpd) Woods Cross, Utah, refinery was extinguished by noon MST(1900 GMT), reported Reuters with reference to the South Davis Metro Fire Department's online statement.

HollyFrontier spokesman Craig Biery said all employees and contractors were accounted for and safe at the refinery 10 miles (16 km) north of Salt Lake City.

Biery said the company does not expect a material impact to operations at the refinery from the fire, which started around 10 a.m. MST in the 8,000-bpd reformer unit.

"Our Emergency Response Team immediately responded and worked to contain the fire," Biery said. "South Davis Metro Fire also staged their equipment as a safeguard."

No evacuations of nearby residences or businesses were required, the fire department said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SemGroup Corporation and KKR announced they have formed a joint venture to create a Canadian midstream infrastructure platform, SemCAMS Midstream ULC (SemCAMS Midstream), said the company.

The companies also announced that SemCAMS Midstream has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Meritage Midstream ULC and its midstream infrastructure assets for CD600 million (USD449 million).

Under the terms of the joint venture, SemGroup will contribute the shares and assets of its Canadian subsidiary, SemCAMS, valued at CD1.15 billion (USD860 million), in exchange for CD615 million (USD460 million) cash proceeds and 51% common equity ownership in SemCAMS Midstream. KKR will contribute CD515 million (USD385 million) of cash in exchange for 49% of the common equity ownership. KKR will also contribute CD300 million (USD224 million) to acquire perpetual preferred equity. In addition, the joint venture will enter into a CD800 million (USD598 million) underwritten bank credit facility.

The transactions create a well-capitalized Canadian growth platform and expand SemGroup’s Montney footprint while deleveraging and strengthening its capital position. The joint venture positions SemCAMS Midstream for future growth opportunities.

Carlin G. Conner, Chief Executive Officer of SemGroup, said, “This transaction captures an attractive valuation for our SemCAMS business and accelerates our Canadian strategy in one of North America's premier energy basins. The acquisition of Meritage enables SemCAMS Midstream to expand and optimize its portfolio of assets, broaden its service offerings and create a more attractive Canadian growth platform. In addition, it delivers on our commitment to strengthen our balance sheet. We are pleased to partner with KKR, an industry-leading investor with extensive experience in the energy sector."

Brandon Freiman, Member and Head of North American Infrastructure at KKR, said, "We have been an active investor in the Canadian energy space for the last decade and are big believers in the Montney as a growing, low-cost natural gas play that is relevant on a global scale. The combination of the highly complementary SemCAMS and Meritage businesses creates a leading midstream platform in the core of the Alberta Montney that is well-positioned to serve its growing infrastructure needs. We are thrilled to be partnering with SemGroup and the SemCAMS management team to build a nimble, well capitalized, customer-focused midstream business together in Western Canada in the coming years."

Dave Gosse, President of SemCAMS Midstream, added, “Combining the SemCAMS and Meritage portfolios will diversify our customer base and broaden our service offerings to include oil batteries and liquids processing, while considerably expanding our gas processing capacity. Our contiguous asset mix, geographic proximity and operational leverage will allow us to optimize our system while creating increased reliability. This acquisition complements our competitive advantages, including our unique, flexible assets that now include additional infrastructure in a top quartile producing basin. Partnering with KKR will further enhance our ability to execute on our growth strategy and our focus on being the midstream provider of choice for area producers."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, announced that it reduced its stake in the Netherlands-based Stahl group by 25 % from 19.7 % to 14.8 %, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Clariant will remain invested in the company as a financial investor.

Stahl is a producer of high-quality chemicals, dyes, and coatings for leather and other applications and has about 2 000 employees. In 2014 Clariant sold its Leather Service business to the Stahl group for cash consideration and a 24 % stake in the acquiring group.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group (SNCG), a subsidiary of Shenhua Group, one of the largest petrochemical producers in China, has restarted its No. 6 polypropylene (PP) unit following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source China informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on Janaury 5, 2019. The unit was shut owing to technical glitch on December 24, 2018.

Located at Ningxia province of China, the No. 6 PP unit has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, SNCG shut one of its two PP units for a maintenance turnaround on August 2, 2018. The unit restarted in mid-August, 2018. Located at Ningxia province of China, the PP plant comprising of two units have a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year each.

Phase I project has four PP plants - two 200,000 tonne/year units and two 300,000 tonne/year units.

Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group Co., Ltd. engages in coal mining and washing, coal deep processing, coal chemical industry, electric power, real estate, and other businesses.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge (part of Borealis) has taken off-stream its No. 3 cracker for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source based in the Middle East informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at its cracker on January 5, 2019. The cracker is likely to remain shut for a period of around 6-7 weeks.

Located at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi in UAE, the No.3 cracker has a production capacity of 1.5 mmt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in early March 2018, Polyolefins Borougetook a planned shutdown at its No.2 cracker in Ruwais. The cracker remained under maintenance for around 5 weeks. Located at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi in UAE, the No.2 cracker has a production capacity of 1.5 mmt/year.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
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