Nghi Son oil refinery exports first jet fuel cargo

MOSCOW (MRC) - Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery has exported its first batch of jet fuel, the company said, as per Reuters.

The batch of 8,000 cubic metres of jet fuel has been shipped to Singapore, the company said in a statement.

The 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which started commercial production in November, will produce 500,000 cubic metres of jet fuel this year for the domestic market, it added.

Kuwait Petroleum (IPO-KUWP.KW) and Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co own 35.1 percent stake each in the USD9 billion refinery, wile PetroVietnam and Mitsui Chemicals Inc have 25.1 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.
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Husky Energy considering sale of non-core downstream assets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy Inc said it will conduct a strategic review and is considering a sale of its non-core downstream assets, reported Reuters.

The company said the assets would include its Canadian retail and commercial fuels business and its Prince George Refinery.

The move comes as Husky intends to focus on its core assets in Atlantic Canada and the Asia Pacific region.

Chief Executive Officer Rob Peabody said the decision follows the company’s plans to aligns its heavy oil and downstream businesses to form one integrated corridor.

Husky’s retail and commercial network consists of over 500 stations, travel centers, and bulk distribution facilities from British Columbia to New Brunswick.

The company’s Prince George Refinery has a capacity of 12,000 barrel-per day and supplies refined products to retail outlets in the central and northern regions of British Columbia.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company said the potential disposition is being undertaken independently of the outcome of Husky’s proposed acquisition of rival MEG Energy Corp.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2018, Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy Inc said it had made an unsolicited bid to acquire rival MEG Energy Corp in a deal valued at USD5 billion including debt. The combined company would have total production of more than 410,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and refining and upgrading capacity of about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).
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China grants first crude import license to private trading firm

MOSCOW (MRC) - China’s commerce ministry granted a crude oil import license to Zhejiang Wuchan Zhongda Petroleum, a private trading firm based in the Zhoushan free trade zone in eastern China, the ministry said in a statement on its website, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Zhejiang Wuchan Zhongda, a venture between government fund Zhousan Communications Investment Group and Wuchang Zhongda Group, is the first privately owned company to receive a crude import license from the ministry.

The move could be an effort by the Chinese government to support the Shanghai crude futures contract that started up last year and attract institutional investors, according to Zhong Jian, chief analyst with consultancy JLC.

“The approval showed China is further opening up its crude market. More importantly, a trading firm can deliver crude oil to refineries against the Shanghai crude futures contracts,” Zhong said.

Zhejiang Wuchan Zhongda was set up in May 2018 with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan (USD147.97 million), according to a filing from its parent company Wuchan Zhongda Group to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company has not yet been granted a quota from the state planner, which will set the amount the trading firm can buy each year.

China first granted quotas to an independent refiner in July 2015. While the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approves the qualifications, the Ministry of Commerce releases the allowances. The ministry last month issued the first batch of crude oil quotas 58 so-called “non-state trade”, including mostly these independents.

The actual allotments can be lower than the initial NDRC approvals, based on the plants’ import records.

Under rules issued in February 2015 by the NDRC, smaller refiners can gain permission to use imported crude oil if they meet certain environmental conditions, including closing old and polluting refining capacity.
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Exxon Baytown, Texas refinery shuts large CDU for overhaul

MOSCOW (MRC) - Exxon Mobil Corp shut the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 560,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baytown, Texas, refinery for a planned overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations, as per Reuters.

Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Nordin said the Baytown refinery was performing planned maintenance on several units. “This turnaround, the largest maintenance and improvement program in the site’s history, started January 2019 and is expected to last several weeks,” Nordin said.

The 280,300-bpd Pipestill 8 CDU may be shut up to two months for the planned overhaul at the Baytown refinery, which is the nation’s third-largest by capacity, the sources said.

Along with Pipestill 8, Exxon plans to shut a sulfur plant and the 55,000 bpd Gofiner hydrotreater, the sources said.

Pipestill 8 accounts for half of the refining capacity of the Baytown plant. It is the largest of three CDUs doing the primary refining of crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks for all other units at the refinery.

Reformers convert refining byproducts into octane-boosting components of gasoline. Sulfur plants extract sulfur from hydrogen sulfide removed during the production of motor fuels. Hydrotreaters extract hydrogen sulfide during the production of motor fuels in compliance with U.S. environmental rules.
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CSPCL Nanhai, world-scale ethylene cracker, passes performance tests

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TechnipFMC’s technology and design are part of CSPCL’s 1.0 MTPA cracker which has recently passed all performance tests, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The tests confirm that the performance targets for the furnaces and recovery section have been met.

TechnipFMC’s scope included the technology and front-end engineering design for the cracker and the design of the 9 furnaces. This new ethylene cracker will more than double the current production level at the Nanhai petrochemical complex.

The furnaces are designed to crack ethane, Light Naphtha, Heavy Naphtha, Hydrocoked Naphtha and Refinery Dry Gas as well as other feedstocks and to produce polymer grade ethylene and polymer grade propylene which are the basic materials for making ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, propylene oxide and high-quality polyol and polyolefins.

The work was executed by the company’s operating center in Houston, Texas, USA. Houston is also the headquarters for TechnipFMC Process Technology, a global network of centers which look after the company’s expanding portfolio of onshore process technologies in petrochemicals, refining, hydrogen and syngas, polymers, gas monetization and renewables.

The CSPCL Nanhai complex is the largest single-site complex in China. As a 50/50 joint venture between CNOOC and Shell, the complex is the largest Sino-foreign joint venture in history. Located in the Guangdong Province, CSPCL was designed to produce more and better chemical products to help meet the growing domestic demand.

As MRC reported previously, in May 2018, CNOOC and Shell Nanhai B.V. announced the official start-up of the second ethylene cracker at their Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the largest offshore oil & gas producer in China. CNOOC businesses cover the main segments of oil & gas exploration and development, engineering & technical services, refining and marketing, natural gas and power generation, and financial services.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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