Small fire remains a day after major Philadelphia refinery blast

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A small fire was burning at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions plant on Saturday, a day after a massive blaze ripped through the largest oil refinery on the US East Coast, reported Reuters with reference to city officials.

Several explosions sent a huge fireball into the sky in the early morning hours of Friday, engulfing the surrounding areas in smoke after a fire started in a tank at the 335,000 barrel-per-day refining complex, also the oldest in the Northeast.

Four workers were injured, according to a company statement, and treated on-site, while city emergency workers treated one person, who did not need to go to a hospital.

The plant was likely to remain shut for an extended period, according to Philadelphia city officials and company sources.

"A very small fire remains on the unit impacted," the city of Philadelphia said in a statement, citing the company as its source.

"PES continues to work to isolate the remaining line and PFD (Philadelphia Fire Department) emergency responders remain on scene to monitor the area."

The fire department's hazardous materials task force was monitoring air quality every two to three hours, the city said, focusing on the perimeter of the refinery and surrounding neighborhoods.

"As has been the case since Friday morning, the city has no findings that would point to any immediate danger in the surrounding community at this time," the statement said.

PES said on Friday it believed the product that was burning was "mostly propane."

An estimated 300,000 people live within three miles (5 km) of the Philadelphia refinery.
MRC

US refiner Phillips 66 enters offshore oil export race

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil refiner Phillips 66 is proposing a deepwater crude export terminal off the US Gulf Coast, the company said on Wednesday, challenging at least eight other projects aiming to send US shale oil to world markets, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project, called Bluewater Texas Terminal LLC, signals another major expansion of its logistics operations. The fourth-largest US refiner last week formed joint ventures to build pipelines linking shale fields in West Texas and North Dakota to the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil hub and the US Gulf Coast.

Phillips 66 has applied for federal and state permits to build an export port about 20 miles (32 km) off Corpus Christi, Texas, and related crude pipelines, according to documents viewed by Reuters and people familiar with the filings.

The people did not want to be named because the information is not public.

The project, which is being developed with the Port of Corpus Christi, would compete with nearby shale export terminals proposed by investor Carlyle Group and commodities trader Trafigura AG. Its project would be at least the ninth project proposed for the Gulf Coast.

US crude exports hit 3.12 million barrels per day (bpd) this month from zero before the US lifted a ban on exports in late 2015. Shale oil from fields in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and North Dakota is projected to push US output to 12.32 million bpd this year, according to US forecasts.

Phillips 66’s proposed project "would provide an additional safe and environmentally sustainable solution for the export of abundant domestic crude oil supplies from major shale basins to global markets," spokesman Dennis Nuss said.

The offshore port would provide an outlet for oil coming from recently proposed Liberty and Red Oak pipeline joint ventures that start in early 2021. Phillips will operate the USD1.6 billion Liberty pipeline and help finance the USD2.5 billion Red Oak pipeline.

Phillips 66 aims to reinvest 60 percent of its annual cash flow into its business, Chief Executive Greg Garland said on Tuesday during a presentation at a JPMorgan Chase & Co energy conference in New York. He did not mention the project at the conference.

"We’ll do USD1.5 billion to USD2.5 billion of growth investments" and spend a similar amount of cash flow on share buybacks each year, Garland said.

Bluewater Texas Terminal has proposed to run two 30-inch oil pipelines to buoys off San Jose Island in San Patricio County, according to a May 2019 document outlining the project.

The facility could load up to 1.56 million bpd, nearly the capacity of a supertanker. If approved by the U.S. Maritime Administration, U.S. Coast Guard and Texas regulators, operations could begin in mid-2021, said a person familiar with its plans.

Phillips 66 currently owns a 25% stake in Buckeye Partners LP’s South Texas Gateway export terminal, which is under construction in Corpus Christi.

US pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners LP in May had hired RBC Capital Markets LLC to advise on the sale of its 50% stake in a recently completed Corpus Christi oil export terminal, according to a marketing document viewed by Reuters.

As MRC wrote previously, US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.
MRC

Tekni-Plex completes acquisition of three Amcor manufacturing units

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Packaging and tubing supplier Tekni-Plex Inc. has completed its acquisition of three manufacturing facilities from Amcor Flexible Packaging that serve medical device OEMs, said Canplastics.

The acquisitions were first announced in late-April, and the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Located in Madison and Milwaukee, Wis., and Ashland, Mass., the facilities provide a broad portfolio of sterilizable medical device packaging substrates, including coated and uncoated Tyvek, heat-seal and cold-seal coated paper and films, medical-grade laminates, and die-cut lids and labels, Wayne, Pa.-based Tekni-Plex said in a statement.

Combined, the three plants employ approximately 150 workers.

"The acquisition expands our complex packaging solution portfolio for medical device manufacturers, many of whom have been supplied by our Colorite, Natvar and Dunn medical products businesses for decades,” said Paul Young, president and CEO of Tekni-Plex. “The acquisition of these three plants also brings us 150 highly qualified and experienced employees who form the backbone of the business. We are happy to welcome them to the Tekni team of 3,000 strong across the world."

This is the eleventh acquisition Tekni-Plex has made in the past five years, supporting its strategy to grow its business though transformative acquisitions and strategic add-ons, the company said.

As MRC informed earlier, Amcor Ltd. has entered into an agreement to buy an Indonesian flexible packaging business, Jakarta-based Bella Prima Packaging Ltd., for USD25.2 million.

Amcor Limited is an Australian-based multinational packaging company. It operates manufacturing plants in 42 countries. It is the world's largest manufacturer of plastic bottles.
MRC

Qatar teams up with Chevron Phillips for petrochemical project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum has signed an agreement with Chevron Phillips Chemical to build a new petrochemicals complex, part of plans by the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter to broaden its energy interests, said Reuters.

The project highlights how Middle East oil producers are expanding further into petrochemicals, used in the production of plastics and packaging materials, to move into new markets and find new sources of income beyond exporting crude oil and natural gas.

Saudi Arabia’s and UAE’s national oil companies have both already announced plans to boost their refining capacity and petrochemicals operations.

Qatar is one of the most influential players in the LNG market due to its annual production of about 77 million tonnes, which is expected to grow about 43 percent by 2024 from a major expansion to the country’s North Field, the world’s largest natural gas field, which it shares with Iran.

The new petrochemical plant will be built north of Doha in Ras Laffan Industrial City and will come online by 2025 and tap the increased North Field production for feedstock, Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad al-Kaabi told a news conference.


MRC

LG Chem resumes production at Daesan naphtha cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem, a South Korean petrochemical major, has restarted its Deasan cracker following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea, informed that, the company has resumed operations at the cracker on June 18, 2019. The cracker was shut owing to a technical issues on June 8, 2019.

Located at Daesan,South Korea, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 1.27 million mt/year and propylene capacity of 650,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, the company already shut its cracker in Daesan for an unscheduled maintenancethis month - from 2 to 4 June.

We also remind that LG Chem is planning to spend USD2.4-billion to expand its naphtha cracking center (NCC) and polyolefin (PO) plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The project, which will expand the NCC and PO facility by 800,000 t/y each, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC