ADNOC Ruwais Refinery West Cracker shut for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said its Ruwais Refinery West Cracker is offline for maintenance, reported Reuters.

"The Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) at Ruwais Refinery West is undergoing maintenance and is currently offline," a spokesman said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

"We don’t anticipate any interruptions to supply for the local or international market," he added.

ADNOC has sold up to 320,000 tonnes of straight-run fuel oil (SRFO) for export in July from Ruwais, four trade sources said.

SRFO is a residual oil left after initial crude refining and is further processed in residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) units to produce higher-value products such as gasoline and diesel fuel.

In 2017 and 2018, ADNOC exported about four to five cargoes of 80,000-90,000 tonnes of SRFO from Ruwais on a monthly basis after a fire damaged a 127,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) RFCC at its Ruwais refinery.

As MRC wrote before, a USD3.1 billion project to introduce crude processing flexibility, at ADNOC owned Ruwais oil refinery, was announced in February 2018. Known as the Crude Flexibility Project (CFP), the announcement was another significant step forward as ADNOC accelerates delivery of its Downstream refining strategy that aims to enhance margins by introducing asset flexibility, backed by strong crude and product marketing initiatives.
MRC

Output of products from polymers in Russia up 1.3% in H1 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of products from polymers decreased inJune by 5.6% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.3% year on year in the first six months of 2019, reported MRC analysts.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, June production of unreinforced and non-combined films was 100,200 tonnes, compared to 96,700 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-June 2019 by 7.7% year on year to 551,800 tonnes.

Last month's production of non-porous boards, sheets and films rose to 34,100 tonnes from 33,000 tonnes in May. Thus, overall output of these products reached 185,200 tonnes over the stated period, up by 13.4% year on year.

June production of porous boards, sheets and films was 22,800 tonnes, compared to 21,200 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of these products reached 124,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2019, compared to 136,800 tonnes a year earlier.

June production of plastic bottles and flasks grew to 1,858,000 items from 1,809,000 items a month earlier. Overall output of these plastic products totalled 10,400,000 units in January-June 2019, compared to 10,300,000 units a year earlier.

Last month's production of polymer pipes, hoses and fittings was 58,300 tonnes versus 50,800 tonnes in May. Overall output of these products was 372,600 tonnes in the first six months of 2019, up by 1% year on year.

June production of sacks and bags from ethylene polymers reached 2,100,000,000 units, compared to 1,901,000,000 units a month earlier. Overall output of these plastic products totalled 11,955,000,000 units over the stated period, compared to 12,964,000,000 units a year earlier.

Last month's production of plastic windows and windowsills was 2,170,000 sq metres and 82,800 sq metres, respectively, versus 1,880,000 sq metres and 78,100 sq metres a month earlier. January-June overall output of these products was 9,880,000 sq metres and 427,300 sq metres versus 9,850,000 sq metres and 472,400 sq metres, respectively, a year earlier.
MRC

Emerson drives 60% production increase at Bharat Petroleum Corporation refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Emerson, a global technology and engineering company has announced the completion of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) Kochi Refinery upgrade, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Throughout the project, Emerson provided engineering and project management services as well as automation technologies that helped BPCL in its goal of increasing the production capacity from 9.5 million to 15.5 million metric tonnes per annum.

BPCL leveraged Emerson's deep refining expertise and Plantweb digital ecosystem-a scalable portfolio of technologies, software and services to enable digital transformation-to modernize plant operations for greater production and continuous, safe operations. The project is among the largest installations of Emerson control systems and wireless sensing in the world and will provide operators advanced insight into refinery processes and performance.

Ashok Simon, Former General Manager - Projects, BPCL Kochi said, "Emerson's large project management and engineering teams put in tremendous efforts in helping us complete the commissioning of all nine process units and achieve significant milestones in record time. The highlight of this extraordinary collaboration was the development of sequential logic for the PRU reactors beds (PFCCU), and its flawless operation to much critical acclaim from even our process licensor."

The refinery located in Kerala and part of BPCL's Integrated Refinery Expansion Project, utilizes Emerson's wireless sensing technology. Critical information is communicated from the refinery's nine process units to the plant's DeltaV™ integrated control and safety systems, which the personnel monitor via centralized command centre and control room. Emerson's Ovation™ control system helps BPCL manage the refinery's electrical load to optimize operational efficiency and safety.

"The success of the BPCL project demonstrates the value advanced digital automation technologies can bring to the Indian refining sector," said Anil Bhatia, Vice President and Managing Director for Emerson's Automation Solutions business in India. "This critical foundation of process control will help improve production, operational efficiency and safety and prepare BPCL for the next steps in its digital transformation journey."

As MRC informed before, in early November 2017, BPCL ramped up the operating rate of its Kochi oil refinery after completing an expansion at the plant in southern India, reported Reuters then with reference to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The refinery was running then at about 13 MMtpy, or about 260,000 bpd, up from its original capacity of 9.5 MMtpy, one of the sources said. BPCL planed to gradually ramp up Kochi to its new capacity of 15.5 MMtpy, he added, without giving a timeline.
MRC

Curacao to choose new refinery operating partner

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Curacao will start evaluating up to 10 proposals from energy firms interested in becoming a partner in the Caribbean nation’s 335,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery, according to a statement by the government owned Refineria di Korsou, reported Reuters.

The company said it has signed non-disclosure agreements with 12 companies, which it did not name, and expects to reach an agreement with a potential partner by November.

The Isla refinery, operated by Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA under a contract that will expire at the end of 2019, has been largely idled this year due to lack of crude following US sanctions on PDVSA.

As MRC informed before, in May 2019, Curacao’s state-owned Isla oil refinery received an exemption from US sanctions on PDVSA, the Caribbean island’s government said in a statement. The US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on PDVSA in late January in a bid to force out socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has overseen a collapse in the OPEC member nation’s economy. The license for the refinery, along with two other related companies, will allow the facility to continue to do business with US companies through Jan. 15, 2020.
MRC

Chinese WEPEC refinery to send 900,000 barrels of gasoline to Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s West Pacific Petrochemical Corp, or WEPEC, is set to export 900,000 barrels of gasoline to Mexico this month amid a swelling glut of the motor fuel at home, reported Reuters with reference to sources.

The three 300,000-barrel cargoes will make up WEPEC’s biggest monthly shipment to the Latin American country, said the source, who asked not to be named.

The 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dalian-based refinery, one of China’s main export-focused refineries, first sent gasoline to Mexico in the second-half of 2018 as it looked for markets beyond Asian oil hub Singapore, its traditional export destination.

The lower-grade export fuel, which has an octane number of 91, is produced by blending lower-grade gasoline with naphtha, said the source, without giving further details.

Mexico has become increasingly dependent on fuel imports, mainly from the United States, due to a fall in domestic output because of longstanding refinery problems, forcing state-run Pemex to import nearly 600,000 bpd of fuel last year.

The WEPEC refinery, operated by state oil and gas major PetroChina, is one of China’s largest gasoline exporters with monthly overseas shipments estimated at some 1.3 million barrels, said the source.

PetroChina did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China is facing a growing overhang of refined oil products after the start-up of two new mega plants coincided with a slowdown in domestic demand, forcing some refineries to scale back output.

As MRC wrote before, in H1 June 2019. PetroChina launched its Huabei refinery’s expanded 10 million tons crude processing capacity after it passed preliminary testing.
MRC