Honeywell cybersecurity software to protect and optimize operations at Kuwait’s Al Zour Complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell and Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) have extended their strategic collaboration, signing a five-year, multi-million dollar contract for services to protect, maintain and optimize operations at the Al Zour refinery and liquefied natural gas import (LNGI) terminal in southern Kuwait, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract will see the deployment of Honeywell Forge, an advanced Enterprise Performance Management software platform with robust cybersecurity capabilities that simplify, strengthen and scale industrial cybersecurity operations. The implementation will bolster network and endpoint security at KIPIC’s new 615,000 barrel per day crude refining plant and three trillion British thermal unit per day LNG import facility. Honeywell Assurance 360, an outcome-based, performance-focused service management program, will also be implemented at the sites.

“Ensuring the highest levels of cybersecurity and operational excellence remains a top priority for KIPIC,” said Hatem Al-Awadi, acting chief executive officer, KIPIC. “We are building one of the largest integrated refining facilities in the world and selected Honeywell in view of their world-class cybersecurity credentials and expertise in implementing robust lifecycle management plans for critical infrastructure in the energy sector.”

To better secure critical operational technology (OT) assets and operations from evolving cybersecurity threats, KIPIC will use Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity Software to safeguard cybersecurity performance and increase the visibility of vulnerabilities, mitigate risks, and improve cybersecurity compliance and management efficiency. This will include the creation of cybersecurity policies and procedures, audits and assessments of enterprise processes and assets, and training programs to help ensure 360-degree cybersecurity protection.

Under the terms of the Assurance 360 service agreement, Honeywell will work with KIPIC to maintain, support and optimize the performance of its facilities while maximizing uptime and reducing operating costs. The multi-year strategic agreement will help ensure automation assets are kept secure and reliable, while providing KIPIC with predictive maintenance and performance insights designed to help meet and exceed production goals and manage total cost of ownership.

“Honeywell has been supplying technologies to support the global oil and gas industry for over 100 years, and we are committed to helping our customers maintain leadership positions in the field through world-class digital technologies and software solutions,” said Que Dallara, president and CEO, Honeywell Connected Enterprise. “We are immensely proud of our long-standing relationship with KIPIC and will work closely with them to reduce unplanned maintenance while increasing the reliability, uptime and safety of their operations.”

In 2019, KIPIC selected Honeywell to be the main automation contractor for its Petrochemicals and Refinery Integration Al Zour Project (PRIZe). Under the agreement, Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is providing KIPIC with front-end engineering design and advanced process control technology for the complex, which will help KIPIC expedite production start-up and assist in reaching production targets faster and more efficiently. Also last year, KIPIC selected Honeywell UOP for the reconfiguration of refining and petrochemicals sections of PRIZe to increase the plant’s output capacity of fuels and petrochemicals.

Honeywell has been in Kuwait for more than 50 years, and supports the country’s energy industry with cutting-edge technologies, efficient business solutions and local training initiatives. The company is the first to build “Made in Kuwait” solutions to power digital transformation across the country’s growing oil, gas and petrochemical sectors.

As MRC informed previously, in February 2020, Qatargas signed an agreement with Shell to deliver 1 million mt/year of LNG to Kuwait for 15 years, starting this year. The LNG will come from Qatar Liquefied Gas Co. 4, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (70%) and Shell (30%), Qatargas said Sunday in a statement.

We also remind that in March 2019, Mammoet safely completed a critical lift at Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals Project in Potter Township, utilizing its MSG80 to hoist a 2,000 ton quench tower into position. The facility is the first major US project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the facility will boast an ethane cracker and three polyethylene units, and is expected to employ up to 600 employees.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc restarted the reformer and hydrocracker at its 227,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said, said Reuters.

The 40,000-bpd reformer restarted on Sunday after a month-long overhaul, the sources said. The 40,000-bpd hydrocracker restarted on Monday after tripping out of operation due to a brief furnace malfunction.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith declined comment.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2020, CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co. Ltd (CNOOC), Shell Nanhai B.V (Shell) and the Huizhou Government have announced a strategic cooperation agreement to further expand the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company (CSPC) 50:50 joint venture in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

The expansion is planned to serve the growing number of intermediate and performance chemicals customers in the key market of China, supplying products including SMPO, polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). These chemicals are used in a wide range of end products, in healthcare, construction, fabrics, packaging, transport and electronics. For the first time in Asia, Shell would apply its advanced technology for linear alpha olefins. The project is intended to include construction of a new 1.5 million-tonnes-per-year ethylene cracker, with the mega-site bringing economies of scale and enhanced competitiveness.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem; The Woodlands, Texas) says it will take longer than originally planned to make a final investment decision (FID) on the USGC II Petrochemicals Project, an $8-billion joint venture with Qatar Petroleum (QP; Doha, Qatar), said Chemweek.

The company cites uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Front-end engineering and design (FEED) of the project continues. "As with other capital-intensive activities, we are closely monitoring economic developments and moderating timing to preserve optionality on this project,” says a statement from CPChem. “In light of uncertainty created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, our company intends to defer a final investment decision while it revisits market conditions and project fundamentals." The company says it has not set a new date for FID.

Orange, Texas, where CPChem already has two high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plants, remains the preferred location for the project, says the company. According to a local newspaper, the Beaumont Enterprise, Orange County authorities have approved a 10-year, 100% tax break for the project that must enter effect no later than 1 January 2024.

CPChem and QP announced the USGC II Petrochemicals Project in July 2019. At the time, they expected FID by 2021 and completion in 2024.

CPChem would hold a 51% share, provide project management and oversight, and be responsible for the operation and management of the facility. Centered on a 2 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) ethylene plant, the project would also include two downstream 1 MMt/y HDPE plants.

As MRC informed earlier, Chevron-led consortium that operates Kazakhstan's largest oil field, Tengiz, is imposing production cuts in line with government legislation covering May-June and is not yet aware of additional restrictions for July. In production since 1993, Tengiz is the mainstay of Kazakhstan's crude production and the CPC export blend loaded on the Black Sea coast. It accounts for 40% of Kazakh oil production, with output of 667,000 b/d in the first quarter. A major coronavirus outbreak at the site by the Caspian Sea has disrupted a USD46.5-billion expansion project expected to lift output to 900,000 b/d in 2023.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude-to-chemicals is “very important” to Saudi Aramco, with the company’s recently completed acquisition of Sabic “ideal,” according to Aramco’s president and CEO Amin Nasser, reported Chemweek.

Speaking exclusively to IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin in the latest CERAWeek Conversations, Nasser also says he believes “the worst is behind us” in terms of oil markets, and that he is “very optimistic” about already-recovering demand for the second half of 2020.

Aramco completed its USD69.1-billion purchase of a 70% stake in Sabic, the world’s fourth-largest petrochemicals company, on 17 June. Describing Sabic as a leading global company for petrochemicals, Nasser says Aramco’s “aspiration from the beginning” was that it needed to be a leading energy and petchems company. “We have a leading position when it comes to upstream and refining. We needed to integrate further our refinery with petrochemical; in addition, we are looking at crude-to-chemicals. We could not do all of these aspirations in terms of adding value, extracting more value from our barrels, without a big acquisition.”

Sabic was ideal, he says. “It’s run based on best-in-class when it comes to operations. It works in more than 50 countries. There’s a lot of synergy with Saudi Aramco; we operate also in similar markets. There’s a lot of value that can be extracted by acquiring a significant position in Sabic,” he says. “I’m sure we can achieve our goals of adding value to our shareholders, both shareholders in Sabic and Saudi Aramco, by turning our feedstock to petrochemicals and adding value. Crude-to-chemicals is very important to Aramco.”

Crude-to-chemicals was part of Aramco’s strategy in acquiring Sabic, according to Nasser. “The highest sector in terms of use of oil demand up to 2040 is chemicals. Climate change and reducing carbon footprints and identifying new usage for oil is a focus area for Saudi Aramco going forward,” he says.

Climate change and sustainability are two of Aramco’s highest priorities, although oil and gas will continue to be a strong part of the worldwide energy mix in the long term, Nasser says. “Climate change is a priority. You see it in a lot of our centers, in addition to discovery and recovery, and improving our cost. Climate change, carbon capture and sequestration, turning CO2 into useful products, the use of hydrogen from crude oil or from gas, ultra-clean engine fuel systems,” he says.

Discussing the near-term outlook for oil markets, Nasser says worldwide crude demand has recovered to close to 90 million b/d, up from 75-80 million b/d in April. Looking forward, demand by the end of the year will be 95–97 million b/d, according to various forecasts, he notes. “We see it in China today - it’s almost at 90%. In gasoline it’s around 95% in China. Gasoline and diesel are picking up to pre-COVID-19 levels. Jet fuel is still lagging in terms of less air travel. More countries will start opening up. So, we see that reflected in the demand on crude,” he says.

The demand forecasts for the end of the year “all depend on whether there will be a second wave of coronavirus or not,” Nasser says. “But I am also not as concerned about a second wave because I think we are much better prepared now. All countries, all medical establishments are much better prepared. We learned a lot during the first wave.” More than half of Aramco’s office workers worked from home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while all the company’s fields and plants ran smoothly with “very high reliability,” he adds. “When it comes to field presence, everybody was working, especially in remote areas and offshore sites. We were able to manage the situation very well by putting all the precautions necessary to maintain their safety and health while maintaining our operational resilience during this time.”

This period also included the ramping up by Aramco of its production from 9.7 million b/d to 12 million b/d in just 20 days, before reducing it to 7.5 million b/d, Nasser says.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran has slashed crude oil production to its lowest level in four decades as storage tanks and vessels are almost completely full due to a fall in exports and refinery run cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Total onshore crude stocks surged to 54 million barrels in April from 15 million barrels in January, and swelled further to 63 million barrels in June, according to FGE Energy. Market intelligence firm Kpler estimated Iranian average onshore crude storage for June to be around 66 million barrels.

That is around 85% of available onshore storage capacity. “However, it will technically not be possible to fill tanks to 100% given technical constraints at storage tanks and potential infrastructure bottlenecks,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior analyst at Kpler.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have ratcheted up since 2018, when the United States withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six major powers and President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran, hammering vital oil exports. Iran’s floating storage is also filling up. Shipping sources said Iran was estimated to be using in the region of 30 tankers to store oil – most of them supertankers, each of which can carry a maximum of 2 million barrels of oil.

This would equate to over 50 million barrels of oil being stored, which has been static for some months. This is likely to be a combination of crude and condensate, a very light grade of crude, the sources said. Refinitiv data showed a maximum of 56.4 million barrels were being held in floating storage by July 3.

Iran’s fleet of crude oil tankers numbers 54 vessels, data from valuations specialist VesselsValue showed. “Iran storage is expected to continue as we do not see these vessels being able to trade anytime soon,” a spokesman for shipping group NORDEN said.

“The exact number of Iranian vessels on floating storage is a bit of a black box as they have all turned off their AIS signals,” he said, referring to a vessel’s tracking transponder.

As MRC informed earlier, Iran's petrochemical products will reach 100 million tons by the end of 2021.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC