GEA supplies compressor packages for refinery application in Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell UOP selected GEA Refrigeration Technologies’ oil & gas team to supply engineered compression packages for a tail gas application at a refinery in Azerbaijan, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Utilizing GEA's most powerful screw compressor, the GEA model XH, the systems are designed for a modernization program at the refinery.

GEA's tail gas packages were selected for the project by Honeywell UOP as part of their Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology to supply high-quality hydrogen for the modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pure hydrogen is essential to the refining process, where it is used to decontaminate oil and facilitate catalytic processes that produce clean-burning fuels, including those that meet Euro V standards for vehicle emissions.

The PSA technology will help Azerbaijan meet the growing domestic demand for transportation fuels that meet the Euro V standards. Hydrogen technology is an important element of modernization program that will help the refinery in Azerbaijan to remain among the most advanced refineries in the region, further improving environmental protection along with the quality of life in Azerbaijan.

The modernization enables the refinery to process 7.5 million metric tons per annum of crude oil blended from local sources. Hydrogen is key in the refining process, being produced as a byproduct of refining and intentionally from a steam methane reformer. Honeywell UOP's PSA technology purifies this hydrogen so it essentially can be recycled into the refinery to remove impurities and to perform catalytic processes that transform crude oil into clean fuels and other products.

The purpose of these tail gas compression units is to receive the tail gas – a gas mixture composition with up to ~70% hydrogen – from the PSA System and keep stable pressure at the PSA discharge. Received gas is compressed up to 6,7 bar(g) and then cooled down to 40°C in the after cooler before it is returned to the customer’s system.

These units are based on an oil-flooded screw compressor and the oil is separated from the tail gas into two oil separators (main and final) in order to deliver the gas with less than 1 ppm of oil content. As an oil-flooded screw compressor, the oil circuit is provided for lubricating the internal part of the screw compressor. The oil circuit comprises two oil pumps (one in standby), a pressure control valve to keep the oil

pressure constant and an electro-pneumatic three-way control valve to maintain the oil flow to the compressor at a fixed temperature. The oil circuit also comprises two oil coolers (one in standby) with a common inlet and outlet line for the cooling water system. The discharged oil at high temperature, recovered in the oil separator, is cooled down by using cooling water as a medium.

All vessels and all heat exchangers are designed and manufactured according to ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and TEMA R (Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association). GEA also provided the personnel protection with rock wool and aluminum and winterization of the entire oil circuit.

As per MRC, Honeywell announced a partnership with Princeps for petroleum refining supply chain solutions. Honeywell’s expertise in oil and gas planning will add Princeps’ petroleum solutions platform to its offerings to provide customers with industry-leading insights in determining the most profitable ways to operate their plants.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2". Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Woodside Petroleum expects strong buyer interest in the sale of a share of a new production unit at its Pluto LNG plant, top executives said on Thursday, a precondition for a planned USD11 B expansion at its Scarborough gas and Pluto project, said Reuters.

The renewed push by Australia's biggest independent gas producer on the 8-MMtpy expansion project comes after last year's COVID-19 induced collapse in oil and gas prices drove its underlying annual profit down 58% to USD447 MM. The result was well short of analysts' forecasts, which sent its shares down as much as 3.7% after the result was released on Thursday.

Woodside is looking to sell a 50% stake in the new production unit, or train, at the Pluto LNG plant in Western Australia, which will be fed with gas from the Scarborough project. Selling a stake would be key to avoiding a capital raising or a credit downgrade.

The company suspended the sale process last year when oil prices slumped but is now optimistic about luring buyers. "We're now sitting in a much more attractive pricing environment," Chief Financial Officer Sherry Duhe told analysts.

"The buyer appetite for infrastructure assets just continues to grow. And so we do believe that there'll be strong interest in that asset," she said. Woodside's other growth project underway is the Sangomar oil development off Senegal, where its partner FAR Ltd has just received a tentative takeover offer from Russia's Lukoil.

Woodside last year pre-empted Lukoil from buying Cairn Energy's stake in Sangomar, as it was concerned the project could then fall foul of U.S. sanctions on Russia. However Chief Executive Peter Coleman said on Thursday there was no concern with Lukoil becoming a partner through a takeover of FAR, as FAR's stake in the Senegal project was below the 33% equity threshold for U.S. sanctions.

Woodside stuck to its forecast for fiscal 2021 output of 90-95 MMb of oil equivalent, lower than its production in 2020. On a statutory basis, Woodside posted an annual loss of USD4.03 B, its first loss in eighteen years, hit by USD4.37 B in asset write-downs it took at the half-year.

As per MRC, Wood has secured a contract valued at over USD120 million with Sinopec Hainan Refining and Chemical Limited Company (Sinopec) to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to expand its refinery development in the Hainan Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in South China. Once completed, the ethylene renovation and expansion project will produce up to one million tonnes of ethylene derivatives and refined oil on an annual basis and is expected to boost economic growth in China’s downstream sector by more than 100 billion yuan (USD14.1 billion). Output from the Hainan FTZ will serve ethylene demand across China and globally.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Encina Development Group (Encina; The Woodlands, Texas) and Flint Hills Resources say they are exploring a collaboration to produce renewable chemicals and fuels from plastic waste, reported Chemweek.

The two have signed a non-binding term sheet that proposes construction of a facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. Flint Hills would market the aromatic products produced at the Encina Corpus Christi facility and work with its affiliates to market renewable aromatic products from other Encina plants in the US.

“Our work with Encina is an exciting addition to our growing portfolio of renewable product and technology investments,” says Francis Murphy, senior vice president/chemicals at Flint Hills. “Renewable aromatics and bioplastics are playing an increasingly import role in the product value chain and reducing environmental impacts while still delivering on all the various products that make modern life possible.”

“Flint Hills Resources is an excellent partner for Encina,” says David Schwedel, executive director at Encina. “They have deep domain industry expertise and an aligned focus on delivering highly-valued and sustainable products to the marketplace.”

In December 2020, Encina and Braskem announced a collaboration for the production of circular propylene from plastic waste.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2019, Motiva Enterprises, the US refining arm of Saudi Aramco, acquired 100% of Flint Hills Resources chemical plant, adjacent to its Port Arthur, Texas, oil refinery. The Flint Hills plant operates a 1.57 billion-pound-per-year ethylene cracker, a unit producing nylon component cyclohexane, and a network of pipelines and storage caverns.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

1. Wood Mackenzie: Energy transition to drive refinery and petrochemicals integration

MOSCOW (MRC) -- 2020 was a difficult year for the world’s refineries as the coronavirus pandemic reduced refinery utilization and OPEC+ supply restraint narrowed crude price differentials, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. Despite this, integrated refinery and petrochemical sites significantly outperformed their fuels-only peers, according to Wood Mackenzie. One of the most highly integrated sites in China, Hengli, generated a net income of more than USD1.4 B during 1Q to 3Q 2020, at a time when most of the refining industry was incurring significant losses. Alan Gelder, Wood Mackenzie VP Refining, Chemicals & Oil Markets, said: “Over the coming years, the energy transition and the associated electrification of the passenger car fleet will slow the pace of global gasoline demand growth and drive it into decline after 2030.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures inched lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Feb. 17, coming under pressure from a stronger US dollar and a technical correction in the overbought oil markets, as well as rising expectations of easing supply curbs from OPEC+ at its March 3 meeting, reported S&P Global.

At 10:37 am Singapore time (0237 GMT), the ICE Brent April contract was down 21 cents/b (0.33%) from the Feb. 16 settle at USD63.14/b, while the March NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 20 cents/b (0.33%) lower at USD59.85b.

The US dollar strengthened on the back of higher US 10-year Treasury bond yields, which jumped amid inflationary expectations as the global economy continues its path of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, causing weakness in oil markets.

"Oil is trading lower via a stronger US dollar, which is gaining a head of steam with US yields ripping higher, and both are stepping up to challenge the bullish reflation momentum," said Stephen Innes, chief global strategist at Axi, in Feb. 17 note.

Technical correction in the oil markets, where speculative trading had caused an extended long position and left the market overdue for a consolidation, also contributed to the decline, according to analysts.

"Given the scale of the rally in oil, the current fall in prices does not reflect the rally losing its steam, but merely a technical correction in an extremely overbought market. Oil can only fall so far, even if the drop in prices is sharp; I expect it to be short-lived," Jeffery Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, told S&P Global Platts Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, severe cold weather in parts of the US, including Texas, continues to disrupt shale oil production and refining activities. However, given the temporary nature of the weather disruption and the offsetting effect of the reduced supply from oil producers and demand from oil refiners in the region, the supply disruptions are no longer providing additional support to oil prices.

Even without the boost from supply disruptions in North America, oil markets are by-and-large well supported, with a strong demand recovery outlook amid the receding pandemic and expectations of additional fiscal relief from the US, along with supply curtailments from OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia's additional 1 million b/d production curbs.

However, analysts cautioned that strong oil prices are heightening the risk of OPEC+ unwinding production cuts at a faster pace, which may reduce the supply tightness that is contributing to the supported market.

"There are suggestions that the group could ease output cuts slightly," ING Economics analysts said in a Feb. 17 note, adding that much also depends on how quickly Saudi Arabia rolls back its voluntary production cuts.

"Strong oil prices increase the possibility of US shale producers ramping up activities, which they can do fairly quickly, taking away some of the market share from OPEC+ producers. As such, the odds of OPEC+ making adjustments production cuts are rising quickly," Halley said.

Market participants will look to the weekly inventory reports by the American Petroleum Institute and the US Energy Information Administration, due later Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 respectively, for fresh pricing cues.

As MRC informed previously, oil producers face an unprecedented challenge to balance supply and demand as factors including the pace and response to COVID-19 vaccines cloud the outlook, according to an official with International Energy Agency's (IEA) statement.

We remind that the COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented decline in demand affecting all sections of the Russian economy, which has impacted the demand for petrochemicals in the short-term. However, the pandemic triggered an increase in the demand for polymers in food packaging, and cleaning and hygiene products, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. With Russian petrochemical companies having the advantage of access to low-cost feedstock, and proximity to demand-rich Asian (primarily China) and European markets for the supply of petrochemical products, these companies appear to be well-positioned to derive full benefits from an improving market environment and global economy post-COVID-19, says GlobalData.

We also remind that in December 2020, Sibur, Gazprom Neft, and Uzbekneftegaz agreed to cooperate on potential investments in Uzbekistan including a major expansion of Uzbekneftegaz’s existing Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (SGCC) and the proposed construction of a new gas chemicals facility. The signed cooperation agreement for the projects includes “the creation of a gas chemical complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology, and the expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex”.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC