PetroChina’s Dagang refinery commissions new alkylation unit using Ionikylation Technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina Dagang Petrochemical Company successfully commissioned a 150,000 tpy Ionikylation unit for the production of high octane alkylate. Start-up activities were completed on August 14, 2022, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Dagang alkylation unit is the third Ionikylation unit in PetroChina’s portfolio and the seventh commercial Ionikylation project to date.

The Dagang refinery has an annual crude processing capacity of 5,000,000 tpy and it produces 1,500,000 tpy of gasoline. According to PetroChina, Ionikylation was selected for its proven ability to achieve quality and efficiency of alkylate production, enabling the company to meet National VI gasoline specification requirements while improving its environmental and operational safety profile. Alkylate RON from the newly commissioned unit is reported at 98.

The Dagang Ionikylation unit occupies a plot space of 159m x 71m and is located at the site of a previously dismantled catalytic reforming unit. The total cost for the project was reported as ?330 MM RMB.

Ionikylation is the leading ionic liquids-based alkylation technology for the production of high octane alkylate that is free from sulfur, benzene, olefins, and aromatics. The inherently safe and sustainable process allows a refiner to transition away from using hazardous and corrosive acid catalysts and additives. All Ionikylation process equipment is manufactured using carbon steel and the process eliminates the need for costly containment systems for handling hazardous chemicals.

In 2020, Ionikylation achieved an industry milestone as the first ionic liquids-based technology to be used to revamp an existing hydrofluoric acid alkylation unit at Sinopec’s Wuhan refinery. Well Resources Inc. is the global licensor of Ionikylation.

As per MRC, PetroChina Urumqi Petrochemical is planning to revamp and upgrade its refining facilities by adding some new refining as well as petrochemical units. A 450,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP), a 300,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM), a 200,000 tonne/year polystyrene (PS), and a 1.2m tonne/year purified phthalate acid (PTA) unit will be installed as the petrochemical part. The refining part will mainly include a new 1.2m tonne/year solvent deasphalting (SDA), a 2.2m tonne/year fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), and a 1m tonne/year gas fractionation units.The company is seeking environment approval for proceeding the project.
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MOSCOW MRC) - Exports of Mexico's newest crude are ramping up under Italy's Eni as U.S. refiners find it an apt replacement for banned Russian oil and one that complements domestic grades, said Reuters.

The shipments, which started in April according to Refinitiv Eikon data, represent the first crude exports made by an oil company other than state firm Pemex in Mexico's history. Known as Mizton crude, it comes from a cluster of offshore fields where Eni began output after securing a production sharing contract as part of the country's landmark energy reform, a market-opening now largely frozen under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Four vessels chartered by Eni Trading & Shipping have discharged at U.S. ports since April. They have carried a total of about 2.2 MM barrels of the crude, a grade lighter and sweeter than Mexico's flagship Maya crude, to refiners including Marathon Petroleum and PBF Energy , U.S. Customs and Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

A fifth Eni cargo of 525,000 barrels of Mizton on Aframax tanker Nippon Princess is scheduled to discharge this week on the U.S. East coast, according to the tracking. The cargo was purchased by PBF Energy, an industry source said. Pemex, Eni and PBF Energy did not respond to requests for comment.

Marathon Petroleum declined to comment on its crude sourcing, saying the information was proprietary. More deals for Mizton crude are expected in the coming months, including the first cargo entitled to Mexico as its share of output. It will be marketed by Pemex's commercial unit PMI, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Mizton is similar in quality to other U.S. Gulf grades used by coast refiners, and a good replacement of Russia's flagship Urals crude, said Rohit Rathod, senior oil analyst at energy data firm Vortexa. Russian oil, which accounted for about 3% of total U.S. crude imports last year, was banned in April as part of U.S. sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The new Mexican crude comes from the Mizton field, part of the Mizton-Amoca-Tecoalli cluster in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Eni estimates the fields hold about 2.1 B barrels of oil and gas. The Miamte floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, which can handle up to 90,000 barrels per day of output, began pumping the oil in February.

We remind, Eni believes it will be able to completely replace Russian gas imports by 2025 as uncertainty over Moscow's energy supplies to Europe forces countries to seek alternative sources. After signing new gas supply agreements with Algeria, Egypt and Congo earlier this year, Eni sees additional opportunities arising in other countries including Libya, Angola, Mozambique, and Indonesia, as well as in its home country.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- TruStyrenyx combines Agilyx’s pyrolysis process and Technip Energies purification technology, yielding a recycled styrene monomer with exceptional high purity, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Styrene monomer is used to make numerous plastics and other polymers. It is one of the three primary components of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), can make the pure polymer polystyrene, and is an ingredient in various synthetic rubbers.

This launch follows successful results from pilot plant testing conducted on difficult to recycle waste polystyrene, including flame retardant laden waste polystyrene. Recycled styrene monomer from the pilot plant meets American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for styrene monomer and is greater than 99.8 wt% purity. Flame retardants contain halogens, which are known to be difficult impurities for current polymer production processes. The pilot plant has successfully shown that the resulting halogen concentration in the styrene monomer product is below available detection limits.

Technip Energies and Agilyx announced their partnership in June 2021, leveraging Agilyx conversion technology and Technip Energies purification process.

Bhaskar Patel, SVP of Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity at Technip Energies, said: “We are pleased with the results of our pilot plant testing in our R&D facility in Weymouth, Massachusetts. This marks an important step in our development of circular solutions for styrenics technologies, and our relationship with Agilyx. Our joint innovative solution, TruStyrenyx, for the chemical recycling of polystyrene offers potential clients a feasible way to make polymer products from recycled sources without compromising product integrity."

Chris Faulkner, Ph.D, Chief Technology Officer at Agilyx, said: “This technology collaboration is completely new to the marketplace, offering an all-in-one solution for the chemical recycling of Polystyrene. The high purity of the recycled styrene monomer from testing proves that TruStyrenyx offers a recycling solution on par with virgin materials."

As per MRC, Technip Energies has been awarded a significant contract by Neste for the expansion of their renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as part of the existing Partnership Agreement between Technip Energies and Neste. The contract covers Engineering, Procurement services and Construction management (EPsCm) for the expansion of Neste’s existing renewables refinery in Rotterdam which will increase Neste’s overall renewable product capacity by 1.3 MMtpy.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The UK imported no crude oil or refined products from Russia in June for the first time on record, according to UK trade data, following phased sanctions on imports of Russian oil over the invasion of Ukraine, said S&P.

As a result of the UK's phase-out of Russian oil and gas imports, there were no flows of refined oil, crude, gas or coal, coke and briquettes from Russia in June, the Office for National Statistics said. The UK government said early March the country would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 and end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas "as soon as possible" thereafter.

Prior to Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, it was the UK's largest supplier of refined oil in 2021, accounting for 24.1% of all imports, also supplying 5.9% of the UK's crude oil imports, and 4.9% of the UK's gas imports. For the 12 months to February 2022, the value of Russian fuel imports had averaged GBP499 million (USD589 million), according to ONS data.

The value of crude imports averaged GBP105 million over the same pre-war period, with gas imports averaging GBP95 million and coal and coke GBP18 million, it said.

While imports of Russian oil are allowed during the sanctions phase-in period, businesses have been encouraged to secure oil from alternative sources. As a result, the UK's imports of refined products from Belgium, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia rose in recent months, according to ONS data.

The US, Norway, Guyana, and Angola were the biggest suppliers of additional crude to the UK in June compared to pre-war levels, the data showed, with a combined additional value of GBP1.04 billion.

For oil products, Saudi Arabia was the biggest additional supplier in June to the UK compared to pre-war levels, with Belgium, the UAE, South Korea, and the Netherlands leading other countries supplying additional imports.

As per MRC, Many global oil traders and banks have stopped dealing with Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a Rosneft affiliate, as they are worried about Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nayara per se has not been sanctioned as part of the international response to what Russia calls its "special military action" against Ukraine but sanctions are in place against Rosneft. The Russian energy giant owns about 49% of Nayara which is India's second-largest private refiner, while Kesani Enterprises Co Ltd, a consortium led by Trafigura Group and Russia's UCP Investment Group, holds 49.13%.
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