Large explosion in CPC Dalin oil refinery, no injuries

An explosion hit Taiwan's state-backed CPC Dalin Refinery in the southern city of Kaohsiung on Thursday night, videos and images from the Fire Department showed with heavy fire seen above the plant, officials said, adding nobody was hurt in the incident, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Fire was seen raging above the plant and thick smoke billowed into the sky above for more than an hour, according to an online video posted on Youtube. Residents from several kilometers away were able to view the explosion.

The fire broke out at 10.35 p.m. local time in Siaogang district. The city's fire department said flames were put out early on Friday and no one was injured or trapped as per an initial investigation.

CPC spokesperson Ray Chang said there was "very limited impact" on the company's output, as it has several other such units in its facilities across the island. "We are moving quickly to look into the cause of the incident and make improvements," Chang said, adding that an initial probe pointed to gas leakage but further checks were needed.

Kaohsiung mayor Che Chi-Mai asked CPC to suspend its operations at the plant until an inspection was completed, adding that labour and environmental authorities have imposed a total fine of T$5.3 MM (USD165,098.75) on the company.

The fire occurred at the resid hydrotreater No. 3 unit, CPC's Chang said. The unit, which has a capacity of 40,000 barrels per day according to Refinitiv Eikon, is used to remove sulfur from oil products. The incident happened during routine maintenance at the plant, the city government said.

We remind, Malaysian state energy firm Petronas said a fire and explosion occurred on Thursday at the Pengerang refinery-petrochemical complex, a joint venture it operates with Saudi Aramco in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. No casualties were reported and the incident poses no immediate threat to the surrounding communities, Petronas said in a statement. The fire occurred at one of the interconnecting pipes at the Pengerang Integrated Complex at 1540 local time and was completely extinguished in about an hour, Petronas said.
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Zeon Corp. has signed an MoU with Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd for the supply of bio-based butadiene to be used in the production solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR), said European-rubber-journal.

The agreement, signed by subsidary Zeon Chemicals Singapore, is part of the group’s carbon-neutrality ambitions and its shift to sustainable raw materials, Zeon said.

Zeon is also in the process of obtaining international certification for biomass-derived raw materials, including bio-based SSBR, according to the group's 25 Oct announcement.

Shell has also entered into an agreement with Asahi Kasei concerning the production of 'circular' SBBR in Singapore, under a deal announced last November.

Under the arrangement, Shell is to convert scrap plastics into pyrolysis oil at its site in Bukom and feed it to a naphtha cracker for the production of butadiene feedstock.

We remind, Neste's Engineering Solutions and CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited (CSPC), an important petrochemicals joint venture in China, have signed an agreement for CSPC to utilize Neste's proprietary NEXPAO technology at its new synthetic base oil production unit in Daya Bay Economic & Technological Development Zone, Huizhou City, China.
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India's largest oil PSU, Indian Oil Corporation reported a net loss of Rs 272.3 crore on Saturday, down from a net loss of Rs 1,992 crore in the June quarter. Analysts in a CNBC-TV18 poll expected the company to report a net loss of Rs 14,476 crore for the July-September period, said Indiainfoline.

The fuel retailing major IOC has used 50 percent of the one time grant of Rs 22,000 crore given by the government to compensate the three government owned oil companies on their LPG under recoveries.

Under recoveries is the gap between the cost and the selling price of fuel. In case the selling price is lower than the cost price, higher is the under recoveries. The grant is a first by the finance ministry as generalised subsidies for cooking gas have stopped and is being targeted only for the Ujjwala consumers.

This has helped the company sharply reduce its quarter on quarter net loss from Rs 1,993 crore during April-June to Rs 272 crore in the July -September quarter. Of course the Indian basket of crude oil too declined during the second quarter, from ГЫВ105.49/bbl in July to ГЫВ90.71/bbl in September.

But the company has still reported a net loss of Rs 2,265 crore for H1 April-September FY23 vs a net profit of Rs 12,300 crore in H1 FY22.

Given the price freeze on petrol and diesel sales since last eight months industry estimates an over one lakh crore under recovery on fuel and LPG , while the actual cash loss to companies is roughly estimated at Rs 50,000 crore.
The Petroleum Ministry said last month “Fuel price rise in India have been contained in comparison to exponential rise in developed countries. Most of the developed nations have witnessed significant inflation rise in gasoline price by almost 40 percent during July 21 to Aug 22, while in India, gasoline price has reduced by 2.1 percent."

We remind, Indian Oil Corporation Limited is expanding the petrochemical capacity of its Gujarat refinery (LuPech Project). Nuberg EPC, the leading Indian Global EPC and turnkey project management company today announced that it has been selected by Indian Oil for the construction of Rs 650+ crore Sulfur Recovery Plant consisting of Sulfur Recovery Unit (1 x 400 TPD) including control room and substation for sulfur block under international competitive bidding. Indian Oil, a Government of India Enterprise, is the country's top refiner and fuel retailer. The Sulphur Recovery Plant is being built with in Indian Oil's existing facility of Vadodra, Gujaratfor Petrochemical and Lube Integration Project.

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Saudi petrochemicals major SABIC posted a 67.1% year-on-year drop in its third quarter net profit on the back of higher costs despite an increase in sales volumes, said Reuters.

The company's third-quarter net income was weighed by higher cost of sales and an increase in selling and distribution costs, SABIC said in a filing to the Saudi bourse, Tadawul on 30 October.

The company said that an impairment provision of SR510m "was recognised in financial assets", without elaborating further.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, SABIC's net profit fell by 76.8% in July-September this year as sales dropped by 16.3% amid lower selling prices.

The average sales prices in the third quarter of 2022 decreased by 15% compared with the second quarter, it said.

Sales volumes also decreased by 1% in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the second quarter.

For the first nine months of this year, SABIC said that the year-on-year drop in its net income was due to the rise in costs and higher feedstock prices, on top of higher selling and distribution costs.

As per MRC, SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, has named Conventus Polymers LLC, as an authorized distributor of high-performance engineering thermoplastics in the US, Canada and Mexico. Conventus Polymers will provide SABIC customers with products from SABIC's Specialities business, including ULTEM resins and LNP compounds, and related services such as application development and customer support.

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Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group’s fibers and products converting company, announced that its core base for polyester fiber manufacturing, Teijin Polyester (Thailand) Limited (TPL), launched a cutting-edge automated facility for the highly efficient production of polyester filaments, said Polymerupdate.

Operation began this month. The new facility is equipped with multi-spindle spinning machines for polyester multifilament yarn and machines capable of adding functional agents. Teijin Frontier invested approximately JPY one billion to construct the facility, which is expected to produce 1,500 tons of polyester filaments annually by the fiscal year ending in March 2024.

The facility will enhance the added value of TPL including through extra-efficient spinning and an automated process for the uniform drying of multifilament. TPL will effectively use the new facility to produce Teijin Frontier’s proprietary polyester filaments for apparel and interior applications, such as the Octa TM highly modified hollow-core fiber and a water-absorbing quick-drying yarn.

Teijin Frontier expects to expand the range and improve the functionality of its ECOPET® recycled polyester fibers by integrating the new facility with a separate facility that started operating at TPL in January to convert used plastic bottle flakes sourced in the Thai market into recycled polyester chips. The new facility accommodates various special polymers and recycled raw materials and additionally can add functional agents to raw yarn for the production of new types of functional polyester filaments.

We remind, Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group's fibres and products converting company, has developed an 'eco-friendly' tire cord made from an adhesive that does not contain resorcinol formaldehyde (RF). Designed for rubber reinforcement, the cord also delivers ‘low environmental impact’ through incorporating chemically recycled polyester fibre, said the company in a 12 Sept statement.
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