Uzbekistan MTO GCC names Enter Engineering to lead its project

Uzbekistan MTO GCC names Enter Engineering to lead its project

Uzbekistan’s MTO (Methanol to Olefin) Gas Chemical Complex Central Asia LLC has officially named Enter Engineering Pte Ltd as the EPC contractor for its project, Trend reports via the press service of the company.

The advanced methanol-to-olefin complex will be an anchor enterprise in a newly created Free Economic Zone in Karakul, Bukhara region. GCC MTO is wholly owned by Sanoat Energetika Guruhi LLC, Uzbekistan’s largest private oil and gas producer.

Enter Engineering Pte Ltd is the leading EPC contractor in Uzbekistan with wide experience in heading major industrial and infrastructure projects. The $3-billion contract covers the design, purchase of equipment and construction of facilities, together with essential infrastructure. Completion of the project is expected in late 2025.

Enter Engineering was selected based on its unique expertise and many years of experience in the oil and gas sector and industrial construction in Central Asia. Uzbekistan GTL, Kandym gas processing complex, a fuel filling complex in Tashkent and other landmark projects are among those which have been implemented by the company.

Based on a decision of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the project has been designed in line with international norms and standards. The project is an example of global cooperation between local and foreign specialists using the latest achievements in the oil and gas sector. The list of companies working on the MTO GCC project includes John Wood Group Plc (UK), Topsoe (Denmark), Koch Industries Inc. (US), Chemtex Global Corp. (US), Scientific Design (US), Versalis (Italy), Sinopec (China) and Grace Catalysts Technologies (US).

The MTO gas chemical complex will become the largest enterprise of its type in Central Asia, with a capacity of 730,000 tons per year, which will satisfy the local demand for raw materials for the production of goods with high added value. The facility will manufacture four types of products: polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate and polyethylene terephthalate. The last three will be produced in the country for the first time.

We remind, the capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex will triple, investments in the expansion project will amount to USD1.8 billion. Uzbekneftegaz has launched a project to expand the Shurtan gas chemical complex in the Kashkadarya region in the south of the country. "The capacities of the Shurtan gas chemical complex, the firstborn of our gas chemical region, will triple," said President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the expansion project.

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Vopak and PETRONAS sign MoU to explore opportunities in CCS

Vopak and PETRONAS sign MoU to explore opportunities in CCS

Vopak and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) signed an MoU for the development of the value chain for CCS in the Southeast Asia region, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As part of the MoU, both companies will jointly study the development of the CCS value chain focusing on the CO2 emitted by industries in Singapore. This includes CO2 transport from a Vopak terminal for potential injection into the regional storage hubs developed by Petronas. The aggregation of CO2 emissions from various emitters in the Southeast Asia region is also part of the feasibility study. Both companies have the intention to invest in the development of CCS value chain solutions.

Chris Robblee - President Vopak Asia & Middle East said: “We are excited about this project with our long-term partner Petronas to jointly collaborate. This is well aligned with our commitment to support the energy transition through development of CO2-infrastructure for sustainable energy solutions and the decarbonization of the industry."

This collaboration is aligned with both companies’ ambition to support the transition to a low carbon future.

We remind, Petronas said it was studying the damage to interconnecting pipes caused by a fire last week at its refinery and petrochemical joint venture with Saudi Aramco. Petronas said last Thursday a fire and explosion occurred at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) located in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. No casualties were reported.

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Workers at BP refinery will not help with restart unless wage demands met

Workers at BP refinery will not help with restart unless wage demands met

Workers at bp's Rotterdam refinery, which is currently offline, will not help restart operations unless their wage demands are met, union leaders said on Monday, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company said on Saturday it expected to have the refinery back on line "early" this week after an unspecified technical problem. Union leader Jaap Bosma of the CNV union identified the problem that impacted the refinery as a loss of steam.

He said that workers would help fix the resulting problems, but they would not assist to resume refining operations unless a new Wednesday noon ultimatum is not met. "We will help resolve the problems until the facilities are ready to be restarted, and then we'll stop, that's our intention," he said.

BP could not immediately be reached for comment. Workers at the refinery began a "work to rule" action at noon on Nov. 14 after failure to agree on a new contract that has been under negotiation since April.

Workers are seeking a pay package representing a 9.5% increase, citing current Dutch inflation rates above 14%, while management has offered a package including a 5% increase and a one-off 4,000 euro (USD4,092.80) bonus.

We remind, BP refinery in Rotterdam processes about 400,000 barrels of oil annually and is an important supplier of diesel to Northern Europe. BP's final offer in talks over a new collective labor agreement under discussion since April had been for a 5% wage increase and one-off bonus of 4,000 euros (USD4,000).

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KBR JV selected to deliver first unmanned compression platform in Azerbaijan-Caspian region

KBR JV selected to deliver first unmanned compression platform in Azerbaijan-Caspian region

KBR announced that BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited has awarded an optimization stage engineering services contract to SOCAR-KBR (SKLLC) for the Shah Deniz compression project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, said the company.

The project is in early pre-FID stage, said the company. SOCAR-KBR is a joint venture of Azerbaijan's state oil company, SOCAR, and KBR. The Shah Deniz compression platform project will be the first in the Caspian region to feature crewless operations, delivering unprecedented process optimization through cutting-edge, high-end technology.

Under the contract, SOCAR-KBR will support optimization and provide class-3 engineering services. Scope also includes engineering to enable integration of the new platform to the existing system and provide shore power to reduce the carbon footprint in support of BP's net-zero targets.

KBR recently completed the initial assessment for the flagship project using their proprietary KMIT (KBR Maintenance Information Tool) to provide detailed estimates of timing and resourcing of maintenance.

"We look forward to working with BP to achieve their goals of introducing novel, crewless operations to the region, while also lowering their carbon footprint, reducing operating costs, and eliminating personnel risks associated with such projects," said Jay Ibrahim, president of KBR's Sustainable Technology Solutions business. "KBR's technical innovation is paving the way for clients to more easily navigate their energy transition journey toward net zero."

We remind, KBR, Inc. (Houston) announced that it has won a contract from GS Caltex (Seoul, South Korea)for its planned plastics circularity project in South Korea. Based on KBR and Mura’s Hydro-PRT process, the 50,000-ton/yr unit will convert waste plastics into raw materials for conversion into new plastics, achieving total circularity.

KBR is a leader in energy transition and has extensive experience supporting sustainable energy projects across the globe.

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Arkema joins SEMI semiconductor climate consortium

Arkema joins SEMI semiconductor climate consortium

The SCC is the first global, ecosystem-wide effort to accelerate the semiconductor ecosystem’s response to the challenge of climate change by facilitating member’s responses to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, said the company.

As one of over 60 founding members, Arkema will work alongside other SCC members toward the following objectives: collaboration – align on common approaches, technology innovations and communications channels to continuously reduce GHG emissions. Transparency – publicly report progress and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions annually. Ambition – set near- and long-term decarbonization targets with the aim of reaching Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Arkema is committed to aligning ourselves with the trajectory of limiting global warming to 1.5°C as outlined in the Paris Agreement. The company’s ambitious climate plan translates into a target, based on an SBT (Science Based Target) approach, to reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and scope 3 emissions by 46% by 2030 relative to 2019.

Arkema’s Foranext® etch gas plays an important role in the fabrication of semiconductor devices such as microchips. Arkema is a leader in manufacturing low Global Warming Potential (GWP) gases including those for semiconductor applications. Foranext® fluorogases are used to selectively remove material through plasma etching, passivation and chamber cleaning. Foranext® products allow for the miniaturization of critical features found in memory circuits, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and more, which give increased functionality to electronic devices.

In the coming months, the SCC governing members will be elected and working groups will be created based on the four workstreams of the consortium: climate impact, reporting protocols, clean technology and outreach.

The SCC is headed by SEMI, a global industry association that unites the entire electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. Since 1970, SEMI has built connections with over 2,500 member companies and will expand global collective action across the value chain through the SCC.

We remind, Arkema’s Virtucycle® program places the advanced materials designer at the center of a virtuous cycle to source, recycle, and recertify advanced polymers. In addition to being the specialty recycler, Arkema plays the role of matchmaker among its customers while playing an optional key role in eco-designing the finished product produced from the recycled material.
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