Several injured in blast at ethanol biofuel plant in Illinois

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Several employees were injured at an Archer-Daniels-Midland facility in Decatur, Illinois, after an explosion within its processing complex, the company said in a statement on Sunday night, said Reuters.

Eight ADM personnel were taken to hospital via ambulance, with the extent of their injuries unknown at the time, fire department official Dan Kline said in an emailed statement, adding that the fire that was now under control.

ADM said the incident happened at 7:11 p.m. CDT (0011 GMT) and that the injured had been taken to a hospital. The company said it did not have a confirmed cause of the incident as of Sunday night.

The Decatur site, ADM's North American headquarters and its largest facility globally, houses a soybean crushing plant and one of the largest corn wet mills in the world.

It also has the capacity to produce 375 million gallons of ethanol biofuel annually, making it the largest in the country, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

It was not immediately clear whether the blast would impact the processing facilities. The company did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

We remind, Russia is shipping its first crude oil cargo to Brazil, as it seeks to diversify its list of buyers, which has been drastically limited by U.S. and EU sanctions. Russia has been heavily relying on India and China as main buyers of its crude after European embargo and price cap policies were imposed in December last year after Russia's action in Ukraine that Moscow calls a special military operation.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras’ refining units reached a Total Utilization Factor (FUT) of 97.3% in August, the best result since December 2014, said the company.

Total diesel production for the month was 3.78 billion liters, the highest in 2023. Production of S10 diesel, a more modern, sustainable and low-sulfur product, reached 2.37 billion liters in the same period. Spotlight for the record monthly production of S10 achieved at the Alberto Pasqualini Refinery (REFAP), with 258 million liters; at the President Bernardes Refinery (RPBC), which achieved 329 million liters; and at the Paulinia Refinery (REPLAN), where the 609 million liter landmark was achieved.

The results are important for damping price volatility in the foreign market. According to Petrobras' Director of Sales, Logistics and Markets, Claudio Schlosser, “the S10 diesel production increase in our refineries contributes to our commercial strategy, which provides for the practice of competitive prices in a profitable and sustainable way”, he celebrates.

According to Petrobras’ Director of Industrial Processes and Products, William Franca, the landmark achieved is the result of the reliability and quality of Petrobras’ operations. “The optimization of our processes is allowing us to expand production in our units and offer derivatives with profitability in the domestic market”, he says.

Petrobras’ refineries have been achieving successive records in FUT since May of this year. The calculation of the refining utilization factor takes into account the volume of oil processed and the reference capacity of the refineries, within the design limits of the assets, the safety, environmental and quality requirements of the derivatives produced.

We remind, Petrobras remains eager to repurchase a refinery from Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala despite antitrust barriers, and a new biofuels partnership could open the door to future talks. Petrobras on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding with Mubadala for potential investment in a biofuel refinery under development in Bahia state by Mubadala-owned Acelen.

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MOSCOW (MRC) - The fire-damaged, gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at Marathon Petroleum's 593,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, is expected to be shut until late this week, said people familiar with plant operations, said Reuters.

Repairs to ductwork damaged in a last Thursday fire on the 140,000-bpd FCC will last into next week, the sources said. The restart of the unit will follow the successful completion of the repairs. Marathon spokesperson Jamal Kheiry declined to comment.

The Thursday night fire in the FCC's regenerator began from a packing leak on a slide valve, the sources said. The fire was short in duration with the unit's operators putting it out before firefighters arrived.

Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are beginning a probe of the fire, the sources said.

No injuries were reported from the Thursday fire. In the regenerator, carbon is removed from the fine powder catalyst that converts gas oil into unfinished gasoline in the FCC's reactor. Removing the carbon extends the life, improving the efficiency of the catalyst.

The Galveston Bay Refinery is the fourth largest by capacity in the United States.

In a May 15 fire on a reformer at the Galveston Bay Refinery, a Marathon employee was killed and two contract workers were injured.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Husky TechnologiesTM commemorated the next phase of expansion to the company’s India facilities with ceremonies at their new offices and existing Chennai campus, said Petnology.

The events were hosted by local leaders in the region, as well as senior executive, Robert Domodossola, President of Husky’s Rigid Packaging business.

These momentous celebrations kick off a robust expansion plan that will see a number of exciting developments executed throughout 2023, including: Additional capacity and capability for manufacturing hot runners
The first ICHORTM integrated medical injection molding system that produces blood collection tubes locally
The addition of an Advantage+EliteTM monitoring center to provide proactive, predictive and transparent monitoring services to our existing customers.

Expansion of local OEM parts inventory and team of highly skilled service technicians situated throughout the country to respond to customer service needs swiftly and efficiently.

We remind, Origin Materials and Husky Technologies announced a milestone in the commercialization of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) incorporating the sustainable chemical FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) for advanced packaging and other applications.

Since selling the first PET system into India in 1999, Husky’s presence has grown to include more than 250 systems running in the field, delivery of more than 500 hot runners per year, a team of 10 trained service technicians and a robust parts inventory to support local customers.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to invest Rs150bn (USD1.8bn) in its petrochemical unit ONGC Petro-additions Ltd (OPaL), reported PTI via Economic Times.

The investment, which forms part of a financial overhaul, will see GAIL depart as a shareholder of OPaL, which operates a large petrochemical facility in Dahej, Gujarat.

ONGC controls a 49.36% stake in OPaL, gas utility GAIL owns a 49.21% share, and the remaining 1.43% stake is held by Gujarat State Petrochemical Corp (GSPC).

Last week, the ONGC board approved a financial reorganisation of OPaL, which has amassed an enormous amount of debt. In a stock filing, ONGC said it would buy back debt, convert share warrants into equity, and invest an additional Rs70bn in equity, giving it a roughly 95% interest in the petrochemical company.

The proposed plan includes “conversion of share warrants issued by OPaL and subscribed by ONGC into equity shares upon payment of final call money of Rs862.81m at the rate of Rs0.25 per warrant,” ONGC said.

In addition, ONGC will “buy back compulsory convertible debentures of Rs77.78bn.” Current owners of CCDs issued by OPaL with backing from ONGC include financial institutions.

According to the statement, ONGC will also invest Rs70bn in OPaL’s equity/quasi-equity security. Following the reorganisation, OPaL will become a subsidiary of ONGC.

The financial restructuring “will augment the holding of ONGC in OPaL and OPaL will become more profitable,” ONGC noted.

Set up in November 2006, OPaL petrochemical complex has an annual capacity to produce 1.5 million tonnes of polymers, 0.5 million tonnes of chemicals, and several other products through the associated units of pyrolysis petrol hydrogenation, butadiene extraction, and benzene extraction.

Last month, it was reported that ONGC would spend over USD24bn to achieve net zero emission targets by 2038.

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