January 24, 2017:

Italy’s Eni SPA and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. will work together on the modernization of NNPC subsidiary Port Harcourt Refining Co Ltd.’s (PHRC) refining complex in Rivers State, Nigeria.  Plans for the refinery’s renovation came as part of a Jan. 23 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Eni and the Nigerian government, under which the parties have agreed to promote activities to boost Nigeria’s social and economic development, the Italian operator said.  Alongside upstream measures that call for intensifying oil and gas production operations with an increased focus on development and exploration activities in the onshore, offshore, and ultradeepwater areas operated by Eni subsidiaries Nigerian Agip Oil Co. and Nigerian Agip Exploration, the MOU outlines Eni’s commitment to cooperate on rehabilitation and enhancement of the Port Harcourt manufacturing site.  Further details regarding the refinery’s proposed revamp, however, have yet to be disclosed. Operated as an integrated refinery, the Port Harcourt refining complex includes a 60,000-b/sd hydroskimming refinery and 150,000-b/sd full-conversion refinery. 

Rehabilitation program  

Announcement of the Eni-NNPC partnership plan follows a series of recent initiatives by NNPC to aggressively advance its rehabilitation-and-expansion program at Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in order to meet the country’s domestic demand for fuels and curb its reliance on foreign imports (OGJ Online, Jan. 12, 2017; Dec. 21, 2016).  As part of its proposed $500-million rehabilitation program, NNPC in April 2016 launched a tender inviting bids from investors to become financial and technical joint venture partners for the phased modernization of its four refineries, which in addition to PHRC’s two refineries, include Warri Refining & Petrochemcial Co. Ltd.’s 125,000-b/sd refinery in Delta State, and Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s 110,000-b/sd refinery in Kaduna State (OGJ Online, Jan. 2. 2017).  Aiming to make each plant a standalone profitable entity operating at 100% capacity, the program calls for restructuring the refineries to operate as incorporated JVs, with NNPC holding 51% interest and its potential partner 49% interest. If selected, partners will agree to fund, rehabilitate, and jointly operate the refineries with NNPC for a defined period, and in return, receive all offtake and marketing rights to refined products to be sold primarily in the Nigerian market until each partner recovers its investment.  While NNPC has yet to disclose detailed results of the rehabilitation-and-operations tender, the company previously confirmed it was in discussions with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron Corp., and Total SA for technical partnership and support in modernizing the government-owned refineries.

By PennEnergy

January 24, 2017:

Firefighting operations go on after a fire broke out at a TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. oil refinery in Arida, Wakayama prefecture, western Japan, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Kyodo News reported the fire prompted authorities to urge nearly 3,000 local residents to evacuate according to firefighters and local city officials. No injuries were reported. (Yohei Nishimura/Kyodo News via AP)  Over 500 people have been evacuated on Sunday from a refinery located in the Japanese city of Oita, Wakayama Prefecture as it caught fire, Sputnik reported.  According to Kyodo news agency, the local authorities were recommended to evacuate some 3,000 people.  The evacuated people were accommodated in two evacuation stations.  There is no data on the cause of the fire, as well as on the casualties so far.  The refinery caught fire at 07:00 GMT. According to the preliminary information, a container with lubricants flamed up, while no blasts were reported.  The fire area has reached 100 square meters [3.8 square miles]. Some 20 fire brigades were sent to combat fire in the area. Black smoke billows from a TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. oil refinery after a fire broke out in Arida, Wakayama prefecture, western Japan, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Kyodo News reported the fire prompted authorities to urge nearly 3,000 local residents to evacuate according to firefighters and local city officials. No injuries were reported. (Yohei Nishimura/Kyodo News via AP)  

By LexisNexis

January 23, 2017:

DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia – Petrotechnics, the developer of Proscient – the hazardous industries’ first software platform for Operational Excellence – has been selected by Accenture to deliver its solution for Saudi Aramco’s new Jazan refinery complex. Proscient will be implemented as part of Saudi Aramco’s integrated manufacturing operations management system (imoms) to reduce risk, improve productivity and lower costs. The $2.1 billion refinery will have the capacity to process 400,000 bpd of crude oil and produce 80,000 bpd of gasoline, 250,000 bpd of ultra-low sulphur diesel and over 1 MMtpy of benzene and paraxylene products. This output will help meet Saudi Arabia’s domestic energy demand, as well as increase its share of high value fuel exports to international markets. The complex is due for completion later this year.  

The system will enable connected, collaborative and safe industrial operations; closing the loop between operations, maintenance and engineering through joined-up processes and assets to transform business operations. It is a set of 12 applications, 20 integrated solutions and 550 processes encompassing risk management, production management and activity management. Proscient will deliver the PSORMS capabilities within imoms to mitigate operational risk and optimize the work schedule dynamically and graphically. It will facilitate the capture and management of work permits, real-time risk analysis, incident reporting, emergency preparedness and safety response, KPIs and management of change.

“Imoms enables the connected, collaborative and safe industrial operations of the future – today. Proscient is a core component of imoms and will support better decision making,” said Massimo Pagella, Managing Director of Resources, Accenture. “Petrotechnics’ long track record and approach to helping oil and gas organisations deliver safer and more effective operations combined with the strength of Proscient made them the best choice for imoms and Saudi Aramco.”

By Hydrocarbon Processing

January 23, 2017:

ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Arab Refinery Company (Parco) has made up its mind to establish a state-of-the-art deep conversion coastal refinery with capacity to refine crude oil up to 300,000 barrels per day at the Khalifa Point near Hub in Balochistan.  To this effect, the board of directors of the company has approved initiation of a feasibility study. “Once the feasibility study gets completed, then the top management of the company will proceed accordingly.

This would be the first-ever largest project in the history of oil and gas sector as its magnitude will be equal to the Tarbela Sam,” top officials told The News.  “The project requires $5 billion investment and to this effect the UAE has allocated the funds.”  Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed the development saying that the Parco BoD had at present given a nod for initiating the feasibility for establishing the biggest coastal refinery with hydrocracker technology.   Upon completion of the study, Parco will take a final decision to go for a mega refinery or not. The refinery will have the capacity to refine 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day crude oil. Top sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said the refinery will be established at Hub and the land at Gaddani that was earlier given for establishing the 6,600MW coal-based power park had been retrieved for the mega refinery and to this effect a wall had been erected showing the demarcation of the land for the proposed refinery.   With shareholding of Government of Pakistan at 60 percent and the UAE 40 percent, Parco will set up the refinery.

 Keeping in view the country’s increasing POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) requirements, particularly in the wake of the impending surge in the demand on account of CPEC project, the said refinery will have significance of paramount importance.  The officials also disclosed that Parco, which is not a deep conversion refinery, is also being expanded by its top management to increase its refining capacity by 25,000 barrels per day to 125,000 BPD from 100,000 BPD.  Pakistan currently imports 80 percent of petroleum products as the existing refineries in the country have become obsolete, which run 40-45 percent of their production capacity.   “Now the time has come to close down the existing refineries and initiate the project for setting up new state-of-the-art refineries in the country.” They said in recent interaction of the petroleum minister with representatives of OCAC (Oil Companies Advisory Council), the government had asked them to come up with a plan to install a mid-country mega refinery with modern technology after abandoning the existing ones and to this effect the government will not only provide the land but also play its role in laying down a pipeline for provision of crude oil to the refinery.   The government did not stop here; rather it also extended its 100 take-off guarantee.

 The OCAC representatives have promised to come up with the plan for midcountry mega refinery. The POL demand of the upcountry (Punjab and KPK) has increased manifold. Currently, there is a surge of 20 percent in the demand of motor gasoline in the country and 15 percent increase in demand diesel has been registered  So much so, Pakistan State Oil has also acquired the shares of the Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) and it has planned to upgrade the said refinery by increasing its capacity to 100,000 BPD from the existing 50,000 BPD.  Pakistan currently imports oil products of 19.63 million tons per annum that include furnace oil of 6.6 million tons, diesel 2.6m tons, petrol 2.3m tons, jet fuel 0.13m tons, and crude oil eight million tons. The country gets crude oil of 3.85 million tons from within. And in case the Nawaz government succeeds to establish the deep conversion refineries, one by PARCO and other one by OCAC, then Pakistan’s dependence on imports of furnace oil (6.6 million tons), diesel (2.6 million tons), petrol (2.3 million tons), jet fuel (0.13 million tons) will be ended as the proposed refinery will provide the required finished and refined petroleum products.   There are seven oil refineries with total annual refining capacity of 12.87 million tons out of which four are based around Karachi with collective capacity of 6.3 million tons per annum mainly to feed southern and central parts of the country. PARCO, being the largest refinery located in the midcountry and ARL at Rawalpindi, cater for demand in central and northern parts of the country.  For setting up the refinery, no permission of Government of Pakistan is required and refineries are free to sell their product to any marketing company or they can set up their own marketing companies. However, license from Ogra is required under the Ogra ordinance 2002.

By The News

October 26, 2016:

With a turn of a valve, the Sinclair Refinery in Evansville began its next 100 years of operation as a major overhaul of the facility draws to completion.  Sinclair CEO Ross Matthews and refinery manager Jim Ruble spun the handle to close down the last of three crude oil distillation units, one of which had been in operation since 1928. All production has now been switched to a new state-of-the-art plant that began operating on Oct. 18.  “In my mind this is the most advanced crude unit in the world,” Matthews said as he stood before a block-long complex of silver pipes and shining equipment.  Matthews said the new unit will permit more efficient and precise crude oil distillation and cut refinery emissions of So2 and NOx by some 1,000 tons a year.

The upgrades will also help maintain a safety record that is nearing a million worker-hours without a lost time injury, according to the company.  In the modernization effort, Sinclair revamped the refinery’s electrical system and expanded its tank storage. The larger new tanks will improve the “rack” loading time for fuel haulers. About half of the refinery’s production is transported by truck, with the rest carried via pipeline.  In the coming year, the company will also replace the existing oil-fired boilers with natural-gas-fired equipment. The refinery produces about half the gas it needs for its operations, and the changeover is seen as a cost-saving measure. 

The refinery has long been a stable point in the Casper area’s economy, and the project provided a boost in the downturn in the mineral industry. At peak construction this past spring, some 2,000 extra workers were on site for the project, according to the company.  There are still about 200 people working on the job, which will be finished by the end of 2017. Normal staffing levels are around 145.  The exact cost of the undertaking was not disclosed, but it was substantial.  “What I can say is that the amount of the investment we’re putting into the refinery — last year and this year — exceeds what the current value was,” Ruble has said.  The refinery has a capacity of 25,000 barrels a day and produces 500,000 gallons of gasoline, 400,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 100,000 gallons of other products such as liquefied petroleum gas and fuel oil, according to Ruble.  The renovations did not increase the capacity of the refinery, and Matthews said Sinclair does not have plans to expand. But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t committed.  “I think by the huge investment that we’ve made here we’ve sent notice to the community, and our competitors, that we are here to stay,” Matthews said. 

By Star Tribune