Refining, Petrochemicals, Gas Processing, Biofuels
Neste to receive funding from the EU Innovation Fund to develop its Porvoo refinery through green hydrogen production and carbon capture & storage
The EU Innovation Fund has given a positive grant decision of EUR 88 million funding to Neste’s green hydrogen and CO2 capture & storage project, which aims to quickly and efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Porvoo refinery in Finland. The project introduces carbon capture and storage (CCS) and electrolysis solutions that allow decarbonisation of production at the refinery. The project is currently in the feasibility phase.
ADNOC and Borealis Partner for $6.2 Billion Borouge 4 Project
Borealis recently announced that it has signed a strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to build what would be the fourth Borouge facility at the Ruwais polyolefin complex.
Triangle Energy Plans Renewable Refinery in Australia
Triangle Energy Limited of Australia announced recently that FEED studies had begun for a proposed 5,000 barrel per day renewable refinery in Western Australia. This refinery would be modular in design and have a flexible feedstock ability.
Alberta’s Northern Petrochemical Corporation Announces $2.5 Billion Petrochemical Project
Northern Petrochemical Corporation (NPC) of Alberta announced on November 10th, 2021, that it plans to build a carbon neutral ammonia and methanol facility in what will be the Greenview Industrial Gateway in northwestern Alberta on 265 acres.
Construction Continues for Dos Bocas Refinery in Mexico
Samsung Engineering recently announced that it has begun shipping modules destined for the upcoming Dos Bocas Refinery project under construction in Tabasco, Mexico. This facility will be Mexico’s first refinery built in the last 40 years.
ExxonMobil Invests in Huizhou Petrochemical Complex
ExxonMobil announced on November 8 that it had indeed made a final investment decision on its multi-billion dollar petrochemical complex now under construction in China’s Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in Huizhou’s Guangdong Province. No specific cost figure was attached at this time.
China to Shutter Teapot Refineries for Upcoming Mega Complex
The Shandong Province of China is expected to close in 10 independent refineries with over 500,000 barrels per day capacity by the end of 2022 in order to clear a path for a new integrated refinery already under construction.
230,000 bpd Refinery in Oman to Start Up in Early 2023
The often-delayed Duqm refinery in southern Oman is now anticipated to begin its operations in the first quarter of 2023, according to the project operator. The 230,000 barrel per day refinery is a 50/50 joint venture between the state owned OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International, known collectively as the Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company.
Maire Tecnimont Signs Preliminary Agreement for Rosneft Grassroots VGO
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced this week that it has signed an Agreement of Intent with Rosneft regarding the construction of a grassroots Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) hydrocracking complex to be placed at the Ryazan refinery site in Ryazan, Russia.
Howden to Supply Compressors for Shell’s Biofuel Project in Rotterdam
Howden of Scotland recently announced that it has agreed to supply compressors for the upcoming Shell owned biofuel facilities under development in the Netherlands. This complex will be at the former Pernis refinery site in Rotterdam and will be one of the largest of its kinds in Europe upon its completion.
Lummus and Clariant to Provide Technology to India’s first PDH Plant
Lummus announced this week that it and its catalyst partner, Clariant Catalysts, have won a major contract award for GAIL of India’s upcoming propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Usar, Maharashtra. This plant is expected to be the first PDH plant in India.
Worley Awarded Services Contract for Ras Tanuras Residue Upgrade
Worley of Australia has been awarded a services contract for a residue upgrade project by Saudi Aramco on October 12, 2021. This residue upgrade project will be placed on the large Ras Tanuras refinery complex grounds.
Dow Plans World’s First Net Zero Ethylene and Derivates Complex
Dow recently announced that is has begun planning the first ever net-zero carbon emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in regard to scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide emissions.
ADNOC Scraps Plans for 400,000 bpd Ruwais Refinery
ADNOC of Abu Dhabi stated this week that it will cease its current plans for a new 400,000 barrels per day refinery in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Changes in the economy for the project were cited as the likely reason for this decision.
Oil Demand in India Pushes Refinery Developments
Oil demand in India is expected to push construction of new refining projects in the region, as this demand could more than double to 11 million barrels per day by 2045. With this growth anticipated, new projects have been developing throughout the year to stay on pace to capitalize on this demand.
McDermott Signs on to Cauvery Project in Nagapattinam
McDermott International announced in early October that it had won a key contract for the significant upcoming Cauvery project in Nagapattinam, India. This contract was described by McDermott to be for project management consultancy and EPC management services for the Package 2 portion at the project. No contract value was stated at press time.
Construction Begins for Southern Libya Refinery
The Libya National Oil Company recently announced that the construction process for an upcoming refinery in Southern Libya had officially begun. This project has been on hold for many years until plans were revived in 2017.
Covestro Restarts Planning for World Scale MDI Plant
Covestro of Germany announced in a recent conference that it will resume planning for what it considers to be a world-scale methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) plant. The company had previously been planning a 500,000 tons per year MDI plant in Baytown, Texas, but it was placed on hold in early 2020.
KNPC’s Clean Fuels Project Begins Operations
Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) has successfully begun full operations at its ambitious Clean Fuels Project (CFP) in Kuwait. This project was developed over a six-year period at a cost of nearly $16 billion dollars.
INEOS Grangemouth moves forward on to the next phase
INEOS Grangemouth has today announced planned further investment of over £1 billion towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions at its site to net zero by 2045, building on the 37% reduction in net CO2 emissions already delivered since acquiring the site in 2005.
Modular Construction Pays Off for SABIC and ExxonMobil
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) recently announced that its joint venture project with Exxon Mobil known as the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project near Corpus Christi, Texas has indeed begun its commissioning procedures ahead of an expected startup by the end of the year. The GCGV complex is a significant petrochemical project for the partners with a cost figure of $7.3 billion USD that includes a 1.8 MMtpy ethane cracker, a 1.1 MMtpy mono-ethylene glycol unit, and twin polyethylene units with a combined capacity of 1.3 MMtpy, and its success thus far is partially due to how its construction has been approached.
Repsol to start up the first electrolyzer at its Petronor refinery
Repsol will start up the first electrolyzer in the northern Spanish region of the Basque Country in the second half of 2022, to produce renewable hydrogen at its Petronor refinery. The facility will have a capacity of 2.5 MW and will involve an investment of €8.9 million, covering also the construction of the necessary infrastructures for the use and distribution of the renewable hydrogen produced.
Commissioning Underway for SABIC/ExxonMobil Project in Texas
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) recently announced that the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project in Texas has indeed begun its commissioning procedures ahead of its expected startup by the end of 2021. SABIC is in a joint venture with ExxonMobil on this project.
GAIL adds Grace PP Technology to Upcoming Plant in India
W.R. Grace & Co has licensed its UNIPOL® PP process technology to GAIL of India for its upcoming propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) plant located in Usar, Maharastra, India. This facility will be the first PDH/PP plant to be built in India.
Shell Moves Forward with Large Netherlands Biofuels Facility
Royal Dutch Shell recently announced that it has made a final investment decision regarding the construction of an 820,000 tons per year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was previously referred to as the Pernis Refinery site. Once operational in 2024, this biofuels facility will one of the largest European facilities producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from a waste product feedstock.
Lukoil to Add Catalytic Cracking Unit to its Perm Refinery
Lukoil recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation to start the process of implementing a grassroots catalytic cracking project at the company’s existing Perm refinery site in the North Urals region of Russia. Lukoil is planning to move to a construction phase next with a planned startup in 2026.
Ust-Luga Gas Complex Picks Linde and RHI for EPC Duties
Gazprom recently announced that it had signed an EPC contract with a consortium comprised of Linde Engineering and Renaissance Heavy Industries (RHI) for work to be performed for a natural gas liquefaction plant at an upcoming gas processing complex developing near Ust-Luga. This significant venture will be operated by a joint venture of Gazprom and RusGazDobycha named RusKhimAlyans.
OLAX Engineering Wins Significant PMC Agreement for Nigeria’s BUA Refinery
OLAX Engineering of the United Kingdom announced this week that it had been awarded an Owners Engineers and Project Management Services Contract for the upcoming FEED phase of the grassroots BUA refinery to be placed in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
Dangote Seeks to Escalate Polypropylene Output
Dangote complex to add 900,000 tpy of polypropylene production next to its massive 650,000 bpd oil refinery.
SABIC and FJPEC Agree to Construct Petrochemical Complex in Zhangzhou, China
Saudi Aramco subsidiary SABIC has signed a joint venture contract with the Fujian Petrochemical Industrial Group Co., Ltd (FJPEC) of China for the purpose of building what would be a significant petrochemical complex in China. The mega complex would require a total investment of about $6.18 billion and will be built at the Gulei Industrial Park in Zhangzhou city, in east China's Fujian Province.
