Chexpress - August 20, 2014

North America

Ethane Cracker Project

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical Company to provide engineering, procurement and construction services as part of a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker project in ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas complex and associated premium product facilities in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Jacobs is also working on the interconnectivity of the two sites.

Ethane

Navigator Holdings Ltd. has signed a long-term shipping agreement for one of its 35,000 cubic meter ethylene/ethane capable semi-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers currently being built in Jiangnan Shipyard, China. The ten-year time charter with Borealis is planned to commence in late 2016. The charter will transport ethane from the Marcus Hook terminal operated by Sunoco Logistics in the U.S. to Borealis’ cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden.

Petchem Business Unit

The Linde Group has added a petrochemical plant business unit to its Engineering Division offices in Houston, Texas. The new regional business unit will serve petrochemical customers on a wide range of projects, from consulting and technical support, revamp and expansion studies to EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) execution of mid-size projects. In addition, it will play a role in the project execution of mega projects.

World

Fertilizer Plant

Mitsubishi Corp. and Gap Insaat have laid the foundation of a $1.3 billion plant to produce carbamide in Turkmenistan. The country plans to gain added value by using its natural gas to produce the fertilizer for export. The new plant will process natural gas to produce 1.1 million tons of carbamide (also known as urea) annually. It will employ 1,000 workers and be built near the Garabogaz Bay in the Caspian Sea.

Pipeline Stopped

Colombia’s Bicentenario crude oil pipeline has been shut down after being damaged in a bombing blamed on leftist rebels. The attack caused a huge fire, but no injuries or fatalities. The 230-kilometer pipeline has the capacity to transport 110,000 barrels/day from the Eastern Plains to the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline. The pipeline was ruptured, oil was spilled and there was a fire.

[h2_header]Lower Output/h2_header]

Neste Oil has been forced to lower output at its refinery in Porvoo, Finland due to damage at the site’s hydrogen plant. Unit repair could take several weeks. The company said that the incident was not expected to harm deliveries that already have contracts.