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Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby EdwinSm » Sat 25 Aug 2012, 09:55:23

A gas explosion at Venezuela's biggest oil refinery has killed at least 19 people, starting a fire and causing extensive damage, officials say.

At least 53 people were also injured in the blast at the Amuay plant in Falcon State in the north-west of the country, officials announced.

The refinery, one of the biggest in the world, produces 645,000 barrels a day.

....

"The gas cloud exploded, igniting at least two storage tanks and other facilities at the refinery," the energy minister told state TV.

"It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and to houses opposite the refinery."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19378657

Recently I read that Venezuela had to import refined products due to the state of their refinaries. This will not help. I guess that while accidents happen all over the world, part of the blame could be laid at the feet of Hugo Chavez for taking all the profits for social projects (good in themselves) without leaving enough to upgrade the facilities.
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Re: Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby pana_burda » Sat 25 Aug 2012, 12:58:44

EdwinSm
Recently I read that Venezuela had to import refined products due to the state of their refinaries.


Indeed. Currently our facilities are unable to keep up even with our own rather small demmand of subproducts. And with this major event .... ¿ ? .

However, the drama of the situation is such that this refinary has been on and off not because of lack of upgrades but rather by the craftmanship of the ten times multiplied "workers" under its payroll.

By the way, to which country did you also read those economic benefits were heading to, uhh ?
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Re: Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby pana_burda » Sun 26 Aug 2012, 09:54:17

From a venezuelan insurance broker:

Mi empresa X Insurance Brokers realizo un trabajo de ingenieria de riesgos hace unos anos con muchas recomendaciones de XXXX XXXXX de prevencion de incendio que no se realizaron, se engavetaron. La idea era que sus plantas fiesen calificadas como "HPT Highly protected risks" lo que permitiria una transferenica de riesgos a tasas muy bajas con lo cual PDVSA recuperaria la inversion en ingenieria de riesgos. Aca estan los resultados de tanta desidia , ignorancia y negligenica con los bienes de la nacion. Consecuencias economicas y de vidas humanas irreparables.


Word by word in spanish. Trad by Google .... with a bit of my aid. Obvious discretion in the name of the company as well as in the mentioned person.

X Insurance Brokers My company performed a risk engineering work in recent years with many recommendations XXXX XXXX fire prevention were not performed, are shelved. The idea was that your plants were rated "Highly protected HPT risks" which would allow a transfer of risks at very low rates whereby PDVSA would recover the investment in risk engineering. Here are the results of such apathy, ignorance and negligence with the assets of the nation. Economic consequences of human lives and irreparable.
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Re: Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby pana_burda » Mon 27 Aug 2012, 18:35:44

http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/petroleo/pdvsa/fotos---se-extendio-el-incendio-en-amuay.aspx

Tomorrow is the reopening day. Sure it is going to be hot as hell after this !!
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Re: Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby pana_burda » Mon 27 Aug 2012, 18:47:29

From the article:

" El incendio de la refinería en Amuay se extendió con la explosión de un tercer tanque de combustible, aunque el Gobienro asegura que tiene "confinada" la situación "


" All is under control, reasures this .... gvmnt in spite another tank blowing up ".

Thanks God they moved the reopening `till friday .... as of now. Thats professionalism and responsability in action !!

Ahhh .... this time it is a free and deeply felt personal translation.
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Re: Venezuela refinary fire

Unread postby pana_burda » Fri 31 Aug 2012, 21:58:08

Analisys and recommendations of the refinaries on behalf of QBE insurance group. Update visit: March 5th to 8th 2012. Client comments = O

http://vzleaks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/REPORTE-AMUAY.pdf

mmmmm .... I just wonder if they have claimed, and received their big fat criminal dirty check already ?
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FIRST US REFINERIES IN 37 YEARS

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Wed 22 May 2013, 16:06:32

Volumetrically not a huge increase. Interestingly enough the biggest will be built by Native Americans. From:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... CA20130410

On a windswept North Dakota prairie in late March, Governor Jack Dalrymple drove a bulldozer into the fertile black earth and broke ground on the first new U.S. refinery since 1976. The state's two U.S. senators, as well as dozens of other politicians and investors, stood nearby wearing hard hats, eagerly sharing hopes that this new refinery will help resolve North Dakota's diesel demand problem.

Because the state only has one refinery it imports more than half of the roughly 53,000 barrels of diesel consumed each day by rigs that suck oil out of the ground, and trucks and trains that transport it. That daily need is forecast to hit 75,000 barrels by 2025, making the new refinery from MDU Resources Group Inc. and Calumet Specialty Products Partners critical for the energy sector in the state. Despite producing thousands of barrels of oil each day, North Dakota relies on refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast and elsewhere for much of its diesel.

MDU and Calumet hope to be making about 8,000 barrels of diesel per day within 20 months, far less than refineries on the Gulf Coast. The smaller size of the refinery will make it easier to build, and its modular design will give the owners the option of moving it in future should market conditions change. The state Department of Mineral Resources forecasts that North Dakota's oil output will hit 850,000 barrels a day by early next year. As of last September, about 64 percent of oil produced in the state is transported via diesel-guzzling trucks from more than 8,000 oil-producing wells, according to the state's pipeline authority.

A $450 million hydrocracker refinery planned by the three affiliated American Indian tribes that will use a mix of tribal funds and tax-exempt Tribal Economic Development Bonds through the U.S. Department of the Treasury. "We want to be able to control our own natural resources and our own destiny," said Richard Mayer, head of the MHA Nation refinery project. The tribes, which hope to break ground by May on their refinery, strictly controls access to oil drilling on their land.
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Re: FIRST US REFINERIES IN 37 YEARS

Unread postby C8 » Wed 22 May 2013, 21:08:11

maybe they can put a Casino next to it
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Re: FIRST US REFINERIES IN 37 YEARS

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Thu 23 May 2013, 07:52:30

C8 - They're already there. Of the 30 or so casinos in ND the tribes hold 10 of the gambling licenses. A lot of gambling parlors for a state with a total population smaller than many US cities. I’m sure there’s a lot of effort to keep as much of those high oil patch salaries from leaving the state.
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Re: FIRST US REFINERIES IN 37 YEARS

Unread postby seahorse3 » Tue 28 May 2013, 16:06:39

One could argue this is an economic "crack" in the good old USA, when "energy" states, or states with energy, begin hoarding their own production. How is this spun any other way?
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Re: FIRST US REFINERIES IN 37 YEARS

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Tue 28 May 2013, 16:50:23

We’re not there yet and it might be a while but there is some potential for it to get rather nasty on a political level. Texas still has a law on the books that allows them to force operators to reduce the flow of oil from their wells. I can’t imagine a circumstance when that would happen but it is a law that’s been tested and confirmed by the SCOTUS long ago. But the state of Texas actually owns a fair bit of the oil/NG produced in the state and as an owner has the right to do with it as they wish. That would get really nasty in bad times if they don’t let it or any products from it be shipped out of state. But as the owner it’s their call. And then there’s that under the table leverage they might use with the refiners in the state. Texas is a very business friendly state…if you don’t piss us off. LOL.
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby Subjectivist » Wed 18 Feb 2015, 20:08:21

Minor injuries were reported after a powerful explosion ripped apart structures at an oil refinery Wednesday morning and shook homes for miles around the blast site in southern Los Angeles County.
Thick smoke rose from a mangled, multiple-story portion of the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery, located south of the 405 Freeway, after the 8:50 a.m. blast, which led to an air quality advisory due to the smoke. The explosion sent ash raining down on vehicles parked near the sprawling 750-acre refinery property and caused what a worker described as intense shaking.

Fire department spokesman Steve Deuel told The Associated Press the flare system was triggered to burn off fuel that could add to the fire. He said the blast happened in a processing facility and the material involved was gasoline.
Torrance police said there were minor injuries, and "everyone is accounted for." In a statement, a public affairs official with the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery said the plant "experienced an incident" and four contractors were hospitalized "for evaluation for minor injuries."

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local ... 3021.html#
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby Tanada » Mon 25 Dec 2017, 15:31:14

South Korea is taking steps to increase their capabilities and capacity to refine oil. As the world crude supply shifts chemistry, for example with VZ Extra Heavy returning to availability, the refiners will need to be flexible in how they are set up to process whatever they can get for the rest of the life of the varied refineries around the world.

South Korea's petroleum refinery industry is making large scale investments and diversifying their portfolios amid solid growth this year, market watchers said Monday.

Observers said that the move comes as companies want to capitalize on recent gains and better insulate themselves from uncertainties going forward.

S-Oil Corp., which is controlled by Saudi Arabia's Aramco, has set its eyes on completing its residue upgrading complex and olefin downstream complex in the first half of 2018. The company is investing 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) into the development projects.

S-Oil said that the investment, the largest single injection of funds in an oil refinery project in the country comes as it aims to maintain its competitiveness in the market and overcome any managerial challenges that may arise.

"Once complete, S-Oil will have one of the most efficient refinery operations in the world that can reduce costs and boost its standing among rivals," a corporate source said.

GS Caltex Corp. another major refiner here that has poured some 11.3 trillion won into facility upgrades from 2000 through 2016, said it is considering making more investments. The company started work on a biobutanol plant that will go into operation next year.

The refiner said it plans to make more investments into non-oil refining operations down the line.

Others such as Hyundai Oilbank Co. that partnered with Lotte Chemical Corp. to inject 1.2 trillion won last year to build a new mixed xylene production process said its operating profits up till the third quarter stood at close to 200 billion won.

Hyundai Oilbank also said that it plans to inject 570 billion won this year to upgrade its existing facilities.

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's top refiner, meanwhile, is swiftly moving to diversify its portfolio.

Sources said the company is moving into electric car batteries and even information electronics areas.

Its top executives said earlier this year that SK Innovation must seek new growth engines going forward by making timely investments in chemicals and other area.

The company announced plans to inject 2 trillion won into batteries and chemicals. Adding the 1.3 trillion won worth of investment in petroleum refining the company is expected to pour more than 3 trillion won into strengthening its current business and expanding into new sectors.

SK Innovation has bought foreign companies such as the chemical unit of Dow Chemical and acquired the U.S. company's global ethylene acrylic acid business for $370 million.

In the battery field, the company is building various plants that can allow it to tap into the fast growing market.

SK Innovation said that while it is diversifying, it is committed to raising its competitiveness in its core business. It already announced a 1 trillion won plan to upgrade its plant in Ulsan 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The plant will get a vacuum residue desulfurization facility. (Yonhap)


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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Mon 22 Jan 2018, 18:28:44

This may come under the category of one of the scariest sentences in the English language: "We're from the govt and are here to help you". LOL.

Long complex story. The short version: the refinery owes the feds 100's of $millions by not complying with the govt requirement that its gasoline/diesel contain a certain % of biofuel. The plant lacks the infrastructure to do so and has to buy "RIN's": "renewable identification numbers" which the company was forced to buy under a federal program that has cost $832 million since 2012, the court filing shows. The purchases create an “unpredictable, escalating and unintended compliance burden" that amount to twice the cost of payroll and almost 1-1/2 times capital expenditures, the company said." Which has led to the following:

"Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC, owner of an oil refinery that supplies more than a quarter of the U.S. east coast’s crude refining capacity, filed for bankruptcy with a plan that could allow it to shed some environmental costs. The restructuring would allow PES to emerge a new company with the same stakeholders, according to the firm’s chief executive. Court filings show it intends to do so through a sale that will erase $300 million to $350 million of compliance costs. Those expenses helped spur the Chapter 11 filing by PES, which runs the largest oil refinery serving the New York Harbor gasoline and diesel market. It’s a joint venture between Carlyle Group LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP subsidiary Sunoco Inc"

And one interesting twist: the company's creditors support the bankruptcy filing. Apparently due to the fear that not relieving the refinery of the compliance cost could lead to the company filing Chapter 7 and being liquidated. An event that east coast competitors would welcome.

As I outlined elsewhere Chapter 11 bankruptcy was designed by the federal govt to save a corporation, the jobs of the employees and the company's contribution to our economy. And in this case would help keep the price of east coast motors fuels lower by preserving competition. Here's the long version of the story: https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/bigge ... 2-article/
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby Outcast_Searcher » Sat 27 Jan 2018, 18:17:17

ROCKMAN wrote:And one interesting twist: the company's creditors support the bankruptcy filing. Apparently due to the fear that not relieving the refinery of the compliance cost could lead to the company filing Chapter 7 and being liquidated. An event that east coast competitors would welcome.

No doubt, the NIMBY liberal types who think all FF's should magically quit being used tomorrow (with no impact to anyone but evil investors, of course) would love to see the Chapter 7 BK.

Even while they drive their giant SUV, their boat, fly internationally on vacations, and fill their McMansion with all manner of consumer goods. Because, it's all the evil oil industry's fault, and consumers aren't the problem. LOL

(Oh, and without the cost of gasoline increasing. Some of my friends with the most radical far left ideals, like the government giving everyone who "needs one" a free car, go full-on Turrets when the price of gasoline reaches a price they find unacceptable. After all, they feel the need to drive a lot.)
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sun 28 Jan 2018, 22:38:22

Outcast - Yep, just basic human nature. Doesn't matter the industry or the commodity. And I doubt most of the folks you refer to aren't fully aware of the connectivity of those dynamics. It's just that hitting those points within their social circles don't play well to the audience.

Just look at how some here react (or ignore) when I state the undeniable FACT: the great majority of GHG is DIRECTLY generated by individual consumers of fossil fuels. And added to that is the amount of GHG generated for their benefit such as utility providers. These folks have no choice but ignore the resistance to be NG pipelines in New England despite the fact that the surge in US NG is coming from the Marcellus Shale in their region. So now we see reports of LNG being shipped half way around the world and being delivered to Boston. And it's Russian LNG. That doesn't fit well with their condemnation of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Especially since part of the motivation of the Russian move was to take over some offshore NG reserves belonging to the Ukraine.
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby Tanada » Tue 11 Dec 2018, 15:48:45

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico plans to start awarding the construction of its seventh refinery as soon as March 2019, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday at an event at the Dos Bocas port in Tabasco, even as the nation´s refining system is operating at its lowest levels in three decades.

Unveiling a plan for the nation’s refining system, Lopez Obrador said Mexico will invest $8 billion in the new processing facility at Dos Bocas. "We are going to start the bidding process for the refinery by March at latest," he said to a cheering crowd in the sun-drenched town in the Gulf of Mexico, reiterating his intentions to boost fuel self-sufficiency and end long-term declines in oil output. Mexico’s oil production, on track for its 14th consecutive yearly decline, will rise "realistically" to 2.4 million barrels a day by 2024, he said.

Lopez Obrador said a lot of 566 hectares of federal land is ready for the new plant, which will have crude processing capacity of 340,000 barrels a day, making it Mexico’s biggest refinery. It will include 17 processing plants, and 93 storage tanks or facilities, and link up to the Dos Bocas maritime terminal. A pipeline will be built connecting the refinery to the port.

Mexico’s president, known as AMLO, isn’t done. On Monday, he said he’ll reveal Saturday plans to increase oil production, during a trip to the southeastern state of Campeche. AMLO last week called for a hiatus on oil auctions until foreign companies show results from the previously awarded contracts.

Companies such as Ica Fluor, a joint venture between Mexico’s Empresas ICA SAB and Fluor Corp. in the U.S., and U.S.-based Bechtel Group Inc., have previously expressed interest in participating in the public tender for the refinery project. Lopez Obrador didn´t say if the state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, will operate the new facility.

"In three years we will be producing the gasoline that we consume in the country, so that now we can lower the prices of the fuel," he said.

Lopez Obrador also said the government will increase Pemex’s budget by 75 billion pesos for 2019 so the company will be able to invest in a series of new projects to improve its operations. He reiterated his government will submit the 2019 budget to the Congress on December 15 and said the nation won’t use the oil contingency fund to finance the new oil policy.
Refinery work

Lopez Obrador said Pemex will overhaul its six refineries and bring gasoline production up to 600,000 barrels a day by mid-2020, according to an emailed statement from the energy ministry. In October, Pemex produced 171,700 barrels a day of gasoline.

The Salamanca refinery will undergo work to bring capacity to 75 percent by the end of next year. Pemex will replace an FCC unit and rehabilitate the Mina 1 unit at the Minatitlan refinery to increase capacity by mid-2019. The Madero plant, which has undergone an intensive maintenance cycle this year, will start operating again in January.

Cadereyta and Salina Cruz will require extensive maintenance, with the latter expected to reach 70 percent of capacity in December next year. At Tula, where a joint-venture for a coker unit has yet to be finalized, the government will restart the H-Oil unit.


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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby rockdoc123 » Tue 11 Dec 2018, 23:05:06

didn't take Obrador long to do exactly what he said he was going to do....use gov't investment to make Pemex a big deal once again.
I have mixed thoughts about this a while ago thinking his main plan was to oust the foreign companies from all E&P and give it back to Pemex who screwed it up in the first place. But Pemex's problems were always about being underfunded by the government and continually having their budget raided when the Feds needed more pesos. As well Pemex employees viewed their jobs as lifetime appointments and would never do anything other than the least amount of work (or initiative shown) to make sure they got their salaries. I think putting more onus on Pemex with regards to downstream is a good thing, it can help alleviate the amount of imports they have to do and perhaps start to retool Pemex to behave like a regular independent. The word I get from my North American contacts who have concessions recently granted in Mexico is that Obrador has said he will not revoke their rights and has no intention of making their lives more difficult through new regulations (I guess we shall see).
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Re: Refinery news (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Wed 12 Dec 2018, 13:02:51

The key for Pemex IMHO is refining. Some time ago Mexico began spending more to import refinery products then it was receiving for exporting oil. Not sure of the numbers today but if Mexico had sufficient refining capacity they might drop rather low on the list of oil exporting countries.

Consider the US: while we import a relatively large volume of oil we also export a large volume of refinery products. In fact the US is the largest refinery product exporting country on the planet. Consider how that helps our trade deficit.
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