Sulphur Industry News

Private equity consortium to buy DuPont Clean Technologies

An international private equity consortium including BroadPeak Global LP, Asia Green Fund, and The Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (‘Dussur’) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Clean Technologies business of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. for $510 million. As part of the transaction, Tensile Capital Management LP is providing preferred equity financing. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Since first producing sulphuric acid catalyst in 1925, DuPont Clean Technologies has become a global leader in catalyst and process technologies to produce and regenerate sulphuric acid, hydroprocessing technology to desulphurise motor fuels, alkylation technology to produce clean gasoline and air pollution control systems for refineries and chemical facilities.

Nadim Qureshi, co-founder and managing partner of BroadPeak Global, said, “We are excited to have this mission-critical business in our portfolio. We intend to build on this strong foundation and further expand the business with the support of management and our strategic partners.”

Eli Ben-Shoshan, Global Business Director of DuPont Clean Technologies, and future CEO of the intended independent business, said: “I’m extremely proud of the global capabilities and deep expertise of the DuPont Clean Technologies team. We believe this transaction will further strengthen our extensive global relationships to best serve our customers around the world, and I look forward to working with the consortium members to accelerate our growth.”

AUSTRALIA

SRU issues at Orbost gas plant

Australia’s APA Group has told investors that it is likely to take a pre-tax non-cash impairment of around A$249 million (US$194 million) due to issues experienced with the commissioning of its Orbost gas plant in the state of Victoria. APA said the impairment reflects increased capital expenditure and reassessment of the plant’s future cash flows following commissioning work last year.

Orbost handles production from the Cooper Energy-operated Sole gas field, however, performance of the plant has been impaired by foaming in the sulphur recovery unit’s two absorbers. This saw APA undertake works in November and December to reconfigure the absorbers to enable their operation either independently, in parallel or in series.

“The impairment charge reflects the continuation of production levels and expenditure based on the current performance of the asset since re-configuration and resumption of processing at the processing plant,” APA said. APA bought the mothballed Orbost plant from Cooper Energy in 2017, with the former carrying out upgrades to the plant. However, the plant is yet to achieve peak production.

INDONESIA

Shell to license technology for new refinery

PT Pertamina Rosneft Pengolahan dan Petrokimia (PT PRPP) has signed a licensing and basic engineering agreement to apply Shell Catalysts and Technologies processes at a new refinery in Tuban, Java. The new grassroot refinery project will have a crude processing capacity of 300,000 bbl/d according to Shell, as well as a petrochemicals complex designed to produce more than 1.0 million t/a of ethylene, 1.3 million t.a of aromatic hydrocarbons, and 650,000 t/a of polyethylene. PT PRPP will use Shell’s distillate hydrotreating process for the catalytic removal of sulphur from diesel fractions of crude oil.

“We are grateful that PT PRPP has selected Shell Catalysts and Technologies for their major grassroots refinery and petrochemical complex, which is a testament to the technology offerings of Shell Catalysts and Technologies and our owner-operator experience enabling PT PRPP to achieve a high return on investment,” said Gurminder Singh, technology licensing director with Shell Catalysts and Technologies. The refinery is expected to be completed in 2025.

ITALY

ISAB to revamp hydrotreater

DuPont Clean Technologies has signed a contract with ISAB Srl to revamp the refinery’s existing trickle bed diesel hydro-treater at the Priolo Refinery in Siracusa, using IsoTherming ® hydroprocessing technology. ISAB commissioned the project to increase unit capacity to a target of 205 m3/hr (31,000 bbl/d), while also extending catalyst cycle length.

IsoTherming ® uses a novel liquid-phase reactor system which DuPont says offers advantages over conventional hydroprocessing technologies in that it uses hydrogen and catalyst more efficiently, enabling refiners to produce low sulphur fuels that comply with increasingly stringent environmental requirements. It can cope with a wide range of feedstocks, from kerosene to vacuum gas oil, including 100% light cycle oil. Utility savings of 30-60% and capital cost savings of up to 30% can be achieved compared to trickle bed technologies.

The hydrotreater is due to start-up by 2024.

LITHUANIA

Alkylation unit for Mažeikiai refinery

DuPont Clean Technologies will supply ORLEN Lietuva in Lithuania with licensing, engineering, and technical services for a STRATCO ® alkylation unit and MECS ® spent acid regeneration unit at the Mažeikiai refinery. The refinery processes an average of 8 million t/a of crude with a capacity of up to 10 million t/a of crude. In order to increase refinery complexity and flexibility, ORLEN has commissioned an alkylation unit with 240,000 t/a (6,000 bbl/d) alkylate capacity. The alkylation unit will use LPG in the conversion to alkylate. The 75,000 t/d spent acid regeneration unit, also under license from DuPont, will provide the refinery with a consistent supply of sulphuric acid, used as catalyst for the alkylation unit, while ensuring compliance with the region’s stringent emission regulations.

AZERBAIJAN

Tecnimont wins SOCAR EPC contracts

Maire Tecnimont subsidiaries Tecnimont and KT-Kinetics Technology have been awarded two engineering, procurement and construction contracts by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) for the modernisation and reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery at Baku. The overall contracts’ value equals to approximately $160 million. The first contract covers the installation of an FCC gasoline hydrotreating unit, while the other is for to the installation of an LPG (mercaptan oxidation unit and an amine treatment and LPG pre-treatment unit. These units are crucial for upgrading the quality of gasoline produced by the refinery to meet a Euro-V standard. The projects are expected to be completed respectively within 33 months and 26 months from the signing date.

Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont Group CEO, commented: “We are really honoured to once again put our technological expertise at the service of an historical and prestigious client such as SOCAR, thus consolidating our successful, long-time collaboration aimed at unlocking greater value in Azerbaijan’s downstream value chain. This achievement lets us foster a mutually beneficial relationship and paves the way to future growth, confirming the reliability of our technology-driven strategy.”

SOUTH AFRICA

Investigation into alleged sulphur release

Sasol’s complex at Secunda has been blamed for a ‘sulphur smell’ that stretched as far as Johannesburg, 60 km away. South Africa’s Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries said that its preliminary investigations showed elevated levels of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide in the air, and said they were “most likely” to have emanated from Secunda.

In a statement, Sasol said that operations at Secunda “have been stable with no operational incidents that have/could have resulted in an increase in sulphur emissions. High resolution analysers (on point sources), which monitor our emissions, report levels below the limits prescribed by our atmospheric emissions licenses under which we operate.”

It added that it was “committed to improving air quality in the areas within which we operate and has initiated an investigation to assist in identifying the area of origin of the sulphur odour experienced in the Highveld region. To this end, we are gathering and assessing data on atmospheric conditions in the region over the last few days. An initial review of data from the South African Weather Service’s ambient air quality monitoring stations, as well as those managed by Sasol, indicate no exceedance of sulphur ambient air quality standard limits as set by government.”

INDIA

Prime Minister dedicates new oil and gas projects

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Ramanathapuram-Thoothukudi natural gas pipeline and associated gasoline desulphurisation unit at the Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd (CPCL) Manali refinery on February 17th. He also laid a foundation stone for the new Cauvery basin refinery at Nagapattinam. The 143km Ramanathapuram-Thoothukudi section of the Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengaluru-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin gas pipeline is now mechanically complete. Once operational it will take gas from ONGC gas fields and deliver it gas as feedstock to the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp. Ltd. (SPIC) site at Tuticorin as well as other industrial/commercial customers in the region. The gasoline desulphurisation unit at CPCL will produce low (<8 ppm) sulphur gasoline. The 9 million t/a refinery at Nagapattinam, meanwhile, a joint venture between the Indian Oil Company (IOCL) and CPCL, will produce gasoline and diesel to Bharat-VI specifications, as well as polypropylene as a value-added product.

The dedications were part of a slew of oil and gas project inaugurations that Modi has lent his presence to over the past couple of months, including a second 270,000 t/a catalytic dewaxing unit at IOCL’s Haldia refinery, and the 348km Dobhi-Durgapur gas pipeline, part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project to feed the HURL Sindri urea plant, and an LPG import terminal at Haldia built by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

IOC’s refinery at Gujarat

PHOTO: IOC

IOC looking to sell hydrogen and sulphur recovery facilities

The Indian Oil Company reportedly plans to monetise its hydrogen-producing facilities to raise about $1.37 billion, according to local press reports. The state-owned giant is the largest refiner in India and operates one third of India’s refining capacity. It is also India’s largest producer of hydrogen producer. It now aims to hive off some of its hydrogen plants and sulphur recovery facilities at its refineries as a separate company which will then be part-sold to private investors.

The Indian government is looking to sell stakes in various on-core assets of state-owned oil and gas companies, and has proposed selling shares in pipelines owned by IOC, the Gas Association of India Ltd (GAIL) and Hindustan Petroleum, raising $2.3 billion. Around half of this would come from sale of IOC assets. It is suggested that IOC’s offer to sell hydrogen and SRU capacity may be an attempt to deflect any sale of its pipeline capacity, which the company wishes to avoid.

Axens selected for Numaligarh expansion project

Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), a subsidiary of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, has selected Axens to supply technologies for its Numaligarh Refinery expansion project (NREP). The refinery, in the Golaghat district of Assam, was commissioned in 2000 with a capacity of 3 million t/ar to process local crude. NRL is now planning to expand refinery capacity from 3 million t/a to 9 million t/a by building a new 6 million t/a refinery with downstream grassroots facilities at the same location.

Axens has been selected by NRL to license a naphtha hydrotreating unit, a continuous catalytic reforming unit, a C5-C6 isomerisation unit, and a FCC gasoline selective desulphurisation (Prime-G+) unit. The scope of work includes supply of the basic engineering design package, catalysts and adsorbents, proprietary equipment, training and technical services.

Axens’ Process Licensing executive vice president Patrick Sarrazin said: “The expansion of the Numaligarh Refinery will help NRL to meet growing domestic demand for clean fuels reaching BS VI specifications. We are delighted to support NRL by supplying our extensive refining technology expertise, global capabilities in basic engineering design, catalysts, equipment and services.”

COLOMBIA

Ecopetrol plans Barrancabermeja refinery revamp

State-owned Ecopetrol says that it will invest $777 million over the next two years to upgrade and modernise its Barrancabermeja refinery. The works will be aimed at improving water conservation, reducing emissions and raising the quality of fuels, according to an Ecopetrol statement. Initiatives include an upgrade of the refinery’s wastewater treatment plant, the refurbishment of water segregation collectors and a sulphur emission control project. The company also aims to update and expand the facility’s hydrocracking unit, allowing it to reduce sulphur content in gasoline to 30 ppm in 2025 and 10 ppm in 2030. Barrancabermeja is Colombia’s largest oil refinery, with a capacity of 225,000 bbl/d.

BELARUS

Hydrocracking plant commissioning

Mozyr Oil Refinery says that it is in the process of commissioning its new heavy oil hydrocracking complex, although cold weather has restricted pipeline testing. The heavy oil hydrocracking complex is the company’s largest ever investment project, with a cost put at $1.4 billion. It comprises an integrated hydrocracking unit, a hydrogen plant, a sulphur recovery unit, and 21 off-plant facilities.

MALAYSIA

Sour gas project moving ahead

Petronas is moving ahead with its large Kasawari sour gas field development offshore of Bintulu, Sarawak. The company says that it is performing pre-installation surveys for the transportation and installation of the 8,600 tonne Kasawari wellhead platform which is due to be in place by the end of March. Dutch marine company Heerema Marine Contractors last year won a substantial sub-contract for the transportation and installation of the Kasawari offshore structures – the central processing platform, wellhead platform, flare structure and two bridges. Heerema will execute the transportation and installation contract in two phases, starting with the wellhead platform later this year and the other structures in 2022. Petronas is is targeting production of 900 million cfd of gas at peak.

MEXICO

New gas sweetening plant

Malaysian-based Coastal Contracts Bhd together with its Mexican joint venture partner Grupo Empresarial Alfair SAPI, says it has secured an EPC contract to build a $45 million gas processing plant in Mexico. The onshore gas sweetening plant will be constructed at the Ixachi field in Veracruz, for Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and will have a processing capacity of up to 180 million scf/d of wet sour gas. The Ixachi field has reserves of 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and is the largest onshore discovery in Mexico in the past 25 years.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Bids submitted for Hail and Ghasha development

EPC contractors have submitted commercial bids to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for the four main EPC packages of the estimated $15 billion Hail and Ghasha offshore sour gas field development projects. According to the original Hail and Ghasha project plan, the four main EPC packages, their estimated contract values and the contracting entities bidding for each, are:

Package 1 (offshore) – circa $3 billion: Saipem/UAE National Petroleum Construction Co; McDermott/Tecnicas Reunidas; Archirodon/Sinopec Engineering; Petrofac.

Package 2 (offshore) – circa $2 billion: Petrofac/Samsung Engineering; Saipem/ China Petroleum Engineering & Construction/NPCC; Hyundai Engineering & Construction; Archirodon/Sinopec Engineering.

Package 3 (onshore) – circa $1-2 bill– ion: Samsung Engineering/Petrofac; Archirodon/Sinopec Engineering/Consolidated Contractors Company; Dodsal; Tecnimont.

Package 4 (onshore) – circa $4-6 billion: Petrofac/Samsung Engineering; Tecnicas Reunidas/McDermott; Tecnimont/ Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering; Saipem/CPECC.