Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

Middle East

Kazakhstan to upgrade, expand Pavlodar refinery

The project will boost processing capacity to 7 million metric tpy of oil, up from 5 million tpy now. The works are slated for completion in 2018. Built in 1978, Pavlodar is the largest oil refinery in Kazakhstan.

Technip, ExxonMobil to license cumene technology for Saudi Rabigh project

Technip and ExxonMobil Chemical were awarded a contract to provide proprietary technology for a 384,000 tpy cumene plant as part of the Rabigh phase two project in Saudi Arabia. The contract includes technology license, engineering, training and start-up services for the cumene plant.

Dana Gas rebuilds, expands LPG production facility near northern Iraq

Dana Gas and its partners have invested some $1 billion in Iraq's Kurdistan, where it is producing joint gas from the Khor Mor in a joint venture with Crescent Petroleum, OMV and MOL.

China's Cnooc considers investment in Uganda refinery, pipeline plan

Cnooc has expressed interest in investing in Uganda's oil refinery and a crude export pipeline. The Chinese company reportedly expressed interest in two projects following a meeting between company chairman Wang Yilin and Uganda's prime minister Amama Mbabazi.

Veolia to build Saudi desalination plant at Sadara petrochemical project

With a capacity of 178,000 m3 per day, this new plant will supply the Sadara petrochemical complex built by Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco in Jubail Industrial City II. That complex is due to come on stream in June 2015. In the project, Dow Chemical and Aramco will produce solvents and glues.

South Sudan resumes crude exports from Sudan

Landlocked South Sudan has resumed crude oil shipments from Port Sudan for the first time in 18 months, as the two former civil war foes make renewed efforts to diffuse the latest spat over the use of transit oil facilities, the main obstacle for the newly independent nation's oil exports.

Asia: Future challenges and opportunities for refining sector

Wood Mackenzie: Sivanandam, S.

Securing the right quality of crude oil, increasing refinery competitiveness and adapting to fast-changing inter-regional trade dynamics are some of the area's key challenges.

Enhance refinery profitability with modeling innovations

Aspen Technology Inc.: Beck, R.  |  Ajikutira, D.  |  Herrmann, L.  |  Ye, V.

Several improvements are on the horizon, which will add powerful optimization capabilities into the process modeler’s simulation work space in areas like heat integration, column optimization and economics.

The future of automation has arrived

Invensys Operations Management: Turk, M. A.  |  Clark, D. C.

As automation moves into asset optimization, it spans all elements of operations and can run your process as a business.

Innovative solutions for processing shale oils

Baker Hughes: Sandu, C.  |  Wright, B.

New monitoring protocols can provide advance warning of any negative aspects of shale oil processing, thus enabling the refiner to take corrective measures early.