Asia/Pacific
Asian refiners turn to Middle East’s heavy crudes over Latin America
Latin American crude sold to Asia fell 1% in the first three months of 2016 from a year ago, while Middle East exports to Asia rose 7% in the first quarter, according to new data.
Strong oil demand from China’s teapot refiners drives tanker jam
China's independent refiners, freed of government constraints after securing permission to import just last year, have gorged on plentiful low-cost crude in 2016. This has created delays for tankers that have quadrupled to between 20 to 30 days at Qingdao port in Shandong province.
China grants refiners additional fuel export quota
Gasoil makes up the bulk, or 39%, of the total volumes approved in the second round of export quotas at 5.71 million tons, followed by gasoline at 5.58 million tons.
India overhauls crude-import policy to give state refiners more leeway
The new policy puts state-owned refiners on a par with private firms such as Reliance Industries and Essar Oil that are not bound by government rules and can earn hefty refining margins.
Myanmar approves construction of $3B refinery
The Myanmar Investment Committee granted the Chinese firm Guangdong Zhenrong Energy approval to build a 100,000-bpd refinery in the southeast coastal city of Dawei.
India’s refiners to help boost imports of Iranian oil to seven-year high
Indian refiners are looking to ramp up purchases after the sanctions targeting Tehran ended in January, industry sources familiar with the matter said.
Russia’s Sibur, Sinopec eye gas-chemical project
In December, Sinopec paid $1.338 billion for a 10% stake in Russia-based Sibur and said it planned to acquire an additional 10% within three years.
Small-scale coal-to-chemicals can revitalize India’s petrochemicals industry, economy—Part 1
Contemporary routes to the production of polymers usually involve setting up world-scale ethylene crackers with typical capacities of 0.7 MMtpy–1.5 MMtpy.
Innovative design configurations for flare system reliability
The function of a flare system in a refinery or chemical plant is to collect gases released during an overpressure scenario, typically resulting from a plant upset.
Visbreaking technology: Is it obsolete, or is there potential for upgrade?
Visbreaking technology is a well-known, simple thermal cracking process for residual oils.
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