Oil & Gas Journal's semiannual Worldwide Construction Update shows an increase in refining construction activity compared with the previous edition of the update (OGJ, Nov. 4, 2013, p. 36). Following are details from the latest survey, which is available on OGJ Online (see box).
OGJ subscribers can download free of charge the 2014 Worldwide Construction Update tables at www.ogjonline.com: Click on OGJ Subscriber Surveys, then Worldwide Construction. This link also includes previous editions of the update. Historical spreadsheets of data presented here are available for purchase from PennEnergy Research. Visit www.ogjonline.com, and click "Research" under the "OGJ Resources" tab. |
Refining
In August, Iraq started construction on a long-planned refinery in southern Karbala Province (OGJ Online, Feb. 26, 2014). The planned 140,000-b/d Karbala facility, which will contain more than 20 processing units to produce liquefied gas, gasoline, gas oil, fuel oil, jet fuel, and asphalt meeting international standards equivalent to European production, will serve growing domestic Iraqi demand, Iraq's Minister of Oil Abdulkareem Liaybi said.
The Karbala project is part of Iraq's longer-term plan to construct four refineries in an effort to add 750,000 b/d of refining capacity. The additional planned projects include a 300,000-b/d Nassiriya refinery as well as two additional refineries in Maysan and Kirkuk, each with a capacity of 150,000 b/d (OGJ Online, June 4, 2013).
Byco Oil Petroleum Ltd. commissioned its long-awaited 120,000-b/d refinery in Baluchistan Province, Pakistan (OGJ Online, Mar. 5, 2014). The refinery—now Pakistan's largest—began operations in mid-February and currently is operating at its initial capacity of 50,000 b/d, said the company.
Russia's Surgutneftegas has commissioned a 98,000-b/d hydrocracker at its 335,900-b/d Kirishinefteorgsintez refinery near St. Petersburg (OGJ Online, Jan. 2, 2014). Construction was completed and commercial operation began for the unit in December 2013, the company said. The unit, which will produce diesel and jet fuel meeting Euro 5 standards, is now Europe's largest hydrocracker, said Surgutneftegas.
Meanwhile, BP PLC brought on stream all new and reconfigured units in the modernization of its 413,000-b/d refinery at Whiting, Ind. (OGJ Online, Dec. 18, 2013). The project included a 102,000-b/d coker that came online in November 2013. A reconfigured 250,000-b/d crude unit, the largest of three at the refinery, started up in June 2013. The modernization project also included a 105,000-b/d gas oil hydrotreater and associated units. The upgrades allow the refinery to process heavy, sour crude at more than 80% of its feedstock slate. Before the project, the low-quality crude could represent only about 20% of the refinery's feed.
Husky Energy Co. approved a $300 million upgrade project at its 161,500-b/d Lima, Ohio, refinery to boost the plant's ability to process increased volumes of heavy crude from western Canada (OGJ Online, Feb. 2, 2014). The crude oil flexibility project will increase heavy crude processing capacity at the refinery by as much as 40,000 b/d starting in 2017.
The project will include modifications to the refinery's coker and other processing units targeted to enhance heavy crude feedstock processing but also will maintain the plant's capacity to refine light crudes. Engineering work on the project currently is under way, and equipment upgrades at the refinery are scheduled to occur during planned turnarounds in late-2015 and late-2016.
Petrochemicals
ExxonMobil Corp. completed and commissioned the multibillion dollar expansion of its chemical complex in Jurong Island, Singapore (OGJ Online, Jan. 8, 2014). The expansion project more than doubled the size of the plant's finished product capacity, making it the largest chemical expansion in ExxonMobil's history as well as positioning it to meet rapidly growing global chemical demand, two thirds of which will come from Asia-Pacific, the company said.
The expansion includes two polyethylene plants, a polypropylene plant, a metallocene elastomers unit, an oxo-alcohol unit, and an aromatics expansion (OGJ Online, May 30, 2013; Dec. 28, 2012). Also included is a steam cracker capable of processing a wide range of feedstock—from light gases to crude oil—to produce an expanded slate of premium and commodity petrochemicals.
Ingleside Ethylene LLC, a 50-50 joint venture of Occidental Chemical Corp. and Mexichem SAB de CV, has awarded CB&I, Houston, a construction-related contract for an ethylene cracker on the site of an OxyChem plant at Ingleside, Tex. (OGJ Online, Dec. 2, 2013).
The contract, valued at about $1 billion, is for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a 1.2-billion lb/year ethane cracker as well as associated utilities and offsites at OxyChem's existing Ingleside location. Construction is to begin in mid-2014, with commercial operations to begin in first-quarter 2017 (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2013).
LNG
In March, Cameron LNG LLC awarded CB&I and Chiyoda International Corp. a $6 billion engineering, procurement, and construction contract to build a 13.5 million tonne/year (tpy) export plant in Hackberry, La., in Cameron Parish (OGJ Online, Mar. 17, 2014).
The plant will be adjacent the existing LNG regasification terminal and consist of three liquefaction trains.
Subject to a final investment decision and acquisition of permits and financing, Cameron parent company Sempra Energy will hold an indirect 50.2% interest in Cameron and the related liquefaction project.
The remaining portion and the related liquefaction project will be owned by affiliates of GDF Suez SA, Mitsubishi Corp. (through a related company jointly established with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha), and Mitsui & Co. Ltd., each with a 16.6% stake.
Also, Trunkline LNG Co. LLC and Trunkline LNG Export LLC, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Energy Transfer Equity LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP, have submitted an application with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking its authorization for the siting, construction, ownership, and operation of the proposed Lake Charles LNG export project (OGJ Online, Mar. 24, 2014). BG Group will oversee the construction and operation of the proposed facility under a long-term agreement with Energy Transfer.
Pending final investment decisions and the receipt of all necessary approvals are expected in 2015, construction is planned to start shortly afterwards, with first LNG exports expected in second-quarter 2019. The proposed project will include the construction of three liquefaction trains and use the existing LNG storage and marine berthing facilities owned by Trunkline LNG Co. LLC. Energy Transfer has secured all property rights required for the site of the proposed liquefaction facility.
Natural gas
BP PLC awarded a $1.2 billion engineering, procurement, and construction contract to UK-based Petrofac for a central processing plant in Khazzan field in Oman (OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2014).
Scope of work includes two gas processing trains, each able to handle as much as 525 MMscfd, associated condensate processing, power generation, water treatment, and all associated utilities and infrastructure, according to Petrofac. The project is to be completed in 2017.
Meanwhile, Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP) has started operations on its latest 85,000 b/d natural gas liquids fractionator at the partnership's Mont Belvieu, Tex., complex (OGJ Online, Nov. 19, 2013).
The unit is the facility's eighth fractionator, boosting total NGL fractionation capacity at Mont Belvieu to 655,000 b/d. EPP began operations on its seventh NGL fractionator, also with 85,000 b/d capacity, in September (OGJ Online, Sept. 18, 2013).
EPP said the increased capacity allows further NGL production from shale plays such as the Eagle Ford and other basins in the Rocky Mountain and Midcontinent regions. EPP now has more than 1 million b/d of NGL fractionation capacity across its systems, the company said.
The two newest fractionators were constructed as part of a joint venture with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. unit Western Gas Partners LP. EPP operates the units and holds 75% interest while Western Gas holds the remaining 25%.
In January, Pennant Midstream announced that its 200-MMcfd Hickory Bend cryogenic natural gas processing plant in the Utica shale at New Middletown, Ohio, is ready to begin operations (OGJ Online, Jan. 7, 2014). The plant's gathering system includes about 55 miles of 20-in. and 24-in. OD wet gas gathering pipelines. These pipelines will support delivery of more than 600 MMcfd, allowing for expansion if demand warrants, and Pennant is preparing sites for two additional plants at Hickory Bend. Hickory Bend will support rich-gas production from Hilcorp Energy Co. and other producers in the area. NiSource Midstream Services LLC operates Pennant, which is jointly owned by Harvest Pipeline (an affiliate of Hilcorp) and NiSource. The initial 200-MMcfd plant cost $375 million.
Other gas, sulfur
Sasol has selected Technip as the primary contractor for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase of its proposed gas-to-liquids facility in Louisiana (OGJ Online, Nov. 25, 2013). Sasol expects to conclude the FEED phase and reach final investment decision for the GTL project in 2016, the company said.
The estimated project cost is $11-14 billion, Sasol said. In December 2012, Sasol reported its intention to build a GTL plant adjacent to its existing site near Westlake, La. (OGJ Online, Dec. 3, 2012).
The GTL plant will be the first of its kind in the US and produce 4 million tpy (96,000 b/d) of transportation fuel, including GTL diesel and other chemicals.
Sasol Canada is moving forward with its plans to bring Canada's first gas-to-liquids plant on stream by 2021 (OGJ Online, Nov. 8, 2013). The plant, in Strathcona County near Edmonton, will convert natural gas into diesel, naphtha, and other petrochemical feedstocks.
The proposed multibillion-dollar project will be built in two phases, each having a production capacity of about 52,000 b/sd for a combined capacity of 103,900 b/sd, the company said in a presentation to stakeholders and local community members. Construction on the first phase is expected to begin first-half 2018, with production to start in 2021, said Sasol.
The company said it plans to build the second phase following the start-up of first-phase production, but construction of the second phase will depend on market conditions as well as timing of the FEED phase. Sasol completed a feasibility study for the GTL plant last year and filed an environmental impact assessment with Alberta regulators in late June 2013 (OGJ Online, Dec. 3, 2012).
In Venezuela, Foster Wheeler is working on a sulfur project for PDVSA. A project in Carabobo involves a 250-tonne/day sulfur unit to be completed in 2016.
Pipelines
OAO Gazprom's board approved the signing of a contract for the laying of the first string of the South Stream gas pipeline's offshore section (OGJ Online, Mar. 11, 2014).
The contract for the first string will envisage the landfalls infrastructure development and the construction of production facilities for four offshore gas pipeline strings in the shore crossing areas in Russia and Bulgaria, Gazprom said.
South Stream's offshore section will be comprised of four parallel strings laid under the Black Sea within a single routing at the depth of more than 2,200 m. Each string will be longer than 930 km.
Gazprom plans to begin deliveries on one 15 billion cu m (bcm)/year string of South Stream by yearend 2015, with a second string bringing capacity to 30 bcm/year in 2016 (OGJ, Feb. 3, 2014, p. 97). The pipeline, which will stretch across the Black Sea to southern and central Europe with an expected capacity of 63 bcm, will reach its full design capacity in 2018.
Oneok Partners LP completed the 540-mile, 16-in. OD Sterling III NGL pipeline (OGJ Online, Apr. 23, 2014). The Sterling III pipeline can ship 193,000 b/d of either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products from Oneok's NGL infrastructure at Medford, Okla., to its storage and fractionation at Mont Belvieu. Oneok can expand the pipeline to 250,000 b/d if needed (OGJ Online, July 27, 2012). The company is reconfiguring its existing Sterling I and II pipelines to transport either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products. Sterling III and these reconfigurations cost $760-790 million.