Inspectioneering’s first-ever Industry Spotlight features Ryan Streeter, Divisional VP of Digital Operations for MISTRAS Group, joining us to talk about their new digital solution for inspection reporting, MISTRAS Digital®.

The CSB has released an animation detailing the events leading up to the February 8, 2017 explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder, Louisiana, pulp and paper mill. The incident killed three contract workers and injured seven.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new 8-minute safety video describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The video, entitled "Fire in Baton...

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 3-minute animation describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The fire erupted during maintenance...

This white paper from the experts at Becht demonstrates how the use of risk-based work selection can result in significant reductions in turnaround work scope.

This white paper from PK Technology discusses the importance of having a long-term strategy in place for managing piping and structural steel coatings in your facilities.

LyondellBasell Industries said its Houston refinery would operate at about 80% of 263,776 barrel-per-day capacity in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Indonesia's Kilang Pertamina Internasional aims to finish revamping its petrochemical plant Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) in the fourth quarter.

Petrobras will make a scheduled maintenance stoppage at its Gabriel Passos Refinery (Regap) in Minas Gerais state.

Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will delay the maintenance at its refinery until next year.

U.S. oil refiners are dialing back operating runs this quarter after sky-high utilization rates last year, and aim to operate at between 85% and 89% of capacity, according to company outlooks and analysts’ estimates.

Our proprietary furnace tube inspection system, FTIS is an ultrasonic inspection technology capable of rapid, automated fired heater coil inspection in refinery fired heaters. The data captured by our furnace tube inspection system is...

ExxonMobil is performing planned maintenance on several units at its Baytown complex in Texas, it said on Monday.

Shell Plc shut the GO-1 olefins unit in the chemical plant at its Norco, Louisiana, refining and chemical plant complex, said people familiar with plant operations on Monday.

Hungarian oil and gas group MOL said on Thursday that its Danube refinery in Szazhalombatta was still operating at 50-55% capacity due to maintenance while the Druzhba pipeline that brings Russian crude was also working with reduced capacity.

Italy's Eni plans partial maintenance at its 200,000 barrel per day Sannazzaro oil refinery over six weeks.

Indian Oil Corp plans maintenance at its 300,000 bpd Panipat refinery in northern India, which includes a shutdown of a naphtha hydrocracker for about 80 days and half of its crude processing for about a month, sources said.

AET is a powerful, non-intrusive inspection technique to verify the structural integrity of pressure vessels, spheres, high-temperature reactors and piping, coke drums, above-ground storage tanks, cryogenic storage tanks, and more.

Cargill is upgrading its St. Martin Parish facility that produces food, water conditioning, and salt products for a variety of industries.

Shell on Tuesday said it plans to shut for two weeks in September a key crude oil pipeline in Gulf of Mexico that supplies oil to Louisiana refineries.

Suncor Energy Inc on Monday said that operations at its 98,000 barrel-per-day Commerce City, Colorado, refinery have returned to normal following an earlier equipment malfunction.

Motiva Enterprises plans to overhaul the second largest crude distillation unit (CDU) and a catalytic reformer at its 626,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery beginning as early as Sept. 19, said sources familiar with the company's plans on Friday.

The International Pressure Equipment Integrity Association (IPEIA) Conference and Exhibition will be held from February 27 to March 2, 2023 at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alberta, Canada.

Auto-refrigeration can impose low temperatures onto process vessels and piping causing them to be at risk of brittle fracture, the sudden break-before leak phenomena that can result in catastrophic rupture of the equipment.

PBF Energy plans to overhaul a crude distillation unit (CDU), coker and cat feed hydrotreater in October at its 190,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery, said sources familiar with the company’s plans.

Iranian state firms have started preparations to revamp Venezuela's largest oil refinery, the 955,000-barrel-per-day Paraguana Refining Center, four people close to the talks said, following a contract to repair its smallest facility.

Exxon Mobil Corp plans to complete an overhaul of a gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery by April 5, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday.

Chevron Corp plans to begin an overhaul of the crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 245,271 barrel-per-day Richmond, California, refinery in mid-April.

Becht is pleased to introduce Becht Industrial Group to its trusted clients. Becht Industrial Group (BIG) was formed in 2021 as a mechanical contractor specializing in turnarounds, major maintenance activities, and other schedule-driven projects.

FFS assessment techniques are applicable to a wide range of damage types: LTA's, cracks, creep damage, dents, and more. These are very powerful analytical tools that often allow operators to not only keep the plant running, but to keep it running...

TotalEnergies SE shut a gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) and small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur refinery in Texas on Saturday, said sources familiar with plant operations.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued a new rule that extends more stringent pipeline Integrity Management Program requirements to hazardous liquid pipelines near sensitive waterways.

After a year and a half of Covid-related demand destruction, an onslaught of hurricanes, and a deadly freeze on the Gulf Coast, the U.S. refining market seems to be turning the corner.

TotalEnergies SE (TTEF.PA) began restarting the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Wednesday, sources familiar with plant operations said.

Shell plans to begin restarting several major processing units at its 230,611 bpd Norco Refinery in the coming week after being idled for two months by Hurricane Ida.

In today's chemical and refining industries, sustained long term reliability of facilities is critical to profitability and competitiveness. In fact, history shows that differences in operating expenses between best-in-class refineries, and poor...

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bp plans to invest $269 million in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state, aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions, and increasing its renewable diesel production capability.

weavix™ launches industry’s first Internet of Workers (IoW) platform, focusing on the needs of frontline workers who have traditionally been neglected by technological innovation.

An explosion at around 11:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 27th at Westlake Chemical's Lake Charles Petrochemical Complex left six people injured.

The scheduled maintenance turnaround at Neste’s Porvoo refinery in Finland is now successfully completed and production has started at the refinery.

Are you truly prepared for your next Turnaround? Effective work processes are required to successfully plan, manage, review and supervise plant turnarounds. Inspection planning and work scope selection are critical aspects of any turnaround...

Exxon restarted the small crude distillation unit at its 502,500 barrel-per-day Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery on Thursday, following a month of planned maintenance work.

Reliance Industries forced to shut FCCU at Jamnagar Refinery for maintenance.

ExxonMobil recently announced that the company will move forward with a $247 million investment into capital improvements at its 500,000 bpd Baton Rouge Refinery.

Eneos Corporation, Japan's biggest refiner, is dealing with outages and maintenance events at several of its refineries.

Absorbing refining business technology and expertise now, analysts say, holds the key to the success of Pemex's $596 million deal to acquire Shell's stake in the Deer Park Refinery.

Pinnacle's data-driven reliability framework ensures the right data is fueling the right intelligence, helping you make confident, strategic decisions.

Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp said on Tuesday it had started a 5.17 billion yuan ($811 million) refinery upgrade at a subsidiary plant in eastern China that aims to produce cleaner fuels and boost output of higher-value chemicals.

Brazil’s Petrobras said on Monday in a securities filing that it will invest $300 million through 2025 to improve the efficiency of its refineries, an initiative the company is calling RefTOP.

India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp.'s Mumbai refinery will start full scale operation at a higher capacity of 190,000 bpd by end-June or in July, its chairman M. K. Surana said on Thursday.

Four U.S. Gulf Coast refineries slowed production on Tuesday as heavy rains fell, flooding areas across East Texas and Louisiana this week.

Equinor must fix a series of rule breaches exposed by a fire at its Melkoeya LNG plant in Norway last September for the plant to reopen, the country’s safety watchdog said on Thursday.

Traditional pressure vessel inspections often require taking assets out of service. However, MISTRAS’ Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) programs provide data as good or better than internal inspections, while assets remain in service. NII is...

Lyondell Basell Industries shut the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston oil refinery on Tuesday to begin repairs to the cooling water system.

Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to shut several units at its 585,000 barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in mid-February for a planned overhaul.

The Peruvian government authorized state-run Petroperú to issue up to $1 billion in bonds to complete the modernization of the country’s largest refinery, a resolution from the Ministry of Economy said on Tuesday.

Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt, seven sources familiar with the discussions said.

Three naphtha crackers in South Korea, one of Asia’s largest petrochemical centers, are to resume operations in December and January after months of maintenance and outages, company officials said on Tuesday.

Traditional, paper-based inspection processes can prevent plants from being as effective as they can be. By digitalizing your mechanical integrity process and data with MISTRAS Digital®, plants have realized up to 75% gains in IDMS data entry and...

Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it plans to carry out major maintenance work on an undisclosed unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands from mid-October to end November.

PinnacleART is proud to announce that Ralph Stevens, principal reliability consultant, recently earned the distinguished Certified Asset Management Assessor (CAMA) certification.

Storm-tossed U.S. offshore energy producers and exporters began clearing debris on Thursday from Hurricane Sally and booting up idle Gulf of Mexico operations after hunkering down for five days.

Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to restart a 200,000 barrels per day crude unit at its 310,000 bpd Kochi refinery in southern India by end of this month after a three-week maintenance shutdown, its head of refineries said.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped a leak on Tuesday in the shut gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.

Antea delivers highly flexible risk-based asset integrity software with 3D Digital Twin integration to optimize maintenance, reduce risk, and improve mechanical integrity for oil and gas, power generation, and chemical plants and facilities....

U.S. refineries have sustained fewer mechanical outages as production has fallen because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, according to data from energy intelligence service Industrial Info Resources.

Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex in western Gujarat, will shut one of its crude refining units at its export-focused plant in the fourth week of July for 3-4 weeks of maintenance.

Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to finish a multi-unit overhaul in late July at its 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, said sources familiar with plant operations.

U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp is delaying all maintenance projects at its 102,000 barrel-per-day St. Paul Park, Minnesota, refinery for 2020, a source familiar with the matter said, amid concerns related to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The cost of overhauling a long-idled Caribbean oil refinery has nearly doubled to about $2.7 billion, said people familiar with the matter, as it prepares to start commercial operations amid an oversupplied fuel market.

The OmniScan™ X3 64 phased array and TFM flaw detector is equipped with enhanced phased capabilities and even faster TFM. The rugged and portable instrument features powerful 64-element probes with a 128-aperture TFM.

Marathon Petroleum Corp has shut the hydrocracker and alkylation unit at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas as part of a multi-unit overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has begun a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown.

The 33rd annual Pipeline Pigging and Integrity Management (PPIM) Conference and Exhibition is now accepting papers for the 2021 event.

Kuibyshev oil refinery, owned by Russian energy giant Rosneft, has halted operations for maintenance from April 15 until June 1, according to Refinitiv Eikon data citing the energy ministry.

Shell plans to start large-scale maintenance of its Pernis refinery in the Netherlands in mid-April, more than two weeks earlier than previously planned.

Ethos has assembled a team of experts who apply what they learned through years of process safety experience in the industry and dealing with OSHA and EPA. Click here to learn more about our services.

Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp plans to operate its refinery at a reduced rate after completing maintenance at some units later this month amid weak margins, its company spokesman said on Monday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Husky Energy has elected to suspend rebuilding its oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, that was damaged by an explosion and fire two years ago, the company announced Tuesday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the related exceptional and extensive measures, the implementation of the major turnaround 2020 of the Porvoo refinery as originally planned has been delayed.

Lyondell Basell Industries said maintenance operations were staffed at its Houston refinery to assure safety and reliability.

Shell has shut a coker at the company's 225,300 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery for planned maintenance on the unit’s furnaces, according to sources familiar with plant operations.

Traditional inspection methods used to detect internal corrosion and corrosion under insulation (CUI) in piping and pipeline assets can be time-consuming and costly. With ART, you’ll discover CUI detection best practices that can help save you up...

Shell has restarted a catalytic reformer at its 211,270 bpd refinery in Convent, Louisiana after repairing damage caused by a fire on February 16th.

Lyondell Basell Industries restarted a large crude distillation unit at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery last Thursday after the unit had been shut the week prior for maintenance.

Motiva Enterprises plans to finish shutting down the gasoline-producing unit at its 607,000 barrel-perday (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday to begin a planned overhaul of the unit, sources familiar with plant operations said.

On Monday, Exxon Mobil Corp began restarting the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery.

Vietnam’s $9 billion Nghi Son refinery will be fully operational this week following a shutdown in late October for major maintenance work.

With class-leading thermal performance, superior CUI defense, and complimentary engineering support, our aerogel insulation solutions are a top choice in helping facilities drive energy efficiency, improve safety, increase yields, and reduce downtime

Saudi refiner SASREF, owned by state oil giant Saudi Aramco, said two contractors had died and two more were injured in “an incident” during maintenance work on Sunday, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Husky Energy has received the required permit approvals to begin reconstruction activities at its damaged Superior Refinery. The rebuild will take place over the next two years with an expected return to full operations in 2021.

BP Plc began a planned overhaul on Wednesday of the small gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery

Total plans to return the 66,000 bpd Diesel Hydrotreater 3, which was shut on Aug. 20, to production later on Monday, sources said. Total has repeatedly pushed back the restart date as repairs have taken longer than expected to complete.

Dow recently announced it will retrofit proprietary fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) technology into one of its mixed-feed crackers in Plaquemine, Louisiana, to produce on-purpose propylene.

Oceaneering's splash zone inspection services will help you confidently detect flaws and accurately extend asset life with our comprehensive inspection and fitness-for-service maintenance plans.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc will begin restarting units at its Norco, Louisiana chemical and refining facilities this week following overhauls.

Motiva Enterprises returned two crude distillation units (CDUs) back to normal operations at its 607,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery over the weekend.

Motiva Enterprises plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.

Valero Energy Corp shut a hydrocracking unit (HCU) and sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at its 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday.

The government of Aruba said on Monday it will form an advisory committee to decide the future of a 209,000-barrel-per-day refinery that remains idled amid sanctions on operator Citgo Petroleum’s parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Secure your NDT data with our DIMATE PACS solution, which we can install on-premises or run as a cloud service for you. If you would like to reliably store and retrieve your inspection data, contact us at buddy@dimate.de!

United Rentals' charity sporting clays tournament raises $20,000 for local veterans organization Fisher House.

U.S. oil refiners are planning a heavy slate of plant overhauls in the second quarter, with total production this month off 8.5 percent compared with the start of the year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd plans to shut a 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude unit and some secondary units for maintenance from mid-April for about a month, a company source said.

Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp will raise the throughput at its crude oil refinery from the second-half of April after finishing maintenance at a crude unit, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

Ecuador will launch an international bidding round for the construction of a new 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery and making upgrades to the 110,000 bpd Esmeraldas Refinery.

Aruba will resume a refurbishment project at a 209,000 barrel-per-day refinery operated by a unit of Citgo Petroleum Corp, the island’s prime minister said on Sunday, after a change to U.S. sanctions on Citgo parent PDVSA last week.

Becht has experienced outstanding growth and continues to solidify its position as a premier provider of multi-discipline Central Engineering services and serving in the owners’ role for Maintenance, Projects and Turnarounds.

A planned overhaul of the second-largest crude distillation unit at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 502,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery is expected to continue for at least five weeks.

PinnacleART has strategically partnered with Solomon Associates to build comprehensive asset assessments for facilities in the energy and chemical industries.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released an animation detailing the events leading up to the February 8, 2017 explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder, Louisiana, pulp and paper mill. The incident killed three contract...

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released its annual list of the 10 most frequently cited safety and health violations. In 2017 Fall Protection, Hazard Communication, and Scaffolding once again...

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new 8-minute safety video describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The video, entitled "Fire in Baton...

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has released a new safety bulletin covering the November 22, 2016 fire that severely burned four workers at the ExxonMobil refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 3-minute animation describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Judith G. Garber has issued Presidential permits for three NuStar Logistics, L.P. pipelines.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its findings and a safety bulletin entitled "Key Lessons for Preventing Incidents when Preparing Process Equipment for Maintenance" resulting from the 2015 hydrocarbon release and fire that injured...

Federal investigators found multiple safety violations at a South Dakota ethanol refinery expansion project after a pipefitter suffered fatal burns when ethanol spilled from a process pipe and was ignited by flames from nearby welding operations.

An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an incident that injured seven workers – including three critically – that occurred Friday August 12 at the Sunoco Logistics Partners, a terminal...

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its draft investigation report into the 2009 massive explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum, or CAPECO, terminal facility near San Juan, Puerto Rico.