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Petrochemicals
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Petrochemicals are the chemical products derived from petroleum and natural gas at different stages in the refining process. In some instances, a specific chemical included among the petrochemicals may also be obtained from other sources, such as coal or vegetable products.
There are three primary classes of petrochemicals:
- Olefins are the basis for polymers and oligomers used in plastics, resins, fibers, elastomers, lubricants, and gels. Common olefins include ethylene, propylene, and butylene.
- Aromatics are colorless liquids that serve as the building-blocks for many of the intermediates and polymers needed to produce an array of consumer products like paints, solvents, detergents, and adhesives. Common aromatics include benzene, toluene, and xylene.
- Synthesis Gas, or SynGas, is a mixture of mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and sometimes other secondary components like carbon dioxide or methane. SynGas is primarily used to make ammonia and methanol, which are needed to produce fertilizers, oxo alcohols, and certain synthetic fuels.
The Petrochemical Industry
Petrochemical products are everywhere and are an integral part of modern society. They include plastics, fertilizers, packaging, clothing, digital devices, medical equipment, adhesives, paints, detergents, tires and many other products. They are also found in many parts of the modern energy system, including solar panels, wind turbine blades, batteries, thermal insulation for buildings, and electric vehicle parts.
According to a 2020 report from Grand View Research, the global petrochemicals market size was USD 441.0 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 5.0% through 2027. The growth of the market for petrochemicals will be driven by rising demand for downstream products from end-use industries and capacity additions in the base chemical industry.
Increasing shale gas exploration activities in the U.S. and Canada are expected to drive the growth of the market for petrochemicals in North America. The countries together accounted for above 90% of shale gas production in 2018 in North America. The shale gas boom in North America has transformed industry participants in the region from high-cost producers of petrochemicals and resins to the lowest-cost due to the reduction of raw material prices.
Petrochemical Manufacturing
Natural gas liquids and naphtha distilled from crude oil and natural gas during the refining process are generally used as feedstocks to manufacture a wide variety of petrochemicals. Plant operators use a process called cracking to turn hydrocarbons into petrochemicals like ethylene and propylene, which can then be further refined into a multitude of derivatives. These petrochemicals and their derivatives are then used to produce thousands of products that we use everyday.
References:
- Sami Matar and Lewis F. Hatch (2001), "Chemistry of Petrochemical Processes," Gulf Professional Publishing. ISBN 0-88415-315-0.
- 2018, "The Future of Petrochemicals," International Energy Agency, https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-petrochemicals.
- 2020, "Petrochemicals Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product," Grand View Research, https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/petrochemical-market.
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Articles about Petrochemicals
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January/February 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Peter Tait at Methanex
This article discusses the header specification, design, fabrication, and inspection processes to identify where opportunities were available to proactively address the vulnerabilities that resulted in the header rupture.
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BlogFebruary 27, 2020 By Inspector Frank
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September/October 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tim Haugen at Quest Integrity
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September/October 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Nugent at LPI, Inc., Steve Strachan at Sensor Networks Inc., and Art Leach at Sensor Networks Inc.
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BlogOctober 3, 2019 By Arcot (Radha) Radhakrishnan at Becht
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BlogSeptember 17, 2019 By Arcot (Radha) Radhakrishnan at Becht
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BlogJune 27, 2019 By Inspector Frank
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BlogMay 14, 2019 By Pinnacle
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BlogDecember 28, 2018 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
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November/December 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tim Hill at Quest Integrity Group
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September/October 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Nugent at LPI, Inc., and Timothy Armitt at LINDT, UK
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September/October 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy James "Chezo" Cesarini, PE at Pro-Surve Technical Services, LLC
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Vipin Nair at GE Compliance and Integrity Management, and Sarah Lukens at GE Digital
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Rami Mattar at Amerapex Corporation
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Keith Lapeyrouse at Process Reliability Solutions
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Simon Yuen, P.E. at Suncor Energy Inc., and Ken Gottselig at BP America Production Company
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
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Addressing the Great Crew Change - A Recap of the Fall 2017 Meeting of the Minds Roundtable DiscussionMarch/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tyler Alvarado at Inspectioneering
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January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ashfaq Anwer
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January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Burns at Stress Engineering Services
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January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Kyle Dunn at Dunn Heat Exchangers, Inc.
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January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
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BlogFebruary 7, 2018 By Daniel J. Grucza at Hunton & Williams LLP
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BlogDecember 29, 2017 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC., and Josh Means at Inspectioneering
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November/December 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy James R. Widrig at Quest Integrity
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Reynolds Wrap Up: Highlights from the API Subcommittee on Inspection and Mechanical Integrity (SCIMI) Meetings at the Fall 2017 API Standards MeetingBlogDecember 19, 2017 By John Reynolds at Intertek
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September/October 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Lee Williamson at T.A. Cook Consultants, Inc.
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July/August 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Rick Hoffman at Becht
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July/August 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Richard W. Prugh at Chilworth Technology (a DEKRA Insight company)
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May/June 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ryan Myers at Pinnacle, and Brian Marino at Pinnacle
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May/June 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy David E. Moore at Becht, PONO Division
Read a firsthand account of how organizing Process, People, Plant, and Performance can reveal breakdowns in your corrosion management practices and drive down corrosion related leaks.
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BlogJune 1, 2017 By Nickole C. Winnett at Jackson Lewis P.C.
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March/April 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fernando Vicente at ABB, and Laza Krstin at ABB
Myths, challenges, and good practices related to process piping integrity management activities that help inspection and maintenance managers make the right decisions to develop cost-effective piping inspection plans without compromising the...
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March/April 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Vibha Zaman, P.E. at Asset Optimization Consultants, and Leomar Penuela at Asset Optimization Consultants
This article discusses the use of the RBI methodology supplemented by a well-designed IOW program to assess and manage aging in fixed equipment and piping in hydrogen generation units.
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January/February 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Edwin A. Merrick, PE at The Augustus Group
This article presents a perspective on the human factor and emphasizes the value of using risk tools at all levels in the organization to help provide management focus during times of severe economic pressure.
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BlogJanuary 3, 2017 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
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Temporary Cooling Equipment Can Resolve Temporary Condensation Problems in Vacuum Distillation Units
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July/August 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jackson Espinoza at Sentinel Integrity Solutions
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July/August 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and Jacob Manuel, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
An overview of process piping vibration and evaluating piping systems in vibration service to reduce harmful vibrations.
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Online Article
Summertime requires refiners to push even harder on certain equipment, such as the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), alkylation unit, and reformers to be able to meet increased demand. Warmer ambient temperatures can negatively affect process...
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Advancements in Positive Material Identification Tools Bring Accuracy and Convenience to the Work SiteMarch/April 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mark Lessard at Thermo Fisher Scientific
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Online Article
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Melissa Ramkissoon at Petrotrin
In Part 1 of this 2-part series, published in the July/August 2015 issue of Inspectioneering Journal, I discussed corrosion control methods and some effective techniques for inspecting ASTs, and also identified several root causes of AST failures in...
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The enormous decline in oil prices over the past 14 months has definitely slowed projects and changed the energy and production landscape. Despite this, refineries, petrochemical plants, and chemical facilities must continue to run safely,...
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Keys to Success: How to Design and Use Effective Reliability and Integrity Program Assessments to Drive Sustainable ImprovementsJanuary/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Walt Sanford at Pinnacle, and Mauricio Olivares at Pinnacle
Equipment integrity and reliability programs are essential for refinery and chemical facility operators. The processes of the programs are developed to ensure safety, optimize component life cycles, and promote smooth and economical operations.
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dr. Jake Davies at Permasense Ltd.
Fixed equipment in a refinery can be susceptible to corrosion from the process side, necessitating an inspection strategy to understand the condition of that equipment. Online measurement of pipe and pressure vessel wall thickness is made possible...
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BlogJanuary 4, 2016 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
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Partner Content
In this interim report, Pinnacle analysts take data from the oil refining industry and dive into how that key sector is being affected by reliability today. Download your free copy!
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July/August 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Rarely is there a new and unknown cause of a major Fixed Equipment Mechanical Integrity (FEMI) failure in the petrochemical and refining industry. This article briefly summarizes five major fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) failures from...
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May/June 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Amanda Nurse at BP, and Josh Havekost at BP
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Online Article
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Walt Sanford at Pinnacle
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Andy Kates at Versa Integrity Group
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeremy Wimberly at Sentinel Integrity Solutions
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy A.C. Gysbers at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Matt Midas at GenesisSolutions
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March/April 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Nick Harwood at Aetos Group, and Aaron Cook at Aetos Group
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Pamela Hamblin at Thielsch Engineering, Inc.
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Partner Content
Download Pinnacle's Economics of Reliability Report - Refining to see how reliability is affecting profitability.
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Harold Marburger at Dunn Heat Exchangers
Whether onsite or offsite, the methods for cleaning shell and tube heat exchangers can vary. Refining and petrochemical operators will agree that high standards must be employed with each method. Choosing the right method can make the difference...
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fred Schenkelberg at FMS Reliability
Reliability engineering tools and concepts can be used to avoid or delay failures, thus increasing product service life. Design or maintenance teams use reliability engineering techniques to identify failures and their causes.
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Clint Rupert at Engineered Resin Solutions (ERS)
Epoxy products have gone through extensive research and development over the years, and have reached the point that when specified for the correct environment, they should perform exactly as intended.
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Scott Corey at Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.
One of the major challenges inspectors and plant operators face after each turnaround is to ensure that all repair and scope work is and was completed in accordance with the client’s requirements. Sometimes that verification will be to ensure work...
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Rajesh Bose at BP, and Terry M. Webb at BP
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Kelsey Hevner at Quest Integrity Group
Steam reformers are critical assets for the successful operation of hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol plants. The steam reformer is also one of the most expensive assets in these facilities. Catalyst tubes inside the reformer are one of the most...
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Gerrit Buchheim, P.E. at Becht, Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, and Josh Yoakam at Holly Frontier Companies
High temperature sulfidation is probably the most well- known corrosion mechanism in the oil refining industry because it occurs in large sections of the refinery.
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March/April 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Thomas Fortinberry at Quest Integrity Group, and James R. Widrig at Quest Integrity
Steam reformers are critical assets to many refining and chemical manufacturing plants and facilities, and it is well known that the reformer is one of the most challenging assets to maintain and operate. Common problems in reformer operations...
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July/August 2010 Inspectioneering JournalBy Craig Emslie BSc at Sonomatic Ltd., and Karen Gibson at Sonomatic Ltd.
Inspection intervals for equipment have in the past been defined in a prescriptive manner. However, industry is now embracing the Risk Based Inspection (RBI) approach which in contrast prioritises inspections based on an assessment of the risk to...
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September/October 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy T.C. Ridgeway & Staff at TCRI
In part 1 of this article we covered the importance of quality assurance of UT data, that is, understanding for each particular application, the accuracy required of the UT data, and new ways/graphical program to analyze and show the...
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January/February 1999 Inspectioneering JournalBy Joseph E. Pascente at Lixi, Inc.
One of the greatest challenges facing many of refining, fossil power, and pulp and paper industries is: How to effectively examine their insulated piping?
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September/October 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This is the fourth in a series of articles on piping inspection that I'm writing for the Journal. One of the previous ones dealt with improving thickness data taking accuracy with digital ultrasonic methods. This article is a "sister article" that...
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March/April 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This is the second in a series of articles on piping inspection. In the last article, I enumerated four inspection issues that I believe contribute to inadequate piping mechanical integrity in the hydrocarbon process industry.
Videos related to Petrochemicals
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Published on June 24, 2020As the United States faces this year's hurricane season, it is critical that the chemical industry understands and prepares for the potential safety hazards posed by extreme weather events.
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Sponsored Video Published on June 14, 2017Effective pipeline integrity management has been problematic for a large number of pipelines that were not designed for in-line inspection. Quest Integrity understands the complexities involved with this challenging segment and offers a...
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Published on March 20, 2017The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a video demonstrating the agency's positive safety impact in 2016. The video was posted just days after President Trump proposed his "America First" budget plan, which calls for the elimination of...
Downloads & Resources related to Petrochemicals
Events related to Petrochemicals
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March 1 - 3 2021Location: Virtual Event
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Dates: March 1, 2021 - March 3, 2021
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May 10 - 14 2021Location: Virtual Event
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Dates: May 10, 2021 - May 14, 2021
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March 8 - 12 2021Location: Virtual Training
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March 1 - 5 2021Location: Virtual Event
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Dates: March 1, 2021 - March 5, 2021
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News related to Petrochemicals
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Partner Content
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...
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NewsBP Plc., June 29, 2020
BP has agreed to sell its global petrochemicals business (aromatics and acetyls) to INEOS for a total consideration of $5 billion, subject to customary adjustments.
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NewsReuters, April 2, 2020
The global oil refining industry is facing a reckoning from falling fuel demand that is the deepest and fastest ever.
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NewsINEOS, March 12, 2020
INEOS is enacting a series of ‘social distancing’ measures in order to protect its employees who play a vital role in the production of essential products
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NewsKPLC News, January 14, 2020
On Monday at approximately 1:15 p.m. local time, an explosion and fire rocked a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit at Sasol's Lake Charles Chemical Project.
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Agencies Confirm the March 2019 Fire at a Texas Petrochemical Terminal Was Due to Mechanical Failure
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NewsReuters, August 13, 2019
Royal Dutch Shell Plc will begin restarting units at its Norco, Louisiana chemical and refining facilities this week following overhauls.
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NewsReuters, July 15, 2019
A unit at Royal Dutch Shell’s Pulau Bukom refinery and petrochemical complex experienced an operational upset on Sunday, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Monday.
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NewsINEOS Phenol, July 11, 2019
INEOS Phenol has announced it will build a world scale, state of the art cumene unit in Marl, Germany, to be completed in 2021.
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NewsExxonMobil, June 13, 2019
ExxonMobil today said that it has completed an expansion at its Singapore refinery to upgrade its production of EHC™ Group II base stocks.
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NewsINEOS, June 3, 2019
INEOS will invest $2 billion in building its first ever manufacturing plants in Saudi Arabia, in what is believed to be one of the largest UK investments ever in the Kingdom.
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NewsInspectioneering Staff, May 22, 2019
United Rentals' charity sporting clays tournament raises $20,000 for local veterans organization Fisher House.
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Partner Content
In this interim report, Pinnacle analysts take data from the oil refining industry and dive into how that key sector is being affected by reliability today. Download your free copy!
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NewsWorleyParsons, April 29, 2019
WorleyParsons has officially completed its US$3.2 billion acquisition of Jacobs ECR, and adopted ‘Worley’ as its new brand.
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NewsReuters, March 20, 2019
Firefighters on Wednesday extinguished a fire at a Mitsui & Co petrochemical storage site outside Houston that has been billowing acrid smoke for days, the company said.
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NewsU.S. Chemical Safety Board, June 30, 2015
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has recently voted unanimously to update the status of fifteen safety recommendations resulting from nine accident investigations, including...
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NewsUS Chemical Safety Board, December 1, 2014
Today the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) formally announced that to “Modernize U.S. Process Safety Management Regulations” is the Board’s newest Most Wanted Safety Improvement, concluding that implementation of key federal and state CSB...
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