Operations at JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. temporarily put on hold on breakdown in naphtha cracker

Operations of the Gokongwei-led JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. in Batangas City was temporarily put on hold after its naphtha cracker broke down, causing a big fire, as per The Inquirer. The company was on the third phase of its plant commissioning in mid-June when during the flaring, the system malfunctioned, sending out a large cloud of dark smoke and fire that lasted for about three to four days. The smoke was visible from at least 22 kilometers from the coastal village of Simlong in Batangas City. The company, which produces polyethylene and polypropylene resins, shut down its plant on June 16, the same day the city government of Batangas issued an indefinite cease-and-desist order, but the fire and the smoke continued for another day or two. Technip wIns Program Management Consultancy Contract for RAPID project Technip, leader of a joint venture with Fluor, was awarded a substantial Program Management Consultancy (PMC) contract by PETRONAS for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project located in the state of Johor, Malaysia. The PMC contract will include overall project and site management of the RAPID project and provision of Project Management Services for specific EPCC Packages within RAPID throughout the pre-award, engineering and procurement, construction and commissioning as well as warranty management and close-out phases. PETRONAS’ RAPID project is a world-scale integrated refinery and petrochemical complex aiming to answer the growing need for differentiated and specialty chemicals and meet the future demand for petroleum and commodity petrochemical products in the Asia Pacific region. RAPID, expected to have a capacity of 300,000 barrels per standard day is part of the larger PETRONAS’ Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) project. RAPID will supply naphtha and liquid petroleum gas feedstock for the petrochemical part of the complex, as well as produce gasoline and diesel that meet European specifications. PIC will also see the development of a host of associated facilities i.e. the raw water supply facility, power co-generation plant, LNG regasification terminal and other ancillary facilities. PIC is poised for its refinery start-up by early 2019. This PMC contract follows the front-end engineering design (FEED) that Technip was awarded in March 2012 for the RAPID project. It will be executed by Technip’s operating centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and by Technip PMC. Nello Uccelletti, President and COO Onshore/Offshore of Technip, said: “Alongside the context of growing demand for petrochemicals in the region, we are delighted to help PETRONAS seize opportunities, fuelled by this dynamic marketplace. This award confirms not only our leadership in the refining and petrochemical sectors, but also the successful start-up of Technip's new business unit dedicated to PMC. Leveraging our experience gained over several decades, including the management of large-scale projects, we have developed a comprehensive competency in project management and an experienced management team".Lim Kwee Keong, President Asia Pacific of Technip, added: “We are proud of PETRONAS’ continued confidence in our expertise and capabilities, this contract being the second one in relation to the RAPID project. Technip will apply the best PMC practices and management skills, in order to help PETRONAS achieve its business objectives, while meeting safety, cost, schedule and quality targets.”