Industry News

August

Latest onboarding pilots shown pathways to reduce energy expenditure by 10% and help increase margin capture by 10-15% with adding process workflow, anticipating changes, recommending improvements and passively driving change to find small efficiencies. In one case, the direct and indirect cost savings were ~$10M.

Industry wide Pain points: cost challenges associated with a low refining margin environment, continue the focus on cost control and extracting all available margin.. Incident management and historian comparable data to guide forward production guidance. Adoption by front line engineers and integration with existing APC and systems.

Industry News

Super-Refineries: Larger integrated facilities reshaping emissions, competitiveness, and investment capex/opex strategies: Global refining capacity continues to grow despite a decline in the number of refineries, as countries like China, India, and Saudi Arabia focus on building large, integrated facilities….more

Low-carbon energy push repurposes Hydrogen hubs: traditional refineries repurposed into hydrogen hubs—to produce clean fuels like blue and green hydrogen, ammonia, and synthetic fuels while supporting net-zero goals….more

Aster Group :

- Aster Polymer Solutions acquisition (formerly Chevron Phillips ): expands integrated petrochemicals footprint and strengthens its polymer manufacturing capabilities ….more

- Aster Ventures with its first investment in Aether Fuels, a Singapore–U.S. startup pioneering waste-to-fuel technology—toward decarbonizing industrial ecosystem ….more

South Korea’s petrochemical sector is undergoing major restructuring, with plans to cut up to 25% of naphtha cracking capacity as oversupply pressures mount—posing challenges for naphtha demand and triggering potential plant closures and consolidations….more

Chevron re- strategy, opting for a balanced global portfolio with sale of assets and focus on petrochemicals and heavy oil upgrades in Korea to optimize capital returns …more

Japan's Eneos to adopt AI for failure prevention at refineries…more

July

Industry News

Par Pacific, Mitsubishi, and ENEOS have formed a $100 million joint venture to launch Hawaii Renewables, the state’s largest renewable fuels facility, aimed at producing SAF and renewable diesel to support decarbonization…more
Modular Oil refineries on the rise: Indonesia is set to sign an $8 billion deal with U.S.-based KBR Inc. to build 17 modular oil refineries—part of a broader trade pact fueled by tariff negotiation…..more
PTTEP (Bangkok): $450M acquisition for 50% interest in Block A-18 of the Malaysia–Thailand Joint Development Area from Chevron ….more
Major oil and gas companies are increasingly investing in digital technologies—particularly predictive maintenance, digital twins, and AI partnerships—to drive operational efficiency and cost savings…more

Incidents

California: Chevron Refinery(July 29)-Chevron’s Richmond refinery reported flare incident officials later gave the all-clear with no public health threat …..more
Sriracha, Thailand: Bangchak Oil Refinery (July 26) - A fire broke out following a loud explosion, prompting a swift emergency response but resulting in no casualties….more
Iran: Abadan refinery(July 19) - A fire at Iran’s Abadan refinery killed one, injured several others, pointing to a pump leak as the cause—highlighting aging infrastructure challenges at crude processing plants….more
Mississippi: Pascagoula Refinery(July 14) – Lawsuit to Chevron over a catastrophic explosion, alleging gross negligence for allowing hazardous "hot work" in unsafe conditions; the lawsuit seeks damages for lifelong injuries and safety failures….more
Mangalore India: MRPL(July 12) - Two field operators died after being found unconscious on a tank rooftop during a routine check, prompting a high-level investigation into the cause of the incident….more

June

AI Technology for Industrials:

SenseTime, Dongming Petrochemical, and Beijing Haoya Chuangke Launch Petrochemical AI Lab... more

Industry News:

Esso (June 26) facing prosecution brought by Health and Safety Executive for negligence of 100-tonne steel platform that collapsed, endangered 2,500 workers, and released dangerous substance liquid petroleum gas... more
Brent oil prices (June 25) swing again, dropping down after initial 15% jump, back to levels from before the Israel-Iran war... more
The crisis between Israel and Iran has renewed focus on the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil flows. more
Global Refining Margins Surge Amid Tight Supply more
China’s Refinery Throughput Hits 9-Month Low more

Incidents

Taiwan: CPC Taoyuan Refinery (June 4) — Environmental and safety violations, including equipment leaks, unauthorized pipeline modifications, and excess diesel consumption; fined and ordered corrective actions. more
Japan: ENEOS Kawasaki Refinery (June 5) — Unplanned shutdown of 77, 000 bpd unit due to equipment failure; repairs underway. more

USA: Marathon Oil Refinery, Texas City (June 14) — Fire outbreak prompting shelter-in-place orders for nearby residents; no injuries reported; temporary gasoline production cut. more

Israel: Bazan Oil Refinery, Haifa (June 16) — Iranian missile strike caused major fire, 3 deaths, full refinery shutdown, power plant damage disrupting steam and electricity supply. more

Taiwan: A flaming explosion, the 2nd fire emergency at CPC Daling refinery (June 22) of the week, released high amounts of pollution. CPC refinery is facing a potential fine upwards of 5 million NTD... more
United States: Violation and fine issued to Delaware City Refinery (June 25) for refusal to operate pollution control equipment that released toxic contaminants and sulfur dioxide for 3 weeks straight in multiple incidents... more
United States: Explosion at a storage and disposal plant in Montana (June 26). Felt as far as 16km away, the fire continued to burn through Thursday... more
Iran: Nitrogen tank explosion in Iran’s (June 29) northwestern Tabriz refinery, one of the country’s major refineries, released loud blast and smoke... more

May

AI Technology for Industrials:

Finding efficiencies and cost savings – Read More
Nividia makes a splash at Computex for AI’s future in everything - more
Ecosperity targets climate change solutions in heavy industries… more.
- Heavy Industries find support in funding and grants from government and foundations for AI transformation… more.
Taiwan sets punitive measures in the quest for Netzero by 2050 ..more

Industry news:

Oil price fluctuations send trading to reprice and hedge as OPEC agrees to boost oil production….more.
Indonesia considers reducing refinery capabilities to Singapore amidst pricing disagreement… more.
Supply chain mismatch and tariffs instability affect production planning…more ,

May Incidents:

Spotlight safety and equipment maintenance
China: Weifong, Shandong chemical plant (May 27) explosion – 6+ deaths, 17+ injured... more
Bahrain BAPCO Refinery – leak in safety valve – 3 deaths (May 2)… more
Ecuador Esmeraldas refinery (May 26) fire in a fuel oil tank, no injuries... more
India –Effluent Treatment Plant, Tamil Nadu (May 22):explosion at an industrial unit's effluent treatment plant: 35 sickened, 10 residential houses damaged... more
Mexico Diesel Distillation Plant, Cadereyta, Nuevo León (May 21): Explosion related to 14 tanks, 37,000 gallons of diesel: 11 injuries... more
US Hunt Refining Company, Alabama (May 7) fire during efforts to restart the refinery following a power failure: 4 injured... more

For more information about Vulcanest and its AI-based energy management solutions,

please contact: info@vulcanest.com

亞慶安珽資本股份有限公司

Business ID: 60714580

No. 335號, Ruiguang Rd, Neihu District, Taipei City, 114

info@vulcanest.com