Texas City refinery remains in production

BP PLC's refinery at Texas City, Tex., remains in production after an explosion and fire damaged an isomerization unit Mar. 23, killing 14 and injuring more than 100.
The unit at which the fire occurred was not in operation at the time of the accident, said company spokesman Hugh Depland. It had been shut down for maintenance turnaround, he said, and was in the process of being brought back online at the time of the accident. The fire was extinguished in about 2 hours.
Although the damaged unit is shut down, Depland said it would not significantly affect production at the refinery.
'We have other units on the site producing the same product,' he explained.
The investigation into the cause of the blast is continuing."

Jump Start

High natural-gas and oil prices, turmoil in the Middle East and increasing worries over power outages have sparked a renewed interest in funding clean energy, say the authors of a report released today. In 2004, $520 million in venture capital cash flowed into solar, wind, fuel cell and energy technology companies, according to Clean Edge, a San Francisco research firm, and Nth Power, a venture capital outfit with $250 million under management. While the sector's take is down from $1.3 billion at the height of the dot-com bubble, it represents 3% of the $20 billion that venture capitalists invested in startups last year, double the percentage clean energy garnered five years ago. "The comfort level is returning to the VC markets," says Rodrigo Prudencio, a principal at Nth Power. "We are seeing more technology being used in energy. That's grown the number of firms interested in playing in this area." Prudencio and his counterparts at Clean Edge think clean energy could be a $102 billion (sales) industry by 2014. Clean-energy entrepreneurs don't have it easy--yet. They still have to fight for funding with industries perceived as hotter plays, like biotech or chips. Indeed, last year 69 clean-energy deals were closed, a 14% drop from 2003. The business plans that did receive funding, however, got an average $7.5 million, an 18% increase and the first year in four that saw a rise in per-deal pots. There was other evidence of a clean-energy resurgence in 2004. General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) acquired solar company Astropower for $15 million. FPL Group (nyse: FPL - news - people ), Florida's dominant utility, produced 25% of its electricity from wind. Carmakers were also in the mix: Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) shipped 130,000 hybrid vehicles. Another catalyst was broad political support from politicians of every stripe, on both a federal and state level, to provide funding. "This is no longer a blue-state story," says Clean Edge's Ron Pernick. (Eighteen states currently spend $1 billion per year on clean-energy initiatives, and more money is contained in the Bush Administration's stalled energy plan.) The authors found that several sectors generated the most buzz. Distributed-energy companies grabbed 40% of the clean-energy funding. Distributed-energy companies provide clients with point-of-use products that help them produce power during a blackout, for example, or in areas with high electricity costs. Evergreen Solar (nasdaq: ESLR - news - people ), a maker of photovoltaic modules, got $20 million in private equity financing. Fuel cells also drew attention. In July, PolyFuel closed on $18 million, led by CDP Capital. PolyFuel makes a sophisticated fuel cell membrane that permits methanol--a type of alcohol used for fuel--to interact with water and air to produce electricity. For 2005, the authors expect fuels derived from biomass to be a hot niche, especially if oil prices stay above $50 per barrel. Energy efficiency technology could lead to newfangled electric-engine designs, new lighting systems and smart building sensors that can help companies cut energy usage. Interesting in investing? This isn't 2000, so the companies currently being funded probably won't trade shares for years. But there are more than a dozen clean-energy companies that are public, including Evergreen Solar, Plug Power (nasdaq: PLUG - news - people ), Ballard Power Systems (nasdaq: BLDP - news - people ) and Avista (nyse: AVA - news - people ). There also are numerous VC funds you can get into--if you have around $500,000 in cash to spare.

PDVSA exec tells NPRA of plans for three refineries

Venezuela will remain a key player in the world's energy balance not only because of its large oil reserves but also because of the refining capacity needed in the Atlantic basin by the end of the decade, says Alejandro Granado, vice-president of refining, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
Speaking at the opening session Mar. 14 of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association annual meeting, Granado said, 'For the year 2008, the demand for products and refining capacity will be at a breakeven point. . .any disruption would generate a severe energy crisis worldwide.'
He said requirements for refined products in the Atlantic basin will increase 12 million b/d toward the end of the decade, leading to a refining capacity deficit net of announced expansions of 4.6 million b/d in 2010.
'Within this scenario, Venezuela is a key player in the world energy balance, as it has abundant oil reserves and a major active refining sector,' he said. 'Venezuela foresees undertaking major deep-conversion projects and construction of new refineries.'
Granado said action must be taken now because construction of a grassroots refinery takes 3-5 years.
He said the PDVSA investments in deep-conversion projects are for three refineries close to the Orinoco oil belt. PDVSA plans to build a total of 500,000 b/d of refining capacity at three sites in Venezuela: Caripito in the northeast, Barinas in the northwest, and Cabruta in the central part of the country.
A 50,000 b/d refinery in Caripito will produce primarily asphalt. A 400,000 b/d plant in Cabruta will serve primarily as a crude upgrader, similar to PDVSA's other joint venture plants. And another 50,000 b/d refinery in Barinas will supply refined products mainly for domestic use.

Overall, PDVSA intends to increase its production capacity to more than 5 million b/d in 2009 from a current level of 3.7 million b/d. This would require investments of $37 billion, of which PDVSA would supply $26 billion with the remaining $11 billion coming from private investors.

PRSI to install SRT at Pasadena refinery

Pasadena Refining System Inc. (PRSI), which recently purchased a 117,000 b/d refinery in Pasadena, Tex., from Crown Central Petroleum, plans to install ConocoPhillips's S Zorb sulfur removal technology (SRT) at the facility during the first quarter. Projected start-up of the unit is targeted for late 2006.

S Zorb technology removes sulfur from gasoline streams using a regenerable sorbent. The process design package for the 40,000 b/d S Zorb gasoline desulfurization unit in Pasadena is being designed for a flexible slate of feedstocks, ConocoPhillips said.

PRSI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astra Holding USA Inc., is the first US refinery to commit to building an S Zorb SRT outside of ConocoPhillips' own refining system.

The technology will help PRSI comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 2 sulfur regulatory levels that require gasoline sold in the US to contain no more than 30 PPM of sulfur. It also will minimize refinery octane pool losses and hydrogen consumption normally associated with gasoline desulfurization.

Great Lakes Region Forecast to Lead the Nation in Grassroot Industrial Plant Construction in 2005

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Currently, there are 112 active grassroot capital projects worth $15.2 billion scheduled to begin construction in fiscal year 2005 in the Great Lakes region. Those numbers place the Great Lakes region as the front-runner among U.S. industrial market regions, in regards to grassroot projects, both in terms of number of projects and dollars to be spent.

These significant numbers represent over 50% of the anticipated $30 billion in capital and maintenance work that is currently planned for the Great Lakes region for this year. For details see January 6, 2005 news article - Great Lakes Region to Top $30 Billion in Capital and Maintenance Spending in 2005. Despite the recent trend in the automotive and other industries to move south, where state governments and communities are offering insanely large economic development packages for companies to build in their areas, the Great Lakes region appears to be holding its own.

As the heartland of the U.S. manufacturing industry, the Great Lakes can offer almost every type of manufacturing opportunity. From power plants to chemical processing to automotive manufacturing to biotechnology, the region has it all, and the companies behind the region are once again acknowledging the benefits of building new facilities in the area.

For 2005, as with most years in recent memory, the power industry will once again lead the pack with grassroots plant spending expected to top $11.6 billion in the region. Some of the larger projects being planned for this year in the power industry will include the proposed $2.1 billion Elm Road generating station in Wisconsin, the $2 billion coal Prairie State energy campus in Kentucky and the $1.5 billion Thoroughbred energy campus in Illinois.

In addition to the power industry, some other key industries will be spending significant money in the region on grassroot plants in 2005. In the pharmaceuticals/biotechnology industry, the proposed $950 million rare isotope accelerator complex to be located at Michigan State University is anticipated to begin construction in 2005, as well as a proposed $100 million medicated stent plant in Indiana.

The metals, minerals and mining industry can also boast some serious grassroot plant spending opportunities in 2005, with projects such as a $350 million metallurgical coke plant planned in Ohio and a $383 million hot and cold rolled sheet steel mill planned in Kentucky.

In the industrial manufacturing industry, there will also be some large grassroot projects expected to begin construction in 2005, especially in the automotive sector. Some examples of automotive sector spending include a trio of projects planned for Toledo, Ohio: a $143 million automotive painting plant, a $100 million rolling chassis plant, and a $100 million body weld and assembly plant.

All in all, the spending year for grassroot projects in the Great Lakes region is looking very bright. Provided all of the aforementioned projects, as well as their smaller brother and sister projects, come to fruition, thousands of jobs and millions of dollars will be pumped into the respective state, county, and city economies, as these projects move to the construction stages.

For more information on the plants of the Great Lakes region that are spending both the capital and maintenance money in 2005, please take a look at Industrialinfo.com's Great Lakes Online Plant Directory, which provides access to over 6,800 operational plants in the Great Lakes region employing over 1.8 million people. The Great Lakes Online Plant Directory includes plant locations, interactive plant maps and driving directions, key management contacts, the plant owner's name, address, and phone numbers, plus the SIC codes for each plant.