Optimizing FCC Operations in a High Rare Earth

August 03, 2011 VOL: 2 ISS: 15

Optimizing FCC Operations in a High Rare Earth Cost Market: Part I Highlights of Recent Grace FCC Webinar Focusing on Unit Operation and Profitability when Re- formulating FCC Catalyst to Lower Rare Earth

Higher feed volumes are processed metric ton on the Asian Metal Index, a acid site density and prevents dealumi- through FCC units than ever before, at 2700% increase in price over the course nation. A catalyst designed with a high the same time that more challenging of a year! This is why the industry has RE exchange for high gasoline selectiv- feedstocks have entered the market. demonstrated such a strong response to ity will have more Cont. page 2 The industry has responded with ef- finding solutions to RE inflation. fective catalyst chemistry that has in- Rare earth supplies are expected to In This Issue... cluded adding higher quantities of rare remain in critically short supply until at earth (RE) to the zeolite. However, least 2014, when mines in other parts of FEATURE with the unprecedented inflation in RE the world are fully developed. Lantha- costs, the onus is now on reformulat- Optimizing FCC Operations in a High num (atomic number: 57) is the lightest Rare Earth Cost Market: Part I ing FCC catalysts to lower RE, while of the rare earths as shown on a typical maintaining or exceeding the high lev- Periodic Table of the Elements. Lantha- els of performance achieved by the latest PROCESS OPERATIONS num has been the dominant RE metal ISOCRACKING Technology Update catalyst systems. engineered into FCC catalysts, followed In an FCC webinar earlier this sum- by cerium (Ce), which has been used Refinery Propylene Production mer, Grace Davison’s David Hunt primarily in SOx reduction additives discussed zero and low RE catalyst al- as well as in some NOx reduction ad- INDUSTRY NEWS ternatives and commercial updates, in- ditives. Shanghai Petrochemical Company cluding a case study detailing catalyst’s Increases Refining Capacity impact on operation and profitability at Ensuring High Activity Idemitsu’s Chiba Refinery Increasing a refinery’s FCC unit. Rare earth applications were developed FCC Propylene Production in the 1960s and have provided unique World’s Largest Paraxylene Plant to Future Role of Lower RE Catalysts functionalities to FCC operations by be Built in South Korea The role played by RE-based catalysts way of improved zeolite active site den- Orpic Increasing Heavy Oil Processing over the past 50 years cannot be dis- sity, selectivity and hydrogen transfer, puted. More recently, constrained units as well as to protect the zeolite from Sri Lanka Seeking Foreign Investment have benefited from RE-based catalyst metals deactivation. Initially, RE-free for Major Refinery Upgrade activity, which is effective in mitigating catalysts were developed in the 1980s Qatargas Doubling Condensate reduced residence time in FCC reactors. and 1990s to maximize FCC gasoline Refinery Capacity Nonetheless, recent RE price inflation octane as lead was being phased out of PetroVietnam Dung Quat Refinery compels refiners and their catalyst sup- the gasoline pool and alkylation capac- Restarted pliers to seek other alternative to RE- ity was not sufficient to provide octane based zeolites. requirements. Rare earth based catalysts BP Whiting Refinery Delaying Startup Briefly, 97% of the world’s RE sup- provide high conversion for units that of New Hydrotreater and Coker ply is from China. Since the beginning may be constrained by coke yields or Murphy Oil Refinery Sold to Valero of 2011, RE prices have been highly in- catalyst circulation. flated and there are limited short term The aluminum (Al) atoms within the EDITORIALLY SPEAKING options for supply of RE such as lan- zeolite structure bring about a charge Opportunity Crude Processing thanum (La). For example, lanthanum and balance for acid types on the zeolite. oxide (La2O3) was recently $140,000/ RE exchange increases zeolite active CALENDAR Copyright 2011. Refinery Operations RefineryOperations.com | 2011.08.03 1 August 03, 2011

aluminum atoms (e.g., 16 Al atoms/unit cell; Si/Al = 12; UCS = 24.32 Å) than a catalyst with a low RE exchange for high LPG olefin selectivity (e.g., 7 Al atoms/unit cell; Si/Al = 27; UCS = 24.25 Å). The Al atoms are also slightly larger than the Si atoms. Adding RE to a zeolite surface therefore area increases unit cell size (UCS) due to higher acid site density. This increases feed conversion and activity at constant C/O ratio. Cata- lyst circulation limited units of course benefit from a very active catalyst. Units that operate in the 24.30 to 24.34 UCS range produce lower coke per unit of conversion and gasoline. In addition, air blower constrained units operating within this 24.30 to 24.34 UCS range produce higher conversion and activity than (for example) units that that are blower constrained, as compared to FCC units operating at a lower UCS. Refiners are beginning to see the benefits of low rare earth exchange catalyst formulations in Gasoline octane (RON) and olefins de- their FCC units crease with increasing UCS, which was Are we pulling too much RE out of Joann Deady, Vice President of Global important in the late 1990s and early the zeolite? This will be discussed fur- Marketing for Refining Technologies 2000s period when refiners had to meet ther in Part II of the next issue of Re- ([email protected]). olefins limits specified by the US EPA’s finery Operations, as reformulating Complex Model requirements. catalysts to lower rare earth (RE) con- Rosann K. Schiller, Senior Marketing tent have been commercialized, they Manager ([email protected]) Rare Earth Alternatives have demonstrated their ability to pre- A worldwide Ecat database covering the vent dealumination and meet product past decade shows an increasing use of Angela Jones, North America FCC Market- specifications, even in high sulfur and ing Manager ([email protected]). RE from about 2.0 wt% in 2000 to al- resid operations (e.g., 2000 ppm Va). n most 3.0 wt% in 2010. During that same time period, activity and UCS increased while Ecat zeolite surface area decreased. Grace FCC Webinar Speaker In 2011, the industry has actually seen David Hunt, Lead FCC Technical Spe- its first decline in 20 years of RE content cialist, North America (david.hunt@ and UCS. Of course, the rapid increase grace.com). in RE cost has predicated pulling the RE content out of FCC catalyst. Webinar Technical Contributors

PROCESS OPERATIONS ISOCRACKING Technology Update

Chevron has established several licens- (Surgutneftegaz) is building one of high-quality fuels for Russian and for- ing partnerships for the its proprietary the world's largest ISOCRACKING™ eign markets and produce diesel fuel technology in Russia through Chevron units. The facility, expected to be com- that complies with Euro 5 European Lummus Global (CLG), Chevron’s joint missioned in 2012, is designed with emission standards. venture with CBI/Lummus Technology. an annual processing capacity of 3.0 The energy company Tatneft has li- Licensing Chevron's ISOCRACK- million metric tons of vacuum gas oil censed the ISOCRACKING technol- (VGO). It will enable production of ING® catalyst, Kirishi Nefteorgsyntez ogy for the Taneco Cont. page 3 Copyright 2011. Refinery Operations RefineryOperations.com | 2011.08.03 2 August 03, 2011

Nizhnekamsk refinery, which is under construction. This refinery will manu- facture high-quality diesel and jet fuel. Startup is expected by late 2011 or early 2012. The technology behind Chevron’s ISODEWAXING catalyst was licensed Editor, Rene Gonzalez, to produce base oils at the same refinery. Refinery Operations The base oils facilities are expected to PO Box 11283 start operation in 2013. Spring, TX. 77391 USA CLG has a sales contract with Ros- Mobile: +1 713-449-5817 neft's Tuapse refinery for a hydrocracker Office: +1 281-257-0582 and diesel hydrotreater license. The Fax: +1 281-686-5846 contract also covers a future supply of [email protected] catalysts for the Tuapse refinery. This refinery will produce jet and diesel fuels. Published biweekly by nEMESIS Media Group, LLC Startup is planned for 2012. Hydro- PO BOX 5416 crackers typically run at high tempera- Kingwood TX 77325. USA ture 650-800˚F (345-425˚C) and very Phone: (713) 344-1379 high pressures of 1500-3000 psi (105- [email protected] 210 bar). Hydrocracker reactors contain Support multiple fixed beds of catalyst typi- Leon de Bruyn, Chevron Lummus Global cally containing palladium, platinum, or Joint-Manager Director Client Support nickel. These catalysts are poisoned by [email protected] sulfur and organic nitrogen, so a high-se- hydrocracking unit license agreement Advertising verity HDS/HDN reactor pretreats feed- with CLG for applying ISOCRACK- stock prior to the hydrocracking reactors. ING technology to the Jazan Refinery Advertising & Marketing Dept. Project that is currently in the front-end [email protected] Hydrocracker units may be configured in single stage or two-stage reactor systems engineering design (FEED) phase. The Group Subscriptions that enable a higher conversion of gas oil CLG licensed hydrocracker will be uti- Client Services into lower boiling point material. lized to convert 106,000 bpd of VGO — [email protected] Chevron also sells hydrotreating from the new 400,000 bpd Jazan refinery — into high quality diesel fuel, meeting Copies & Reprints catalysts and technical support to refiners in Russia through Advanced Refin- EURO V quality requirements. With this Circulation Dept. award, ISOCRACKING technology has [email protected] ing Technologies, a joint venture with Grace-Davison (www.grace.com). been selected by Saudi Aramco for their newest refinery projects in the Kingdom. Subscription / Renewal Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals I want to subscribe to Refinery Operations Company (ORPC) will use ISOCRACK- CLG’s Joint-Managing Director, for $739/yr or $1,378/2 yr, and receive ING technology from CLG at the heart Leon de Bruyn, stated that “Saudi Ar- biweekly issues plus unlimited access to the of its Sohar Refinery Expansion Project amco is a world leader in applying the online premium content and archives. to boost margins and increase production. most advanced technologies to its export and domestic refineries, while demand- Name:______As previously discussed in Refinery ing the safest and most efficient opera- Title:______Operations (Vol. II, No. 8, May 4, 2011), tions for all aspects of their projects. This Organization:______the Sohar hydrocracking facility in Oman Address:______continues a very strategic relationship will process almost 74,000 bpd of VGO for us and we look forward to providing City:______State:____ZIP:______and light cycle oil (LCO). The investment Phone: ______Fax:______a full range of support services to Saudi will enable Sohar refinery to increase its Aramco and the Jazan Project team.” Email:______naphtha production for its petrochemicals complex and produce high quality ULSD CLG will provide an engineering I want to renew my $739 or $1,378 package, including the hydrocracking re- subscription to Refinery Operations. and kerosene. CLG's hydrocracking technology was selected by ORPC after a actors, proprietary ISOMIX® internals, ISOCRACKING® catalysts, follow-up My account number is:______thorough analysis showed it offered the Charge my Card No.______best overall economics by a well-proven technical support during the detailed Exp.______Signature:______process scheme. engineering design, training prior to startup, and startup support during the Also, Saudi Arabian Oil Company Check enclosed (Payable to Refinery commissioning of the new refinery. n Operations, LLC) Postage and processing (Saudi Aramco) recently signed a add/yr: $25 within U.S., $100 outside U.S.

Propylene from off-gases produced in increased production from C2 through high levels of propylene have seen dif- fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units is C4s. Another source of propylene is ferent or excessive product contami- primarily expanding in Asian refiner- from refineries where splitters recover nants when compared to a less severe ies. In addition, a growing percentage of the propylene from the off-gases pro- operation. In certain refineries, this may propylene is produced using on-purpose duced by FCCs. However, refinery pro- impact gasoline or LPG treating units, technologies such as propane dehydro- pylene needs to be purified for chemical as what has been previously discussed genation (PDH) and metathesis. and polymer use. in NPRA Q&A transcripts. For exam- The primary source of propylene is With propylene demand growing ple, Shaw has proprietary DCC [deep from cracking naphtha and other liq- faster than ethylene, combined with the catalytic cracking] technology units with uids such as gas oil and condensates to building of more ethane crackers (which extensive operating data. As far as LPG produce ethylene. By altering the crack- produce no propylene) rather than naph- treating, Shaw experts have not really ing severity and the feedstock slate, the tha crackers, on-purpose technologies seen any particular issues with gasoline propylene:ethylene ratio can vary from are being employed increasingly to make or LPG treating units. 0.4:1 to 0.75:1. Smaller amounts of pro- propylene. The main on-purpose process A typical FCC yield includes light pylene can be obtained from cracking used is PDH but it is only economically olefins (ethylene, propylene, and butyl- propane and butane. The cracking of viable in cases where low-cost LPGs are enes) totaling 10-15 liquid feedstocks is carried out predomi- available. Propane is converted to pro- wt% on feed. FCC total light olefin nately in Europe and Asia. However, pylene at 500-700°C in a reactor con- yield can be increased to 25-30 wt% on recent gas discoveries in North America taining a nobel metal catalyst. feed with the proper selection of catalyst (e.g., Eagle Ford Shale) may predicate Refiners operating FCCUs that produce and operating conditions. n Industry News Shanghai Petrochemical Company Increases Refining Capacity in Spite of Financial Losses

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Com- levels, and the profitability of the oil re- volume of goods produced increased pany Limited ("Shanghai Petrochemi- fining industry declined substantially, by 14.87% year-on-year. During the cal" or the "Company") announced resulting in a turnaround from profits Period, the Group processed 5,678,300 August 26 the unaudited operating re- to losses. Coping with external market tons of crude oil (including 131,400 tons sults of the Company and its subsidiaries changes with a proactive approach, the of crude oil processed on a sub-contract- (the "Group") prepared under Interna- Company continued to increase total ing basis), an increase of 12.60% year- tional Financial Reporting Standards physical production volume of products, on-year. Outputs of gasoline, diesel and ("IFRS") for the six months ended June and made every effort to push forward jet fuel were 510,300 tons, 2,055,700 30, 2011 (the "Period"). various tasks on production, operation, tons and 402,500 tons respectively, rep- According to IFRS, turnover of reform and development. During the resenting increases of 10.24%, 33.49% the Group for the Period amounted to Period, crude oil processing volume and and 5.78% year-on-year respectively. RMB49,500.8 million, representing outputs of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, syn- Outputs of ethylene and propylene were an increase of 37.01% over the previ- thetic resin & plastics and other prod- 492,100 tons and 258,700 tons respec- ous year.Mr. Rong Guangdao, Chair- ucts reached record highs once again tively, representing decreases of 0.36% man of Shanghai Petrochemical, said, as compared to previous correspond- and 4.30% year-on-year respectively. "In the first half of 2011, the Chinese ing periods. The natural gas compre- In the first half of 2011, international economy continued to maintain stable hensive utilization project reaped good crude oil prices fell after a rise but in and relatively fast growth, while China's economic benefits." general tended to surge significantly and petrochemical industry continued to The fully completed Phase 5 Project remained at high levels. The Group's maintain a healthy and steady operation. of the Group continued to effectively average unit cost of crude oil processed However, international crude oil prices produce its overall scale effect during was RMB4,937.91/ton in the first half surged significantly and stayed at high the first half of 2011. As a result, total of 2011, representing Cont. page 5

Copyright 2011. Refinery Operations RefineryOperations.com | 2011.08.03 4 August 03, 2011 an increase of 25.57% year-on-year. The During the Period, the Group fully oil hydrogenation plant, the new Group's total costs of crude oil processed commenced the construction of the 3,500,000 tons/year catalytic crack- during the Period increased substantially Phase 6 Project, with the refinery re- ing plant and the carbon fiber project by 42.89% year-on-year to RMB27,390.2 vamping and expansion project as the with a capacity of 1,500 tons/year have million, accounting for 61.76% of the key project, of which the construction already commenced. n Group's cost of sales for the Period. of the new 3,900,000 tons/year residual Idemitsu’s Chiba Refinery Increasing FCC Propylene Production

Japan's third largest oil refiner, Idemitsu autumn, a company spokeswoman said. million kl. The upgrade also raised the Kosan Co , said on August 4 that it has The upgrade improved the unit's opera- yield ratio of butene to 15.2% from 14.1%. completed a 16 billion yen ($208 million) tional efficiency to one of the best in the The company said the unit's propyl- upgrade to the 45,000 bpd FCC unit at its country, the spokeswoman added. ene output can be raised to up to 210,000 Chiba refinery near Tokyo to raise output Propylene output capacity has been tonnes in the future from 86,000 tonnes of high-value-added petrochemical prod- increased to 86,000 tonnes from 67,000 now if it conducts additional work on ucts and gasoline reformate. The unit is tonnes per year, while that of gasoline re- downstream units. n currently in test production and will begin formate has increased to 1.5 million kilo- commercial production from around the litres (about 26,000 bpd) a year from 1.3 World’s Largest Paraxylene Plant to be Built in South Korea

Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp paraxylene plant from its refineries in Japan. to more environment-friendly energy said in early August it and SK Innova- The move follows a similar $1 bil- sources, Japanese oil refiners are look- tion Co of South Korea would invest lion paraxylene project in South Korea ing abroad for expansion opportunities. 1.35 trillion won ($1.3 billion) to build by Japan's Cosmo Oil Co and Hyun- For example, No.3-ranked Idemitsu the world's biggest paraxylene plant and dai Oilbank and comes at a time when Kosan had plans to make a final invest- a lubricant facility in South Korea. margins for paraxylene are expected to ment decision at the end of the summer The two firms will spend 1 trillion improve on the back of robust demand on building Vietnam's second refinery. won on a 1 million tonnes per year para- from China and other Asian nations. JX JX is also considering a similar re- xylene plant to start output in 2014 at currently has the top market share in par- finery project in Vietnam. Japan's oil SK's Ulsan complex in South Korea, axylene output in Asia, and the venture sales fell for the fourth straight month and the remainder on a lubricant plant will raise its output capacity by 500,000 in June after the March earthquake with a capacity to make 1.35 million tonnes to 3.12 million tonnes per year. and tsunami disrupted refinery opera- kilolitres per year of lubricant base oil. Faced with a structural decline in tions and curbed economic activity. n SK also confirmed the investments. JX Japanese oil demand with popula- (note: $1US Dolar = 79.020 Japanese Yen). said it would provide feedstock for the tion peaking and an accelerated shift Orpic Increasing Heavy Oil Processing

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Orpic has selected UOP and Foster process 2.5 million mt/year of heavy crude. Industries or Orpic, owned by the gov- Wheeler technology to process heavy Orpic will use the UOP/Foster ernment of the Sultanate of Oman, is oil and expand fuel and petrochemical Wheeler Solvent Deasphalting process expected to start production from its production. Both companies, in col- to convert heavy crude to low-contami- expanded refinery at Sohar, Oman, in laboration, will provide the technology nant deasphalted oil, which will be used 2015, technology provider UOP said in license and basic engineering package to produce LPG, gasoline, jet fuel, diesel a statement in early August. for the expanded unit that will be able to and propylene. The Cont. page 6

SDA process produces a high-quality, Orpic owns four plants at Sohar and oil, jet oil, as well as 818,000 mt/year of low-contaminant deasphalted oil rich in Muscat with a total production capac- paraxylene, 198,000 mt/year of benzene paraffinic-type molecules that is used in ity of 222,000 bpd of products includ- and 350,000 mt/year of polypropylene. n fuel and petrochemical production. ing naphtha, LPG, gasoil, gasoline, fuel Qatargas Doubling Condensate Refinery Capacity

Paris-based Technip has won the con- engineering and design (FEED) contract, in the first quarter of next year and Qa- tract to design a capacity-doubling ex- Technip will design facilities to boost targas expects to award the engineering, pansion of Qatargas’s Laffan condensate the refinery’s capacity to 292,000 bpd procurement and construction contract refinery, the Qatari state energy company from the current 146,000 bpd. The de- to build the facilities by the end of the said on August 25. Under the front-end sign contract is scheduled for completion third quarter of 2012. n PetroVietnam Dung Quat Refinery Restarted

Vietnam’s 130,000 bpd Dung Quat re- PetroVietnam shut down the facility Dung Quat. He noted that the next main- finery, which produced more than 3.3 on July 15 for scheduled maintenance, tenance is due in four years, when local million tons of oil products in the first which was scheduled to last through technicians and experts are set to be seven months this year, restarted op- mid-September. The plant is expected capable of fixing problems themselves erations on August 30 following a shut- to be operating at full capacity within without depending on foreign expertise. down for maintenance that ended earlier ten days, news website VnExpress re- Petroietnam plans to expand the an- than expected, as reported in Vietnam- ported, citing Nguyen Hoai Giang, nual capacity of the plant to ten million based Thanh Nien News. Chief Executive of Binh Son Refining tons by 2017, from 6.5 million tons. n State-owned oil and gas group and Petrochemical Co, which operates BP Whiting Refinery Delaying Startup of New Hydrotreater and Coker

An August 27 report from the Asso- to become a top processor of high-sulfur components of the modernization at ciated Press says BP has delayed the crude taken from Canadian tar sands. the complex about 20 miles southeast startup of part of its $3.8 billion Whiting The project, designed to deal with the of Chicago will begin operating on oil refinery expansion until mid-2013, higher level of impurities found in that the earlier schedule. But he said the citing the northwestern Indiana project’s crude, was expected to be completed and startup of the project’s new gas oil hy- “many variables.” operating by late 2012. drotreater and coker will be delayed The upgrade will equip the complex BP spokesman Brad Etlin said some until mid-2013. n Murphy Oil Refinery Sold to Valero

Valero Energy Corp.based in San An- assets and $300 million for the refinery's deal also includes a product terminal, a tonio, Texas (USA) agreed August 31 current inventory. Valero said it plans to 20% interest in the Collins Product Pipe- to acquire Murphy Oil Corp.'s 135,000 close the deal in the fourth quarter. The line and terminal and a 3.2% interest in bpd refinery at Meraux, Louisiana for refinery has a Mississippi River dock the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port. Valero about $625 million. The deal includes and is located about 40 miles from Vale- currently has 15 refineries. n $325 million for the refinery and related ro's refinery in St. Charles Parish. The

Editorially Speaking Opportunity Crude Processing

If you are planning on staying in the re- ers have relied on to deal with these Gulf Coast refining business, then you should expect problems, including problems with finers a reliable to process a wider range of feedstocks “standard” crude slates, has increased supply of heavy with poorly understood chemistry and significantly. For example, the costs of Canadian crudes. Rene Gonzalez, Editor processing challenges. This probably rate earth oxide materials used in FCC However, politi- Refinery Operations means upgrading a refinery’s crude and catalysts and additives have experienced cians and pseudo- desalting units to deal with corrosion about a 2700% increase in cost in less environmentalists and fouling precursors, as well as pre- than 12 months, as discussed by Grace may halt the project in spite of the proj- paring primary conversion units, such Davison’s David Hunt in this issue’s ect’s ability to provide the US with a as the hydrocracker to increase distillate Feature article. For a perspective, if the secure supply of feedstock and jobs and petrochemical products. However, rate of inflation on the rare earth element throughout the oil industry value chain. some refiners are finding out the cost of lanthanum (used in FCC catalysts) were So it comes as no surprise that some upgrading opportunity crudes are higher applied to a $2.00 cup of coffee, the new of the most profitable facilities are those than expected due to the unusual con- cost would be more than $25.00. fortunate to be able to process a “nar- centrations of troublesome compounds Just as common, many refiners rower range” of standard crudes over (e.g., mercury, arsenic, etc.). have to deal with upgrading desalt- a prolonged period. For some refiners, Opportunity crude processing tech- ing capacity and performance to avoid such as export refiners that seem to pro- nology is available and is in a constant downstream operational problems such cess the widest variety of crudes, heavy state of improvement by the technology as corrosion, equipment fouling and oil upgrading programs are necessary licensors. Opportunity crudes generally catalyst poisoning. and figured into operating costs, as they have greater than 1.0 wt% sulfur and There are other cost factors that should blend increasing percentages of oppor- less than 26 API gravity, with a TAN be considered outside of the refiner’s di- tunity crudes with standard crude slates. greater than 1.0. We are nonetheless rect control, such as the transportation If you can afford the cost, the up- seeing some unexpected increases in the and logistics with moving opportunity coming 4th High TAN & Opportunity cost of dealing with the combinations crudes to the refinery facility. Crude (HTOC 2011: info@connec- of compounds in these feedstocks caus- One of the most notable cases is the tion.org; +65 6338 4090) Conference ing serious corrosion problems in crude/ current controversy with the proposed in Singapore (September 15-16) will vacuum units, and fouling in FCC unit construction of the Keystone Pipeline focus exclusively on the technology gas plant operations. from Canada to the US Gulf Coast, and economics associated with running Some of the technology that refin- which will provide high-complexity opportunity crudes. n

Calendar of Events

SEPTEMBER 11-13, Central & Eastern European Refinery & Petro- 22-23, Russia & CIS Refining Technology Conference & Ex- chemicals 14th Annual Meeting, World Refining Associa- hibition, Euro Petroleum Consultants, Moscow, Russia, +44 tion, Gdansk/SOPOT, Poland, +44 (0) 207 067 1818, www. (0) 20 7357 8394, www.europetro.com. wraconferences.com.

OCTOBER NOVEMBER 9-12, NPRA Q&A and Technology Forum, ational Petrochem- 1-2, Downstream Asia 2011, The Energy Exchange, Singa- ical & Refiners Association (NPRA), San Antonio, Texas pore, www.theenergyexchange.co.uk. USA, +1 (202) 457 0480, www.npra.org. 7-10, Sulphur 2011, CRU, Houston, Texas USA, +44 (0) 20 7903 2300, www.sulphurconference.com.

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