Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge)confirmed on 15 December that it was to proceed with a major expansion of its Ruwais petrochemical complex. Borouge said that it would invest $40 million in debottlenecking its existing polyethylene capacity. It also said it was studying the possibility of building a new worldscale cracker to take advantage of new ethane feedstock capacity to be brought on stream under the third phase of the onshore gas development (OGD-3) and phase 2 of the Asab gas development (AGD-2 - MEED 31:10:03).
The debottlenecking programme will see polyethylene capacity rise by 130,000 tonnes a year (t/y) to 580,000 t/y and include an expansion of the material handling facilities. The project's completion by the second quarter of 2005 will result in Borouge utilising on-site the entire output of its existing 600,000-t/y cracker: at present 150,000 t/y of spare ethylene capacity is exported.
As set out in a memorandum of understanding signed by the company's shareholders, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)and Copenhagen-based Borealis, Borouge said it was carrying out a technical and commercial feasibility study looking into the construction of a new ethane cracker with downstream polyolefin units. New ethane supplies from the OGD-3/AGD-2 programme will be able to support a cracker of up to 1.4 million t/y, the company added. A decision on the cracker is expected in 2004, with start-up scheduled for 2008.
www.meed.com/petrochemicals
You might also like...
TotalEnergies to acquire remaining 50% SapuraOMV stake
26 April 2024
Hyundai E&C breaks ground on Jafurah gas project
26 April 2024
Abu Dhabi signs air taxi deals
26 April 2024
Spanish developer to invest in Saudi housing
26 April 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.
