The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) has invested $100m in a South Korean propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project.

Kuwait’s investment is the second foreign direct investment in the PDH project, which is being developed by SK Gas, which is part of the South Korean SK Group.

In September 2014 the Saudi-listed Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC) invested $135m in the scheme.

PIC will be joining by acquiring a 25 per cent equity stake in the project.

SK Gas will now hold a 45 per cent stake in the project, 30 per cent will be held by Saudi-based Advanced Global Investment Company (AGIC), which is a subsidiary of APC.

Mechanical completion of the project was announced in October 2015 and the trial production of the PDH Plant is expected to start during the first quarter of 2016.

The plant is slated to produce 600,000 tonnes of propylene a year.

APC announced PIC’s investment in the project in a statement released via the Saudi Stock Exchange on 19 January 2016.