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Borouge set to expand

Posted: 15 December 2003

Borouge to expand existing Borstar capacity and studying further expansion to form a world scale petrochemical complex at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi in the UAE

Building on the successful start up and first two years of operation, increasing market demand for enhanced polyolefins and more feedstock becoming available, the next steps are underway to expand the Borouge petrochemical complex.

Borouge will invest USD 40 million to debottleneck the existing Borstar enhanced polyethylene (PE) capacity from 450,000 to 580,000 tonnes per annum. The project, which includes expansion of material handling facilities, is to be completed by Q2 2005. In addition, Borouge will assume full off take of the existing 600,000 tonnes per annum ethylene cracker.

To further develop Borouge, its owners, ADNOC and BOREALIS, earlier this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding and are proceeding with a feasibility study for a new world scale cracker and downstream polyolefin plants.

The feasibility study to expand the Ruwais petrochemical complex is linked to market growth and increased gas production in the region from two ADNOC natural gas developments (OGD-3 and AGD-2) in Abu Dhabi.

Significant amounts of ethane equivalent to approximately 1.4 million tonnes ethylene will become available for petrochemical use. The ongoing study is investigating technical and commercial aspects and considering the various options.

Conclusions are likely to be reached during 2004 with expected start-up of the new plants in 2008.

“We have successfully positioned our products in the targeted markets and applications. Our customers are extremely satisfied with the superior quality of our enhanced PE products using Borealis’ bimodal Borstar technology,” says Hubert Puchner, Chief Executive Officer of Borouge Pte Ltd.

“We are looking forward to offering more of these valuable products to the market. The demand for polyolefins in the Middle East and Asia is expected to grow annually between 6 per cent and 8 per cent until the year 2010 and will absorb the announced capacity expansions”.

“The petrochemical industry never stands still,” Harri Bucht, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. Ltd (Borouge) comments. ”Borouge has performed beyond expectations to date with the polyethylene plants already exceeding their nameplate capacity. By expanding our olefins and polyolefins production, we will achieve greater cost efficiency and sharpen our competitive edge. The planned expansions are a major step in developing Borouge into a leading polyolefins company in the Middle East based on a world scale petrochemical complex.”

The expansion plans represent a further strengthening of the partnership between ADNOC and BOREALIS. The partners bring complimentary strengths to the Borouge joint venture with ADNOC providing resources and expertise in the feedstock area along with local market knowledge and relationships. Building on a strong platform in the oil and gas industry, these announcements further demonstrate ADNOCs continued focus on downstream petrochemical activities in Abu Dhabi and commitment to polyolefins.

BOREALIS provides olefins and polyolefins technology coupled with commercial and operational expertise. Borealis and Borouge adopt complementary differentiation strategies with a common focus on enhanced/ high performance polyolefins based on Borstar technology.

Borouge
Borouge’s petrochemical complex began operations in late 2001 and was officially opened in October 2002. It produces enhanced polyethylene products using Borealis’ proprietary BORSTAR® technology to meet the demanding needs of the packaging and pipe industries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Borouge is the result of a synergistic joint venture between two well-established corporations – Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Borealis A/S of Denmark. Borouge consists of two entities: A production company Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. Ltd. (Borouge) based in Abu Dhabi with production in Ruwais, UAE, and a marketing company, Borouge Pte. Ltd. based in Singapore. Borouge has full-fledged sales offices in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai and Lebanon.

ADNOC
ADNOC, one of the world’s leading oil companies, is government-owned and guided by the Supreme Petroleum Council, which is responsible for formulating Abu Dhabi’s petroleum policy and overseeing its oil and gas operations and related industries. In addition to oil and gas ventures, ADNOC has also expanded its business to include petrochemicals.

BOREALIS
BOREALIS is a leading producer of high-performance polyolefin plastics, polyethylene and polypropylene, with an annual output of more than 3.5 million tonnes. The company’s head office is in Denmark and the Group has manufacturing and compounding facilities in Europe, Brazil and the USA.

Borstar is a registered trademark of Borealis A/S, Denmark.

For more information see www.borouge.com.

Posted by Richard Price, Editor Pipeline Magazine

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