Company News

More petrochemicals in the Middle East
While Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil Chemical have signed an agreement to build a petrochemical complex in Qatar housing the world’s largest steam cracker and speciality PE plants, Equate Petrochemical has started up its aromatics complex in Kuwait.

To be housed in Ras Laffan Industrial city, Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil’s project will include the 1.6 million tonnes cracker, two 650,000 tonnes gas phase PE plants and a 700,000 tonnes ethylene glycol plant. Start-up of the proposed facility is estimated in late 2015.   The project will use ExxonMobil’s proprietary steam cracking and PE process and utilise feedstock from gas-development projects in Qatar’s North Field, which is the largest non-associated gas field in the world. ExxonMobil says its proprietary steam cracking furnace technology boosts ethylene yield, allows greater feedstock flexibility, reduces energy consumption and extends time periods between maintenance. ExxonMobil’s olefins plants throughout the world utilise the technology and the company licenses it as part of the Score ethylene process.

Meanwhile, Equate’s US$2 billion complex for producing paraxylene (PX) and benzene (BZ) is located in Kuwait’s Shuaiba Industrial Area. The current capacities are 829,000 tonnes/year of PX and 393,000 tonnes/year of BZ. PX is the main feedstock in the production of PET.

The complex’s PX output will be marketed by Petrochemical Industries in selected markets while the BZ will be used locally for the production of styrene monomer by the Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC).