Petrochemical firms in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region increased their total production capacity to more than 115.994 million tons in 2011 compared to 102.075 million tons in 2010, an increase of 13.5 percent, a report issued by The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association ( GPCA ) said.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia alone accounted for more than half of the $ 100 billion in sales generated by the GCC petrochemicals sector, with Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) posting total revenues in 2011 of $ 50.64 billion and a net profit of $ 7.8 billion.
The report also describes 2011 as a year of consolidation after the demand slump caused by the 2008 economic downturn, with the industry recording sales and revenue growth and notable progress in the development of new projects.
Commenting on the GCC petrochemical industry, the GPCA Secretary-General Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun said continued investment and a cluster of significant new agreements demonstrate the leading role the GCC petrochemicals sector is now playing worldwide.
He expressed optimism about 2012, despite the gloomy economic forecast in European and overseas markets, due to the continued focus on technology, innovation and long-term partnerships.
The report provided a comprehensive review of the major developments within the six Arabian Gulf states.
The most significant deals signed in 2011 include Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical Company's joint venture — Sadara Chemical Company signed in October 2011, a large scale project which will include 26 manufacturing units for performance product output, including Polyurethanes among others.
There was a surge in deals for additional new downstream facilities in Saudi Arabia, ensuring 2012 and beyond will be the most dynamic the country's downstream sector will have ever seen, the report said.
In Qatar, Qatar Petroleum joined forces with Shell in December 2011 to build a petrochemicals plant at the cost of $ 6.8 billion. The scope under consideration includes a world-scale steam cracker, a monoethylene glycol plant of up to 1.5 million TPA. Qatar Petroleum will have an 80% equity interest in the project and Shell 20 percent, the report said.
In the UAE, Borouge, which is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Borealis of Austria, awarded several contracts throughout 2011 to expand its petrochemical complex Borouge 3. In January 2011 the company awarded an $ 111 million contract to Alpine Bau Deutshland AG to construct a series of non-process buildings for the expansion of the complex as well as awarded $ 169 million to Hyundai to build a polyethylene (XLPE) unit as part of Borouge 3.
In Kuwait, Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) completed the feasibility study of Olefin III project, in late 2011. The project will produce over 2.4 Million TPA of ethylene, PE, MEG.
In early 2011, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and SABIC signed an agreements and a memorandum of understanding respectively with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation Limited (Sinopec), seeing two of the region's biggest players become integral in China's burgeoning petrochemical sector, helping to meet growing global demand, the report said.
From an operational point of view, 2011 was a banner year for Gulf producers, with several major projects being completed. This, together with the rapid development of further projects destined to come on stream within the next few years, has cemented the GCC's position as a center of gravity for the petrochemicals industry, the report pointed out.
Arab News
4 July
