Petrochemical facilities in development

Two petrochemical projects have been conceived in recent days, respectively at sites in the USA and Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan

A feasibility study has been submitted by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to the government, regarding the construction of a petrochemical complex alongside current refining operations, which will be relocated away from urban areas.

The complex will include a gas processing plant, oil refinery and petrochemical plant projected for production of 670 000 tpy of polyethylene and 550 000 tpy of polypropylene. The petrochemical plants would be developed in the Garadagh area to the south of the Azeri capital Baku with a completion date of 2018.

The project will cost an estimated US$ 15 billion, 30% of which will be sourced from SOCAR’s internal resources and government contributions, while the remainder will be funded externally.

USA

Williams, the natural gas company, has approved an expansion of the Geismar olefins production facility, which is located south of Baton Rouge in Louisiana.

The prospective US$ 350 - 400 million expansion will increase the facility's ethylene production capacity by 600 million pounds per year to a new annual capacity of 1.95 billion pounds.

The project, within which Williams holds an 83.3% interest, will serve petrochemical companies by adding 600 million pounds per year of new ethylene supply to the market.

The plant is a light end natural gas liquid cracker with current volumes of 37 000 bpd of ethane and 3000 bpd of propane and annual production of 1.35 billion pounds of ethylene. The facility also produces propylene, butadiene and debutanised aromatic concentrate.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/26092011/petrochemical_facilities_in_development/