Spain's Repsol to invest €1bn in Portugal complex

17 September 2008 15:25  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Repsol will invest €1bn ($1.4bn) in an expansion at its Sines in southern Portugal for start-up in 2011 which will add polyolefins units to the petrochemical complex, the Spanish oil and petrochemicals producer said on Wednesday.

This figure exceeds the €850m figure the company had previously indicated it would spend on the site through its 2008-2012 strategic plan.

It also set back the date of the planned start-up from late 2010 to 2011.

The company is planning to increase its existing cracker capacity at the site by 40% to 570,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and will build polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants with 300,000 tonnes/year.  

In addition, a cogeneration plant of 45 megawatts (MW) will be built, Repsol said.

Repsol is targeting most of the new production for export at a value of more than €1.2bn a year, it said.

The expansion would turn the Sines complex into an integrated polyolefins producer from being a mere exporter of olefins. Currently, almost 30% of ethylene and 100% of propylene produced at the site is exported, according to Repsol.

"Without a doubt Portugal is one of the high-priority markets for our company, which is made evident by the billion euro investment,” said Repsol CEO Antonio Brufau.

“Consequently the Sines petrochemical complex is an extremely important project for Repsol which is included in the company’s main worldwide strategic growth projects for the coming years,” he added.

Five-hundred jobs will be created at the new site.

($1 = €0.71)

For more on olefins and polyolefins visit ICIS chemical intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Hilde Ovrebekk
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly