Total Petrochemicals Middle East strategy targets new products

23 November 2010 10:50  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Total Petrochemicals plans to grow in the Middle East by investing in projects that introduce new products and/or new technology to a country, Graeme Burnett, the company’s senior vice president for Asia and Middle East, said on Tuesday.

The Brussels-headquartered petrochemicals producer intends to work with its national oil company (NOC) partners “to develop projects that add something to a particular country’s current product portfolio”, he said.

Looking at Qatar, for example, polyethylene (PE) is the major product so Total would consider investing in products in the C3 chain such as polypropylene (PP) or even styrenics, Burnett said.

“I’m not saying that’s in our scope right now. But those are the kind of developments we’re looking at,” he added.

Countries of interest in the region included Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Burnett said, but added that any new projects would depend on feedstock availability and the timing of that availability.

Qatar will become more interesting for future petrochemicals projects once its moratorium on the development of gas projects is lifted and the country has gas reserves, Burnett said.

Total Petrochemicals is already considering investing in a third cracker in Qatar, and a lifting of the moratorium would improve the prospects for further cracker projects, he explained.

Saudi Arabia currently has some limitations on feedstock but the country is developing further fields that could have associated gas, he added.

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By: Anna Jagger
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