Pembina, PIC form joint venture for proposed Canada PDH/PP plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Canada-based Pembina Pipeline and Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC) of Kuwait have formed a joint venture for a proposed integrated propylene and 1.2bn lb/year (544,000 tonne/year) polypropylene (PP) plant in Alberta, the companies announced on Monday.

The 50:50 joint venture, Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp (CKPC), will proceed with activities for the front end engineering design (FEED) for the project.

A final investment decision (FID) is not expected until late 2018, the announcement said.

Announced in April 2016, the proposed propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and PP plant will cost around Canadian dollars (C$) 4bn ($3bn) and consume 22,000 bbl/day of Alberta-produced propane produced in Sturgeon County, an industrial region of the Canadian province, according to the announcement.

The project is one of at least a half-dozen PP projects in North America to be announced in the past two years.

The Alberta government’s Petrochemicals Diversification Program recently awarded $300m in royalty credits to the project.

PP from the unit would be transported to North American and global markets.

“This project represents a material extension of our natural gas liquids value chain strategy and creates a significant incremental local market for western Canadian hydrocarbons,” said Stuart Taylor, Pembina’s Senior Vice President, NGL & Natural Gas Facilities.

Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta’s Minister of Energy, called the announcement “another milestone along the way on a project that will help diversify the type of energy products we produce here in Alberta”.

($1 = C$1.36)