February 1997 Pump Industry Analyst

an annual subscription, from the American Petroleum ln- stitute, Publications and Dis- tribution Section, I220 L Street, NW, Washington DC 20005, USA. Tel: +I 202 682 8375; Fax: +l 202 962 4776.

API DIARY DATES

The American Petroleum Institute’s 48th Annual Pipeline Conference will be held 13-14 March 1997 at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas. The programme will in- clude sessions on interna- tional and US Gulf Coast pipeline projects, commu- nity awareness and envi- ronmental clean up technologies. The American Petroleum Institute’s 62nd Spring Refining Meeting will be held 7-9 April 1997 at the Sheraton Harbor ls- land Hotel in San Diego, California. The pro- gramme will include an orientation session hosted by the Committee on Re- finery Equipment, an En- vironmental Symposium hosted by the Committee on Refinery Environ- mental Control, and an operating practices sym- posium run by the Operat- ing Practices Advisory Committee and the Safety CG Fire Protection subcommittee.

BASF PLANS STEAM

CRACKER

BASF Corporation, a mem- ber of the BASF Group, has plans to build a steam cracker at a site on the (Gulf Coast. The cracker, which will have an annual capacity of I .S bil- lion pounds of ethylene and 900 million pounds of pro-

pylene, is planned to have a start-up date in the second half of the year 2000. Ac- cording to Carl Jennings, president of BASF Corpora- tion’s Chemicals Division, the plant will ensure inte- grated, long-term propylene and ethylene supply for fu- ture expansion in the NAFTA Region. BASF an- ticipates that the new cracker will have sufficient ethylene capacity to supply its exist- ing plants in the region and external customers in the Gulf Coast area. A decision on the location of the cracker is expected in mid- 1997.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

FOR INDONESIAN

CRACKER

A feasibility study is being undertaken for a new cracker complex in Indonesia. BP Chemicals of the UK, PT Salim Chemicals Corpora- tion of Indonesia, and Sumi- tomo Corporation, Tomen Corporation, Nichimen Cor- poration and Mitsui & Co Ltd of Japan have signed a memorandum of under- standing to jointly progress the study. The proposal in- volves the development of a naphtha-fed cracker with an initial capacity of 700 000 tonnes per annum of ethyl- ene and 300 000 tonnes per annum of propylene. The cracker would be sited at Bo- jonegoro on the west coast of Java and would supply ethylene by pipeline to PT PENl, Indonesia’s first poly- ethylene plant which came onstream in February 1993.

BASF AND

PETRONAS EXPAND

COOPERATION

BASF AG and the state- owned oil and gas com- pany Petroliam Nasional

Berhad (PETRONAS) are to expand their coopera- tion at the BASF site in Kuantan, Malaysia. A 250 000 metric ton 0x0 al- cohols plant, a 100 000 met- ric ton plasticizer facility and a 40 000 metric ton phthalic anhydride unit are planned to come onstream at the Kuantan site in 2001. A 160 000 metric ton acrylic acid unit and acrylate plants are currently under construc- tion at the site and are ex- pected to come onstream in late 1999. In addition, a pro- pane dehydrogenation unit with a 275-350 000 capacity is also planned. Overall, an estimated US$l billion is to be invested in the Kuantan complex.

EASTMAN

CHEMICAL’S

MALAYSIAN

PLASTICS PLANT

AHEAD OF

SCHEDULE

The 30 000 metric-ton-per annum copolyester plastics plant under construction in Kuantan, Malaysia is currently ahead of schedule. Engineering, drafting and procurement activities are nearly finished at the plant, which is scheduled to come onstream in early 1998.

SOLVAY PLANS

GERMAN

HYDROGEN

PEROXIDE FACILITY

Solvay Interox is to build a new state-of-the-art ultra high purity hydrogen per- oxide plant in Bernburg, Germany. The plant, which will come onstream by the end of 1997, will supply European semi- conductor manufacturers with the highest purity grade of hydrogen peroxide. The

new facility is part of Solvay Interox’s strategy to be a global supplier to the semi- conductor industry. Solvay lnterox currently has high pu- rity hydrogen peroxide plants in Munich, Germany, Warrington, UK and Texas, USA. Ultra high purity hy- drogen is used as a cleaning agent to remove organic ma- terials, metallic impurities and particles during the mi- crochip manufacturing proc- ess. Solvay lnterox is part of Solvay, the Belgian interna- tional chemical and pharma- ceutical group.

VIETNAM REJECTS

FOREIGN REFINERY

PROPOSAL

A proposal by a foreign consortium to build Viet- nam’s first oil refinery has been rejected by the Hanoi government. Instead, the government is to go ahead with the US$ I .3 billion project by it- self. Analysts say the deci- sion to go it alone will make project funding very difficult to attain, The move follows Total’s exit from the project last year (see Pump Industry Analyst, January 1996).

EXTRA FUNDING

FOR WATER

REACTOR PROJECT

Germany’s electricity com- panies are to provide an ad- ditional DM1.50 million for further development work on the joint Franco-Ger-