BASF, FINA Approve Construction of Steam Cracker Facility

BASF Corporation (Mount Olive, NJ) and FINA, Inc. (Dallas, TX) have announced that the boards of both BASF Aktiengesellschaft (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and PetroFINA S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) have given final approval to a plan to build the world's largest single-train steam cracker. Last September, BASF and FINA announced their intentions to build the facility at FINA's refinery in Port Arthur, TX. Construction is expected to begin in September 1998, with completion in fourth quarter 2000.

Under terms of a limited partnership agreement, BASF will hold a 60% share of the facility, and FINA will hold a 40% share. The steam cracker will be operated by BASF; FINA will operate all related equipment outside the cracker fence line. The facility will use a special technology for enhanced propylene production, thereby providing a nameplate capacity of 1.9 billion pounds (860,000 metric tons) of ethylene and 1.9 billion pounds (860,000 metric tons) of propylene. Total investment will be approximately $900 million, including infrastructure, olefins conversion and aromatics extraction, but excluding long-distance pipelines.

The cracker products, ethylene and propylene, are key raw materials for the production of plastics, fibers, solvents, paints and surfactants. These products are used in various industries including housing, construction, automotive, textile and clothing, beverage containers and cosmetics.

BASF Corporation and its affiliates are the NAFTA region members of the BASF Group. FINA, Inc. through its subsidiaries, engages in crude oil and natural gas exploration and production, and natural gas marketing; petroleum products refining, supply and transportation, and marketing; and chemicals manufacturing and marketing. FINA, Inc., is part of an international group of companies affiliated with PetroFINA S.A.

Edited by Beth Brindle