Phillips and Formosa Plastics Collaborate on Polyethylene Process

Phillips Petroleum Company (Bartlesville, OK) recently announced that it will license its loop slurry technology for polyethylene to Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas.

Formosa will now be able to build a new, single-train, 250, 000 metric-tons-per-year (550 million pounds-per-year) facility at Point Comfort, Texas. The plant initially will produce medium-and high-density polyethylene resins, and will have the capability of using Phillips' proprietary metallocene catalyst technology to produce metallocene-based linear low-density polyethylene resins. Startup is expected in early 2001.

The Phillips loop slurry technology process is used for manufacturing medium-and high-density polyethylene—plastics used in milk jugs, toys, trash bags and plastic pipe.

Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, is the 11th largest producer of polyethylene in the United States.

Phillips is an integrated petroleum company with 17,200 employees worldwide.

For more information: Vernon Johnson, Phillips Petroleum Company. Tel: 918-661-4974.