ADNOC and Borealis partner to expand Borouge polyolefin facility

Photo Credit: © Abu Dhabi Government Media Office

State-owned oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and Austria-based chemical maker Borealis are partnering to invest US$6.2 billion to build the fourth Borouge facility – Borouge 4 – at the polyolefin manufacturing complex in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The agreement was signed Nov. 15 at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

Borouge is a joint venture between ADNOC and Borealis.

In a Nov. 15 news release, Borealis officials said the expansion “confirms both partners’ commitment to the growth of Borouge and to support chemical production, and advanced manufacturing and industry in Ruwais.”

Borealis says the new Borouge 4 facility will comprise an ethane cracker, with 1.5 million tons ethylene output per annum, which will be the fourth cracker in Borouge’s integrated petrochemical complex in Ruwais; two additional Borstar polyethylene (PE) plants, each with 700 thousand tons per annum capacity; a cross-linked PE (XLPE) plant of 100 thousand tons per annum capacity; and a hexene-1 unit, which will produce co-monomers for certain grades of PE.

“Borouge 4 will capitalize on the projected growth in customer demand for polyolefins, driven by their use in manufactured products in the Middle East, Africa and Asia,” Borealis said. “The facility will also enable the next phase of growth at the Ruwais Industrial Complex by supplying feedstock to the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone.”

The first Borouge facility, producing 450,000 tons of PE per annum was commissioned in 2001. Borouge 2 and Borouge 3 took capacity to 2 million tons and 4.5 million tons of PE and polypropylene per annum in 2010 and 2014 respectively. Borouge 4 will boost the company’s annual polyolefin production to 6.4 million tons. According to Borealis, this makes Borouge the world’s largest single-site polyolefin facility.