New Complex Planned For Abu Dhabi

Austrian polyolefins maker Borealis and its majority owner, International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are planning a "chemicals industrial city" in Abu Dhabi. The complex, Borealis says, will be the largest of its kind in the world. A first phase, expected to be completed in 2013, is set to include a naphtha-based ethylene cracker and ethylene and propylene derivatives, as well as benzene, cumene, phenol, and their derivatives. Borealis is owned 64% by IPIC and 36% by Austrian refiner OMV. It has operated the polyethylene joint venture Borouge with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. since 2001.