Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) and associated N-Paraffin will be produced in late 2004 in a Saudi Indo Petrochemicals Company (Sipco) plant following Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) approval the company received recently for establishing its LAB project in Yanbu.
The N-Paraffin and LAB projects will be in one integrated petrochemical complex in Yanbu with two products: N-Paraffin and LAB. This petrochemical complex is the culmination of a three-and-a-half-year effort by Gulf Petroproduct Company E.C., a Bahrain registered exempt joint stock company shared 50-50 between Tamilnadu Petroproduct Limited (TPL) and the Saudi Offset Limited Partnership (SOLP).
The publicly traded Tamilnadu Petroproduct Limited (TPL) is one of the largest producers of N-Paraffin and LAB in India. Its standards and efficiency are so high that the TPL plant in Chennai, one of the most modern in the world, is used as a reference plant by UOP, the provider of the technology for the production process.
The Saudi Offset Limited Partnership is a private equity and venture development limited partnership designed to invest offset funds in effective commercial ventures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Developed under the auspices of the Saudi Economic Offset program, the SOLP actively originates projects, which make financial sense in Saudi Arabia. The SOLP then brings together technology, financing, and local partners to structure the project and ensure its implementation. The SOLP, originally founded by DevCorp International E.C. as General Partner and the Raytheon Company as Limited Partner with a $25 million investment, has recently been expanded with a $10 million contribution from Thales International.
To implement the N-Paraffin and LAB projects, a new joint venture named Saudi Indo Petrochemical Company (Sipco) has been established between Gulf Petroproduct Company E.C. and the Al-Zamil Group as the lead Saudi investor. The Al-Zamil Group will lead a Saudi investment group, which will take 40 per cent of the projects.
Linear Alkyl Benzene is the primary biodegradable ingredient for the production of Linear Alkyl Sulfonates (LAS) used in detergents. The key to the successful project implementation of the N-Paraffin/LAB plant lies in the two-year multimillion-dollar testing and analysis programme of locally available kerosene and the return stream of kerosene to the refinery performed with the assistance of Shell Global Solutions. Buyers have been identified and TPL has offered to take the remainder of N-Paraffin after meeting captive requirements of the project.
Jim Greenberg, general manager of DevCorp, said the new product would complete the total integration of the detergent industry in Saudi Arabia.
