Equate’s Olefins II project is proceeding well on target with the announcement that Fluor Corporation has signed an MoU to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the utilities and infrastructure portion of the project.

This scope is in addition to the programme management contract it was awarded last year to perform overall management consultancy and front-end engineering services.
The billion-plus-dollar project is located approximately 40 km, south of Kuwait City in Shuaiba.  Equate is owned by Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and Dow Chemical Company, each of which has a 45 per cent stake, and by Boubyan Petrochemical Company (10 per cent). PIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and one of six of its specialised subsidiaries.
Olefins II will include construction of an 850,000-tonnes-per-year (tpy) cracker, a 600,000 tpy ethylene glycol unit, a 450,000 tpy ethyl benzene/styrene monomer unit and a debottleneck expansion of an additional 225,000 tpy of polyethylene capacity at the existing complex.
Olefins II will be similar in volume to the first project and, consequently, the completed facility will double the capacity at the existing olefins complex.
In addition to Olefins II, PIC and Dow expect to build an ethylbenzene/styrene unit of 450,000 tpy supplied with ethylene from Olefins II and benzene from the aromatics project, to be built simultaneously on a site adjacent to Equate, which will manage, operate and maintain the Olefins II facilities.
“We’re very pleased to be awarded the next phase of this important chemicals project,” says David Seaton, senior vice president responsible for the chemicals business within Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals group.
“We appreciate the confidence Dow and PIC have in Fluor, and we look forward to building on our excellent relationship.”
Groundbreaking occurred in March 2005, with completion of the complex expected in the second quarter of 2008.
Fluor provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management.
Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Fluor is a Fortune 500 company with revenues of $9.4 billion in 2004.
Technip also signed recently a deal to build an ethylene plant at the Olefins II petrochemical complex in Shuaiba.
Technip’s engineering centre in Rome (Italy) will execute the contract, which includes detail engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials, construction and pre-commissioning.
The plant will be based on Technip’s in-house technology. The basic engineering for the proprietary SMK cracking furnaces, as well as the front-end design for the recovery section have already been provided by Technip’s engineering centre in Claremont, California.
About the status of the aromatics project, a PIC spokesman said:  “The Aromatics project is under implementation and EPC contractor selection is in progress.”
Equate registered for 2004 a net profit $620.5 million, an earnings record for the company since its start-up in 1997. The earnings represent an improvement of 126 per cent over the previous year.
“The year 2004 was a golden year for the company with elite all-around records,” Equate president and CEO Hamad Al Terkait said. “Overall, company results were better than all previous years and exceeded 95 per cent of goals set. Our stakeholders and employees are very proud of our accomplishments.”
Al Terkait remarked that Equate had met its customers’ expectations in timely supply, quality of product, and uniqueness in service. On the other hand, it delivered and honoured its commitment at market price and collected its returns on time, enabling it to operate and function without disruption. “Our people made it happen, and I am proud of them,” he said.
Commented Andre Liveris, president and CEO of Dow Chemical Company: “Olefins II is an important component of our strategy for participation in the Middle East. It brings us a cost-competitive geographic position that will enable us to grow profitably, particularly in Asia.
“Given the importance of the project, we are fortunate to have PIC as our partner. We greatly value this partnership and the expertise the PIC people bring to the project. As a result, the project is moving forward smoothly,” he said at a dinner to celebrate the fine performance at Equate.
 “Equate is looking forward to operating and maintaining the new projects as its involvement in the upcoming new petrochemical projects is a clear reflection of the capability and value creation that the company will exemplify,” said Terkait.  “It is also a reflection of the experience that we have built over the last few years and the success that we have achieved through operating and managing the Equate Complex and PIC polypropylene plant.”
PIC produced 117,000 tonnes of polypropylene during the 2004/2005 financial year, its highest ever output. Production in the previous year was 106,000 tonnes. 
The urea production in 2004-05 was 570,000 (all granular) while the ammonia production reached 470,000 tonnes.  Most exports went to North America. 
Capacity was enhanced recently through a plant revamp. The urea design capacity has been increased from 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy) to more than 1 million tpy. The prilling section has been replaced with new granulation units and now PIC produces granular urea only. The plant control system is upgraded and replaced with a DCS system, which became recently operational. 
Additionally, PIC and Dow have two 50:50 overseas joint ventures, one of which is MEGlobal, which manufactures and markets merchant monoethylene glycol and diethylene glycol (EG). The other enterprise is Equipolymers, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing polyethylene terephthalate resins (PET) and the production of purified teraphthalic acid (PTA).