UAE Borouge Increasing PP/PE Capacity

United Arab Emirates plastics producer, Borouge is planning to increase its polyolefins including Polyethylene and Polypropylene capacity by 2.5m tonnes per annum by the end of 2014 under a feasibility study for the expansion project, codenamed Borouge 3.

The additional feedstock will be supplied Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) through its planned expansions at upstream which if succeeded will boost Borouge's total production capacity to 4.5m tonnes/year to meet the growing demands of polyethylene and polypropylene markets in the Middle East and Asia.

Analysts expect that the feasibility study will be successful since Borouge is a 40:60 joint venture between Borealis and Adnoc.

Shell & QatarGas Supplying LNG to Dubai from 2010

Royal Dutch Shell together with QatarGas signed a deal with the emirates of United Arab Emiratges to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Dubai in the peak demand summer period from 2010. Shell and QatarGas will supply around 1.5 million tonnes of LNG a year for 15 years.

Demand for power and water in the Dubai increased by 20 percent a year, driven by rapid economic and population growth due to tourism, trade and financial services.

Dubai Supply Authority (Dusup) has been given the sole rights to supply gas users. DUSUP will also be responsible in building a floating LNG regasification facility at Jebel Ali port with capacity of 3 million tonnes a year expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2010. Ironically, UAE is the world's fifth-largest gas reserves but has not developed the gas reserves quickly enough to meet its own rising gas demand as the UAE economy expands in particular Dubai.