By an OGJ Online Correspondent
KUWAIT, July 19 -- Kuwaiti oil minister Adel K. Al-Sabeeh said Wednesday that his country planned to build two petrochemical plants by the end of 2005 at a total cost of $3.4 billion.
One of the proposed plants, which would cost $2 billion, would produce 850,000 tonnes/year of ethylene, 450,000 tonnes of polyethylene, 650,000 tonnes of ethylene glycol, and 70,000 tonnes of propylene, the Kuwait News Agency reported.
A leading international company would invest in this plant, while the local partner would be Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), the minister said, without naming the foreign concern.
The second plant, also to be partly owned by PIC, would produce 650,000 tonnes/year of paraxylene and 500,000 tonnes of styrene. The cost of this plant was estimated at $1.4 billion, the statement said.
Products from both plants would be used in the plastics industry.
As part of efforts to liberalize the Kuwaiti economy, the private sector would be allowed to own a suitable amount of shares in both projects, Al-Sabeeh pointed out.
