BP Amoco PLC announced the signing in London on Oct. 20 with China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) of a framework agreement to undertake a joint feasibility study for a world-scale ethylene cracker and derivatives complex in Shanghai.
The company also marked capacity increases at two of its existing petrochemical plants-one to be achieved by debottlenecking and the other by re-rating a plant that performed beyond expectations.
Shanghai project
BP Amoco said the project proposal for the 650,000 tonne/year Shanghai ethylene and derivatives complex was approved by the Chinese government earlier this month, with full support from the Shanghai municipal and Zhejiang provincial governments.
The proposal was first introduced in 1996, when Sinopec and its Shanghai Petrochemical Co. affiliate signed a letter of intent to consider a 50-50 joint venture with the former BP Chemicals Ltd.
In July 1997, Sinopec and BP completed a prefeasibility study and submitted a $2.5 billion project proposal to the government.
Bryan Sanderson, chief executive of BP Amoco Chemicals, said: "(The) signing of the agreement (on Oct. 20) further develops the cooperative relationship between Sinopec and BP Amoco, based on the successful cooperation in Yangtze River Acetyls Co. Ltd. (YARACO)."
Sinopec Vice-Pres. Wang Jiming added, "The Shanghai cracker project will contribute significantly to Sino- pec's aim of building several million-tonne ethylene sites in China in stages after the year 2000 and to the economic development of both Shanghai municipality and the Yangtze River Delta."
BP Amoco and Sinopec aim to complete the joint feasibility report, negotiate a joint-venture contract, and complete other commercial agreements by the end of 2000. The JV would be established by the end of 2001, with a view to completing construction of the cracker and derivatives plants by 2005.
Other projects
Meanwhile, BP Amoco plans to complete an increase in capacity at a trimellitic anhydride (TMA) unit at its Joliet, Ill., chemicals complex next month, which will boost TMA capacity at the site to 65,000 tonnes/year.
The increase is to be achieved through a combination of process technology improvements and hardware modifications, said the operator. M.W. Kellogg Constructors Inc. was contracted to provide engineering, procurement, and construction management for an undisclosed sum.
BP Amoco also let contract to Kellogg Brown & Root to conduct an engineering study for a grassroots TMA plant, based on newly developed proprietary process technology, to begin operation in 2002. The plant would supply Asian markets and would be built in either Singapore or Kuantan, Malaysia.
Finally, BP Amoco announced it would re-rate its YARACO joint venture acetic acid plant to 200,000 tonnes/year from 150,000 tonnes/year after only 9 months of operation.
The re-rating was reportedly made possible by fine-tuning plant operations without the need to invest in debottlenecking.
