OYSTER CREEK, Texas,
Oct. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today
the EQUATE Group is proud to announce the official start-up of the
MEGlobal Oyster Creek Site's commercial production of fiber-grade,
on-spec monoethylene glycol. The plant has a nameplate capacity of
750,000 metric-tons-annually (MTa) of ethylene glycol and access to
shipping routes to customers around the world.
The new plant will be operated by MEGlobal Americas Inc., a
subsidiary of EQUATE Petrochemical Company and is the Group's first
manufacturing facility in the United
States. It will produce monoethylene and diethylene glycol,
products used in a number of market applications including
polyester fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and
packaging, antifreeze and coolants, paints, resins, deicing fluids,
heat transfer fluids and construction materials.
Dr. Ramesh Ramachandran,
President and CEO of EQUATE, said: "The successful execution of
this project demonstrates EQUATE's ability to leverage its
best-in-class practices across the globe. From safety to schedule
to cost control, the MEGlobal Oyster Creek Site epitomizes our
commitment to operational excellence and efficiency in order to
serve the growing customer need for EG across the globe."
The new facility is the first major investment by a Kuwait-based company on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
It built on the longstanding relationship between Kuwaiti partner,
Petrochemical Industries Company in Kuwait (PIC) and U.S. partner, Dow Inc. (NYSE:
DOW), a relationship that was forged during the liberation of
Kuwait. That relationship led to
the formation of the EQUATE Petrochemical Company, a joint venture
between Dow and PIC (42.5% ownership each) as well as Boubyan
Petrochemicals Co. K.S.C. (BPC) with 9% ownership and Qurain
Petrochemical Industries Co. (QPIC) with 6% ownership.
EQUATE's Executive Vice President, Naser
Al-Dousari, said, "The new Oyster Creek MEGlobal plant is an
expansion of the Company's ethylene glycol business in order to
meet fast-growing global demand. It greatly enhances our global
presence and falls under our continuous plans to maximize value as
a leading ethylene glycol producer and supplier."
The MEGlobal Oyster Creek plant is leveraging the U.S. shale gas
advantage by utilizing ethylene from the Dow Oyster Creek facility.
The site has also licensed Dow's METEOR™ technology for its
processes.
The project achieved several milestones in its construction,
including more than 3.5 million consecutive safe work hours. It
created 55 new full-time and 25-35 contract jobs. It employed
almost 2,000 construction workers during project's peak and will
contribute approximately $24 million
per year to the local economy.
To learn more about the EQUATE Group visit www.equate.com. To
learn more about MEGlobal visit www.meglobal.biz.
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SOURCE EQUATE Group