BASF, ATOFINA Celebrate Launch of $1 Billion Steam Cracker
Integrated Plant Designed to Support Long-Term Growth in North America
BASF FINA Petrochemicals Limited Partnership today celebrated the formal launch of the world`s largest naphtha steam cracker in Port Arthur, TX. BASF FINA Petrochemicals is a 60-40 joint venture between BASF Corporation of Mount Olive, N.J., the North American subsidiary of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Germany, and Atofina Petrochemicals, Inc., of Houston, Texas, a subsidiary of TotalFinaElf S.A., France.
Senior company representatives joined with Texas Governor Rick Perry, local employees, public officials, contractors and others today to dedicate the $1 billion facility. With a naphtha capacity of 920,000 metric tons, the new steam cracker becomes the largest of its kind. The plant, which came on-stream in December 2001, employs about 160 full-time personnel and approximately 50 contract support personnel.
Klaus Peter Loebbe, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF Aktiengesellschaftt and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BASF Corporation, noted that BASF´s strategy of "Verbund," which is German for integration, was a guiding principle for the joint venture.
"This steam cracker and the partnership with ATOFINA demonstrate that Verbund can also be accomplished 'over the fence'," Loebbe said. "By combining ATOFINA´s expertise in refining and hydrocarbon management and BASF´s steam cracking experience and Verbund expertise, we are capitalizing on the strengths of both companies."
"Over the longer-term, we believe that our investment in the processes and the latest technology encompassed by this facility will provide us with a sustainable position of cost leadership," said ATOFINA Petrochemicals President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Seeuws.
The ATOFINA refinery provides raw materials to the steam cracker while both ATOFINA and BASF use its end products in plants in Bayport, Carville and Freeport, Texas, and Geismar, Louisiana, as the building blocks for other products.
The naphtha steam cracker is a state-of-the-art petrochemical plant which uses steam to "crack" crude oil into propylene, ethylene and other chemical products which are essential in the manufacture of a broad range of products including plastics used in automobiles, crop protection products and synthetic fibers used in carpets.
BASF also operates steam crackers in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium. A steam cracker will also be the heart of a new Verbund site in Nanjing, China being built with partner SINOPEC.
Also at the Port Arthur site, BASF, ATOFINA and Shell Chemicals have formed a joint venture to construct and to operate a world-scale integrated C4 olefin complex. The start-up of the complex which has a total investment of $200 million is scheduled by the end of 2003. The new plants will be located between the ATOFINA refinery and the new steam cracker.
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