December 20, 2004 – Indian Oil Corporation Limited has selected Basell’s Spheripol technology for a new 600 KT per year polypropylene plant. The plant is to be built at Panipat, India, with start-up planned for 2007.
“This is the first entry of IndianOil into the field of polyolefins, and it is our target to further expand our petrochemicals business in the future,” said Mr. Govindarajan, IndianOil’s General Manager for Petrochemicals Business. “It is very important for the success of this project that the best available technology is selected. We are happy with the outcome of the selection.”
“With its low capital and operating costs, reliable operation and broad product portfolio, the Spheripol process has facilitated entry into the PP business for many producers,” said Just Jansz, president of Basell’s Technology Business, who participated in a signing ceremony in New Delhi, India. The Spheripol process is used in plants all over the world, including four in India, with a combined capacity of 16 million tones per annum.
The IndianOil license is the 12th overall signed by Basell this year. The 12 licenses represent a combined annual capacity of more than 3.6 million tones of polyolefins. Other technologies licensed by Basell in 2004 were the Spherilene, Hostalen and Lupotech T polyethylene processes and Spherizone, the newest polypropylene technology, which has already achieved 1 million tones of licensed capacity since it was commercialised in late 2003.
Basell’s complete portfolio of licensed technologies is comprised of:
• Spheripol – polypropylene technology for the production of homopolymer, random and heterophasic copolymers.
• Spherizone – next generation polypropylene technology based on new multi-zone reactor technology.
• Spherilene – swing gas phase process for the production of LLDPE and HDPE.
• Hostalen - low-pressure slurry process for the production of bimodal HDPE.
• Lupotech G – fluidised bed gas phase process for the production of HDPE and MDPE.
• Lupotech T – high pressure tubular reactor process for the production of LDPE and EVA copolymers.
Basell also produces and commercialises advanced catalyst systems which are sold under the Avant trade name.
About IndianOil:
IndianOil is India’s largest commercial enterprise, with a sales turnover of about US$ 30 billion and profits of about US$ 1.6 billion for fiscal 2003. It is also the 19th largest petroleum company in the world. The IndianOil group of companies owns and operates 10 of India’s 18 refineries, with a current combined rated capacity of 54 million metric tones per year or over 1 million barrels per day.
Entry into the petrochemicals business is part of IndianOil’s strategy to integrate in the entire hydrocarbon value chain by utilising its own feedstock and other existing infrastructure.
About Basell:
Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.
For more information contact either Michelle Talmo (+1 302 438 6574, +1 410 996 1366, michelle.talmo@basell.com) or Chantal Sohm (+ 33 1 55 51 21 19, chantal.sohm@basell.com) of Basell’s Corporate Communications Department.
