The hottest petrochemical industry in the middle e

The petrochemical industry in the Middle East is rising rapidly

the petrochemical industry in the Middle East is rising rapidly

August 6, 2001

the Middle East is rich in oil and gas resources. Driven by the globalization of the world petrochemical economy, Middle Eastern countries are taking advantage of its unique advantages of petrochemical raw materials to try to get rid of the economic pattern of relying solely on oil production and oil export, A booming petrochemical industry is rising rapidly in the Middle East

rich in oil and gas reserves, the Gulf region is extremely rich in oil resources, covering eight countries along the Gulf Coast, namely Saudi Arabia, Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq and Iran. The total proved reserves of stone

oil in the Gulf region reached 89.5 billion tons, accounting for about 65.7% of the world's proved oil reserves. Among them, Saudi Arabia's oil reserves are 37.6 billion tons, accounting for more than 1/4 of the world's total reserves, ranking first in the world. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have proved total oil reserves of 62.2 billion tons, accounting for 70% of the total oil reserves in the Gulf region

the Middle East is also rich in natural gas resources. The world's proven natural gas reserves are 146 trillion cubic meters, of which 50 trillion cubic meters are in the Middle East, accounting for about 1/3 of the world's total proved reserves. According to the current mining rate, the reserve production ratio exceeds

100 years

Western Europe, Central Europe and Asia will be the main markets for natural gas exports in the Middle East. Qatar's LNG (liquefied natural gas)

export volume is expected to increase to 30million tons/year, and has supplied 6million tons/year and 4.8 million tons/year of LNG to Japan and South Korea. ACTC R & D center is China Hengrui and Germany Fraunhofer Institute of chemical technology to jointly promote the scope production of composite products, and will supply 7.5 million tons/year of LNG to India from 2002. Iran's proved natural gas reserves are second only to Russia, ranking second in the world, accounting for 58% of the total natural gas reserves in the Middle East

cheap petrochemical raw materials are advantaged. Due to the rich natural gas resources in the Middle East, it can provide

cheap ethane raw materials for ethylene production. Saudi Arabia has seven ethylene plants with a capacity of 5.65 million tons in 2000. Five of them use

pure ethane as raw material, one uses ethane/propane as raw material, and one can be directly sprayed with soft finish paint or coated with PVC film, and the jacket uses naphtha as raw material. The Middle East uses ethane as raw material to produce ethylene. It is the region with the lowest raw material cost in the world, and its ethylene production cost is only $100/ton

the cost of using ethane as raw material to produce ethylene in the Asia Pacific region is $200 ~ 240/ton, and the cost in the United States is $250

yuan/ton

petrochemical industry is booming. The petrochemical industry in the Middle East led by Saudi Arabia and Iran is rising and developing rapidly.

Saudi Arabia is the country with the fastest development of petrochemical industry in the Middle East. Last year, the production capacity of its main petrochemical products was 5.65 million tons of ethylene, 3.75 million tons of methanol, 2.7 million tons of MTBE (methyl tert butyl ether), 1.86 million tons of ethylene glycol, 2.43 million tons of polyethylene, 900000 tons of polypropylene, 2.03 million tons of synthetic ammonia and 2.61 million tons of urea. The long-term goal of Saudi Arabia's petrochemical industry is to make its petrochemical products account for 5% of the global market share. By 2010, the polyester capacity will reach 800000 tons/year

Saudi Arabia's state-owned petrochemical company, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), will increase its total petrochemical production capacity from 28million tons last year to 35million tons this year, and 80% of its petrochemical production capacity is for export. Last year, SABIC put into operation 16 sets of petrochemical units, including 2 sets of 800000 tons/year and 1 set of 700000 tons/year, increasing ethylene production capacity by 1.12 million tons, polypropylene production capacity by 580000 tons, styrene production capacity by 500000 tons and ethylene glycol production capacity by 500000 tons. SABIC's two subsidiaries have ranked among the top 10 in the world in terms of ethylene combined plant capacity: the Jubail ethylene combined plant of Arabian petrochemical company has a capacity of 2.25 million tons/year, ranking second in the world; The ethylene production capacity of Yanbu ethylene complex of Yanbu petrochemical company reaches 1.6 million tons/year, ranking sixth in the world. SABIC will also invest 2billion US dollars in the Jubail petrochemical center to build a petrochemical complex, which is scheduled to be completed in 2004, including 800000 ~ 1million tons/year ethane cracking unit and downstream unit

Iran has also formulated an ambitious petrochemical development plan. It is estimated that when the third five-year plan (2000 ~ 2005

) is completed, the production capacity of petrochemical products will reach 40million tons. It is estimated that by the end of 2005, the production value of Iranian petrochemical products will rise from 1.6 billion US dollars in 2000 to 6billion US dollars, and the share of petrochemical products in the global market will rise from the current 0.5% to 2%. Iran plans to build another 5 sets of ethylene plants with a scale of 520000 tons/year ~ 132

10000 tons/year after mastering the technology during 2002 ~ 2005. Iran will also build the world's largest methanol plant, all of which are planned to be exported. In addition, the 300000 t/a LLDPE, 300000 t/a PP and 400000 T/a ethylene glycol plants built by Iran will be put into operation in 2003

Egypt also has rich natural gas resources, with the proved reserves of natural gas reaching 1trillion cubic meters. In the next 5-10 years,

the export of natural gas will account for about 25% of the production. By 2008, the export of natural gas will reach 36.4 million cubic meters/day

at the same time, Egypt will also use natural gas and oil resources to develop petrochemical industry. It plans to build large-scale petrochemical projects with a total investment of up to $10billion in the next 20 years. These projects include 14 petrochemical plants, which can produce an annual output of

15million tons of petrochemical products for domestic consumption and export in Egypt. Its first petrochemical plant with a cost of $1.3 billion will be built near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, which will produce 900000 tons of ethylene and 300000 tons of propylene per year after completion; The second petrochemical plant with an investment of 1.4 billion US dollars will be built in the Gulf of Suez. Egypt also used UOP/

hydero's methanol to olefin (MTO) technology in Suez petrochemical complex for the first time to produce 400000 tons/year of polyethylene and polypropylene with natural gas, which is planned to be put into operation in 2004

it is estimated that the export volume of LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene) in the Middle East will increase from 833000 tons last year to 1.57 million tons in 2003, and the export volume of HDPE (high density polyethylene) will increase from 400000 tons last year to 1.25 million tons in 2003. The export-oriented Petrochemical Development Strategy of countries in the Middle East for the new century will create a golden opportunity for the continuous development of the Middle East oil industry