Etileno XXI

completed

Etileno XXI (the Project) is the result of a joint venture between Brazilian (Braskem) and Mexican (Idesa) chemical companies incorporated as Braskem Idesa S.A.P.I. (B-I, the Company) for the development, construction and commercial operation of an integrated petrochemical complex in the state of Veracruz in Mexico. The project includes the construction and operation of the following facilities:an ethane cracker, with a nominal capacity of approximately one million tonnes per annum (tpa) of ethylene production, a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant with a capacity of approximately 400 thousand tpa,a HDPE plant with a capacity of approximately 350 thousand tpa, anda low density polyethylene plant (LDPE) with a capacity of approximately 300 thousand tpa.The ethylene to be produced at the cracker will be used as raw material for the three polyethylene plants. The facilities will be located in the municipality of Nanchital de Lázaro Cárdenas del Rio, in the state of Veracruz (southeast Mexico) 3.5 km east of the city of Nanchital (27000 inhabitants) approximately 2.5 km south of the PEMEX Cangrejera Petrochemical Complex; in close proximity to the PEMEX Pajaritos Maritime Terminal, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico; and 7 km southeast of the city of Coatzacoalcos (305,000 inhabitants) in the municipality of Coatzacoalcos, which is the main petrochemical producing region in Mexico. There are several other petrochemical and chemical plants in the area such as PEMEX Petroquímica Morelos, Celanese Mexicana, Grupo Petroquímico Beta, Clariant Mexico, IDESA, INNOPHOS, IQUISA and others. Seven small rural communities are located within 5 km radius). The members of these communities are familiar with industrial installations as they are in municipalities whose primary economic activity is derived from petrochemical industries.The size of the project land parcel is 192 ha, of which, the project will use 61%. 9% of the area will be used during construction and then revegetated, with a further 16% (30 ha) set aside as a permanent conservation area. The remaining 14 % is already used by right of ways of PEMEX pipelines located within the project site but not related to the project. Out of the total 180,000 barrels per day (b/d) of ethane that PEMEX currently produces, all in the Coatzacoalcos area, it only uses 88,000 b/d in its own petrochemical facilities. The remaining ethane is reinjected back into its gas production operations to be sold as fuel. However, with this project, PEMEX will provide Etileno XXI with 66,000 b/d (36%) of the ethane currently sold as fuel for the production of ethylene and ultimately polyethylene. The project is strategically located in close proximity to the PEMEX installations to facilitate the access to ethane. PEMEX will install an 800 m underground pipeline to furnish the 66,000 b/d of ethane needed for the Etileno XXI project. The following additional infrastructure will be built to support the Projectan underground 3.7 km pipeline to source water from the PEMEX La Cangrejera water system located to the north of the project site; an underground 1.6 km pipeline for ethylene from a distance less than 1 km from the site fence line; as alternate ethylene supply from the PEMEX facility, to the polyethylene plants;an underground 1.6 km pipeline for natural gas to be supplied from PEMEX at a connecting pipeline located 1 km distant to the south of the project site; and a 5 km electricity transmission line from the substation that will furnish 400 MW. Ethane cracker technology is licensed from Technip, a worldwide leader in engineering, project management and technologies, serving the chemical, oil & gas industry for more than 50 years. HDPE technology is from INEOS, one of the largest chemical companies in the world; while LDPE technology is licensed from LyondellBasell, the world’s third-largest independent chemical company. The company has also hired Odebrecht-ICA Fluor as the contractors for the site preparation and construction phases. The EPC contracting for the construction and installation will be conducted by a joint venture between Technip and Odebrecht-ICA Fluor.The construction phase of the project is planned to start during the second quarter of 2012 and last for about three years with an expected workforce of up to 8,000 people during the peak period. The plant is expected to begin operation in 2015. The project will manage the environmental and social impacts in accordance to international good practice.