SOCAR Turkey (Istanbul), a subsidiary of the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), and BP today announced that they have signed a heads of agreement to evaluate the creation of a petrochemicals joint venture (JV) in Turkey.
The facilities are planned to be located in Turkey’s private industrial zone at Aliaga, the site of the recently inaugurated STAR refinery and of a Petkim’s petrochemical complex, both owned by SOCAR.
The proposed facilities would produce 1.25 million metric tons/year of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840,000 metric tons/year of para-xylene (p-xylene), and 340,000 metric tons/year of benzene. Following the signing of the agreement, the partners plan to start design work for the facility, which would allow for the integration of feedstock supplies from the STAR refinery and Petkim’s complex.
BP and SOCAR expect to work toward a potential final investment decision in 2019, which could result in start-up of the new plants in 2023. “If taken forward, this would be the largest integrated PTA, p-xylene, and aromatics complex in the Western Hemisphere and BP’s first major new aromatics platform since our Zhuhai site in China opened nearly 20 years ago. The combination of BP’s leading proprietary technology and integration with SOCAR’s new refinery could create an outstanding platform to serve Turkey’s growing polyester packaging and textiles industry,” said Luis Sierra, CEO of BP’s global aromatics unit.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
