MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand's PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is launching "Map Ta Phut Retrofit," a program to utilize surplus naphtha from its refinery as feedstock to increase its production of ethylene and propylene, reported Apic-online with reference to Bangkok Post, which cited the company.
The program involves a new naphtha cracker to pro-duce 500,000 t/y of ethylene and 261,000 t/y of propylene, requiring 1.5-million t/y of naphtha feedstock, and increasing PTTGC's ethylene and propylene capacities to 2.8-million t/y and 800,000 t/y, respectively.
The company also plans to carry out a feasibility study for downstream production of such petrochemicals as acrylic acid, styrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polystyrene.
PTTGC intends to invite bids for the project and have a final list of contractors by the end of the year, with start of production anticipated in 2020.
As MRC wrote previously, PTT Global Chemical PCL is studying several options for supplying sufficient raw material to its petrochemical plants, including imports of oil feedstocks after declines in global crude prices. The move is part of a plan to cope with a potential drop in domestic natural gas supply after Thailand's government put bidding for new oil and gas concessions on hold, chief executive Supattanapong Punmeechaow told reporters in March 2015.
PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC