Japan’s JXTG Nippon announced on 17 April that it will begin a feasibility study for a 23,000 t/y ethylidene norbornene (ENB) plant within Saudi Arabia’s planned $9bn Amiral petrochemicals complex. Amiral will be integrated with the Satorp JV refinery (Aramco 62.5%, Total 37.5%), at Jubail on the Gulf coast.
Amiral’s $5bn mixed feed cracker and polyethylene plant are due online in 2024 with the proposed ENB plant slated to begin commercial operation in the “late 2020s,” JXTG says. ENB is a component in manufacturing ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), a synthetic rubber used in the automotive and construction industries. It is made from an ethylene compound plus butadiene and cyclopentadiene, all of which would be sourced within Amiral. (CONTINUED - 257 WORDS)
