Abu Dhabi Polymers Co., the state- controlled plastics maker known as Borouge, is starting a second petrochemicals complex in the United Arab Emirates as Gulf oil exporters venture further into the industry. Borouge is ramping up operations at a 1.5 million metric ton-a-year ethane cracker, the world's largest, Chief Operating Officer Roy Vardheim said in Abu Dhabi on Tueday. The $5 billion project at Ruwais, on the coast northwest of the city, will boost Borouge's total capacity to about 2 million tons a year. Oil producers such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are expanding into petrochemicals to benefit further from their oil resources than just selling crude. The region's share of the global chemicals market will rise to equal that of the US and Europe by 2015, Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, secretary general of the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemicals Association, said at the conference today. The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which include Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Iran are set to produce 153.2 million tons of petrochemicals a year by 2015 compared with 105.7 million tons last year. The region's share of the global market will rise to 20 percent from 16 percent.
