Adnoc and Reliance Industries weigh up petchems plant in Ruwais

Facilities would use feedstock from Ruwais refinery to produce ethylene dichloride, which is needed to make PVC

The signing of the framework agreement was witnessed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Adnoc Group chief executive, and Mukesh Ambani, Reliance industries' chairman and managing director. Abdulaziz Alhajri, executive director of Adnoc’s downstream directorate and Nikhil Meswani, Reliance's executive director signed the agreement. Photo courtesy of Adnoc
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The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company agreed with India's Reliance Industries to explore the development of an ethylene dichloride (EDC) facility in Ruwais.

The pair will evaluate the potential development of a facility next to Adnoc's integrated refining and petrochemicals site in Ruwais. Adnoc would supply ethylene to the potential joint venture and provide access to its existing infrastructure at Ruwais, while Reliance Industries would bring its operational expertise as well as entry to the growing Indian vinyls market.

“The agreement with Reliance Industries is a product of our strong relationship, spanning over two decades, and a testament to Adnoc’s continued ability to cultivate smart and mutually beneficial international partnerships. We look forward to working closely with Reliance Industries to identify opportunities to capitalise on the strengths of the Ruwais ecosystem, while delivering a compelling new commercial platform for satisfying the large Indian PVC market,” said  the executive director of Adnoc's downstream directorate, Abdulaziz Alhajri.

EDC is a basic building-block for manufacture of poly vinyl chloride (PVC), a polymer product widely used in housing, agriculture and a range of other sectors. Demand for PVC in India stood at almost 2.9 million tonnes per annum last year, and the market is forecast to grow at 6.8 per cent per year until 2030, according to a paper published in June by TechSci Research.

Adnoc is investing $45bn in both upstream and downstream operations as part of its 2030 strategy. In downstream, it has a target to treble petrochemicals production to 14.4 million tonnes annually by 2025.

The company is looking to produce a full range of petrochemicals products and is setting up Ruwais Derivatives and Conversion Parks with a view to attracting petrochemicals firms to set up operations in Ruwais, using the refinery as a feedstock.

“This is a significant step towards Reliance’s commitment to pursue backward integration and will pave the way for enhancing PVC capacity in India to cater to the fast growing domestic market. This co-operation ideally combines advantaged feedstock and energy from the UAE with Reliance’s execution capabilities and the growing Indian market,” said Reliance Industries' executive director Nikhil Meswani.