Speciality chemicals firm Ineos has signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) with Germany-based TGE Gas Engineering to build a new tank and to expand the infrastructure at its Rafnes, Norway production site, complementing its existing storage here.

The project, which will be commissioned in 2015, will expand the company’s ability to access ethane from world markets and secure long-term competitiveness.

Subject to signature of the final contractual agreements , the construction is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2013 and will continue for 24 months. The tank will be capable of storing first ethane loads from the second quarter of 2015.

Ineos's investment in tank and infrastructure at the Rafnes site follows the recent completion of supply and infrastructure agreements by the company to access ethane feedstock from the US for use in its European cracker complexes. The additional ethane will supplement existing supplies and provide the opportunity to replace more expensive Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Moreover, its long term deal with Range Resources Appalachia LLC will allow it to lift ethane from the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Philadelphia from 2015. It has also finalised Pipeline Transportation Services and Terminal Services Agreements for the shipping of ethane from Houston, Pennsylvania, to Markus Hook, Philadelphia, (via the Sunoco-operated Mariner East project) with subsidiaries of Sunoco. These agreements will be for duration of 15 years and will provide Ineos with essential supply options for the future.

Magnar Bakke, Site manager of Ineos Olefins & Polymers Norway says that the investment at Rafnes will help secure profitability of the site as well as provide jobs for longer term, among other important long-term options.

(PRA)

Electronic Editions 2012