AS a prime example of the high potential of partnerships between Kuwaiti and U.S. companies, EQUATE is hard to beat. It is a joint venture between Petroch-emical Industries Company (PIC), the petrochemicals arm of the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), and the American-based Union Car-bide Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company.

Now in its tenth year, EQUATE is one of the world’s leading suppliers of polyethylene, one of the most commonly used plastics, and ethylene glycol, which is used to make polyester for fabrics and plastic bottles.

From its 800,000 tons per annum ethane cracker at Shuaiba, EQUATE supplies more than 600,000 tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of ethylene to markets in the Middle East, North Africa, the Far East, and Europe.

With demand for plastics and chemicals expanding rapidly, Kuwait’s abundant ethane feedstock and proximity to world markets gives EQUATE a great competitive advantage, and the company has gone from strength to strength in terms of profitability. Its 2004 results showed net profits of $620.5 million, a 126% increase on the previous year. President and Chief Executive Officer, Hamad Al-Terkait, described 2004 as a golden year.

EQUATE is proud of its safety record and of the high percentage of Kuwaiti nationals in its labor force.

PIC and Dow, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with exciting new projects, for which EQUATE will be the sole operator.

In March, work started on the building of a second ethylene and derivatives complex, designated Olefins II, which is expected to start operations in 2008. Project management is being handled by the U.S.-based firm Fluor Daniel.
Olefins II is planned to have an 850,000 tons per annum ethane cracker and a world-scale 600,000 tons per annum ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol plant. The existing plant’s 600,000 metric tons of polyethylene capacity is to be expanded to use the additional ethylene.

In addition to Olefins II, PIC and Dow are also planning to build an ethylbenzene/styrene unit of 450,000 tons per annum supplied with ethylene from Olefins II and benzene from a new aromatics plant.