Equate Petrochemical shutters Shuaiba ethylene unit

Equate Petrochemical Co., Kuwait’s first international petrochemical joint venture, has temporarily shuttered subsidiary Kuwait Olefins Co.’s (KOC) 850,000-tonne/year ethylene unit 2 (EU2) at Equate’s complex in the Shuaiba Industrial Area.

Precipitated by an unidentified technical issue, EU2’s shutdown for unplanned maintenance also has impacted output of other units at the Shuaiba complex, including ethylene glycol and polyethylene, Equate said.

While the company continues to investigate the matter, a preliminary assessment of the situation suggests the unit should be able to resume normal operations in about 2 weeks, said Mohammad Husain, Equate’s president and chief executive officer.

Alongside KOC’s EU2 and other derivative units, the Shuaiba complex also houses Equate’s 850,000-tpy EU1.

Equate is jointly owned by Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Co. 42.5%, Dow Chemical Co. 42.5%, Boubyan Petrochemical Co. 9%, and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co. 6%.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].