Equate Petrochemical restarts Shuaiba ethylene unit

Equate Petrochemical Co., Kuwait’s first international petrochemical joint venture, has restarted subsidiary Kuwait Olefins Co.’s (KOC) 850,000-tonne/year ethylene unit 2 (EU2) at Equate’s complex in the Shuaiba Industrial Area after an unidentified technical issue forced its unplanned shutdown in early July (OGJ Online, July 10, 2017).

Operations at EU2 resumed on July 18, enabling the site’s ethylene glycol and polyethylene plants to return to their normal production rates, Equate said.

The unit’s repair and restart came ahead of the company’s original expectation for a 2-week closure of the plant.

The company did not disclose details regarding the nature of the technical issue that led to EU2’s unscheduled shutdown.

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].