Most of the world's petrochemicals capacity growth will be concentrated in the Gulf over the next six years due to cheaper feedstock and its proximity to the growing Asian market, a new report has said.
Ethylene capacity is expected to rise by 32 million tonnes to 171 million tonnes while polyethylene capacity will increase from 22 million tonnes to 112 million tonnes from 2010–15, according to Alpen Capital's report.
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries are able to procure ethane at $0.75–1.5 per million British thermal units (MBTU) while in Europe and the US it costs $3.5MBTU. Naptha is more popular in Asia since ethane became scarce.
Gas demand in the Gulf region is estimated to grow at about 6.6% per year, compared with an annual growth of 2.2% projected for oil, the report said.
Global demand for polyolefins is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of around 4.7% from 2010 to 2015, the report said.
Although the GCC countries account for more than 23% of global gas reserves, the region is experiencing a shortage of natural gas due to increased domestic consumption in alternative areas, according to timesofoman.com.
