NPC and a consortium of European banks concluded a Framework Agreement

In-depth provides updated details on the NPC's development projects. In this issue, the column focuses on aromatic no.3 project, which is currently under construction. Buali Sina Petrochemical Company, an NPC subsidiary is responsible for implementing and running the project. The project's main products, paraxylene and benzene, are widely used in the petrochemical downstream industries.

Paraxylene is used as feedstock for the production of chemicals needed for manufacturing polyester resins and fibers as well as pharmaceutical syntheses and insecticides.

Benzene is used in the production of styrene monomer, detergents, nylon, and solvents as well as a number of other chemicals. As a result of their extensive applications, the world demand for aromatics products has increased considerably.
 

The third aromatics project, one of the grassroots projects of the NPC's strategic program, is being constructed in a 30-hectare area at the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone in Bandar Imam, southwest of Iran. Licensing contracts for this facility have been awarded to the Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP) of France, Sinopec of China and Krupp Uhde of Germany while detailed engineering contract has been awarded to an Iranian company named Petrochemical Industries Design and Engineering CO. (PIDEC).

 
Targeted to be commissioned in 2002, the project will have an annual capacity of 430,000 tons of paraxylene and 179,000 tons of benzene as its main products. It is also designed to produce 199,000 tons of raffinate, 23,000 tons of heavy aromatics, 39,000 tons of LPG, 350,000 tons of light ends, 500,000 tons of heavy ends and 21,000 tons of C5 cut per year as by-products. The project will consume 1,165,000-t/y of light naphtha, 553000-t/y of heavy naphtha and 139,000-t/y of pyrolysis gasoline as its feedstock. The project's total investment is some $470 m of which 38% or the equivalent of $180 m is the local currency portion.

The contract for the project's engineering and procurement has been finalized through a Buyer's Credit Facility provided by two major European banks, Société Générale and General Bank of Belgium covered by the relevant insurance agencies. The financing of the project was arranged in two months time thanks to NPC's long-standing relationship with the creditors and close joint work by the respective banks and NPC.

NPC already has two operational aromatics facilities, one in the central province of Esfahan with a nominal capacity of 55,600-t/y of benzene, 71,600-t/y of toluene, 22,000-t/y of orthoxylene and 44,000-t/y of paraxylene and another at Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company (BIPC) with a nominal capacity of 230,000-t/y benzene, 140,000-t/y of mixed xylenes and 241,000-t/y of C6 raffinate. There are two units in Tabriz Petrochemical Complex, an ethyl benzene plant with a capacity of 100,000-t/y and a styrene unit with a capacity of 95,000-t/y.A paraxylene facility at BIPC is on the verge of becoming operational.

In addition, a huge aromatics plant, with an annual capacity of around 1.4 m tons of paraxylene, orthoxylene and benzene will be built at ParsEE (Assaluyeh) by 2005.