INEOS To Spend $1.32 Billion on New U.K. Projects

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Petrochemical major INEOS (London, England) has committed to spending £1 billion ($1.32 billion) on three key projects in the U.K.

The company said that it will invest £500 million ($660 million) in the in the Forties Pipeline System, which will prolong the life of the North Sea's main oil and gas artery for the U.K. into the 2040s. It will also spend £350 million ($459 million) at Grangemouth for a new steam and power plant to replace an older plant that has been operating for the past 40 years. The final investment of £150 million ($198 million) will be made in Hull to build a 300,000-tonne-per-year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant.

The news come just weeks after Industrial Info reported that INEOS had picked Antwerp in Belgium for two projects worth an estimated 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion). The investment will see the construction of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and an ethane cracker unit at the Port of Antwerp-- the largest investment in the European chemical industry in the past two decades. For additional information, see January 29, 2019, article - INEOS Picks Antwerp for $3.4 Billion Investment.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS founder and chairman, said: "INEOS is a supporter of British manufacturing, and this £1 billion investment underlines our confidence in our business in the U.K. These investments will ensure that our U.K. assets continue to be world class for many years to come."

The reliability of the 500-kilometre (km) pipeline system will be overhauled to boost its reliability. This will include modernising the environmental systems and implementing the latest technology into its systems. Commissioned in 1975, FPS can transport up to 600,000 barrels of North Sea oil onshore for refining every day and is responsible for transporting 40% of nation's total oil & gas to the mainland.

"North Sea oil and gas producers are telling us that they want to be in the North Sea well into the 2040s, so we are making this commitment to be there with them," commented Andrew Gardner, INEOS FPS' chief executive officer. "Following acquisition of FPS in 2017, we are now embarking on a period of investment that will guarantee that the system can support them for decades to come."

The new power plant for the Grangemouth will sit alongside a combined heat and power plant (CHP) commissioned in 2001. Fluor Limited (Farnborough, U.K.) is providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to the project. INEOS said that "power and steam are critical to the three main manufacturing operations at the INEOS/Petroineos industrial complex".

In Hull, the new VAM plant will "bring production of an important raw material back to the U.K." INEOS stated. VAM is a key component in a wide range of high-end products, including laminated windscreens, toughened glass, adhesives, coatings, films, textiles and carbon fibre.

Graham Beesley, chief executive officer of INEOS Oxide, said: "This is an exciting time for INEOS and great news for manufacturing in the region. We are proud to be bringing production of this important material back to the U.K. This will not only strengthen U.K. manufacturing, but boost exports from the U.K. to Europe and the rest of the world."

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