Pequiven Moves Forward with Construction of Fertilizer Plant Expansion at Moron Petrochemical Complex in Venezuela

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--State-owned Petroquimica de Venezuela S.A. (Pequiven) (Valencia, Venezuela) is advancing with plans to construct an ammonia and a urea plant at the Moron Petrochemical Complex in Carabobo State with a total investment cost of about $500 million.

The new facilities are designed to produce up to 1,800 metric tons per day of ammonia and 2,200 metric tons per day of urea. A consortium formed by Toyo Engineering Corporation (TYO:6330) (Chiyoda, Tokyo), MAN Ferrostaal AG (Essen, Germany) and VEC Ingenieria y Construccion (Caracas, Venezuela) was awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction services. The contract also includes the construction of offsites and utilities. Toyo will be in charge of the design and construction of the urea unit based on its own technology to be licensed for the project. MAN Ferrostaal is responsible for all aspects of construction of the ammonia plant, and production technology will be licensed by KBR Incorporated (NYSE:KBR) (Houston, Texas).

Construction began in March 2008, and the project is expected to be complete by November 2010.

The overall complex will replace an older fertilizer factory operated by Pequiven. The complex began operation in 1956, and it produces up to 2 million of metric tones per year of urea, ammonia and fertilizers.

This project is part of Pequiven's $21 billion investment plan for the 2007-13 period aimed at consolidating industrial developments at the Petrochemical Complex in Jose, renovating the Moron Petrochemical Complex, empowering El Tablazo petrochemical complex and developing petrochemical complexes in Guiria, Navay and Paraguana.

Pequiven has 13 fully owned plants that produce basic petrochemicals and fertilizers. The company also participates in 19 joint ventures in the production of fertilizers and petrochemicals. Pequiven has four petrochemical complexes across Venezuela in El Tablazo, Jose, Paraguana and Moron.

Pequiven is responsible for the development and operation of the country's petrochemical sector. The company has three principal business areas: fertilizers, industrial chemicals and olefins and plastic resins. It is one of the largest producers of more than 40 petrochemical products.

View Plant Profile - 1027267

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.