News | |||||
Project Development Agreement Signing Ceremony for Integrated Polypropylene Complex | |||||
The National
Gas Company (NGC), National Energy Corporation (NEC), and
the Government of Trinidad and Tobago signed a Project
Development Agreement with Dutch plastics and petrochemicals
giant, Lyondell Basell Industries, and the German contractor
Lurgi GmbH, for an integrated polypropylene complex on
September 8, 2008 at The Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain The event provided the framework which would govern the relationship between the parties in jointly evaluating the construction and operation of a fully integrated polypropylene complex in Trinidad and Tobago. The project is important for the country’s development since it will develop second and third derivative industries from natural gas. The polyolefin industry is viewed as a building block for the expansion of the local plastics sector. |
According to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Patrick Manning, who was at the ceremony, the project would mean US$2.3 billion in investment in Trinidad and Tobago, which to date represented the largest foreign investment opportunity for the country. Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Senator Conrad Enill also a speaker at the ceremony said that during the construction phases of the complex there would be jobs for at least 5,000 nationals. Start-up of the project was tentatively scheduled for 2012. In January 2008, NEC had entered into a Memorandu, of Understanding with LyondellBassell Industries which included the basic details for the construction of a methanol plant, to be built exclusively to supply a methanol-to-propylene unit for the complex. |