The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed a Framework Agreement with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to explore the development of Ethylene Dichloride in Ruwais. The agreement was signed under the observation of Dr, Sultan Ahmed AL Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Mr Mukesh D. Ambani, RIL Chairman and Managing Director. The agreement was signed by Mr Abdulaziz Alhajri, Executive Director of ADNOC’s Downstream Directorate, and Mr Nikhil R. Meswani, RIL Executive Director.
Under the agreement terms, the potential of manufacturing EDC will be evaluated by ADNOC and RIL, adjacent to ADNOC’s integrated refining and petrochemical site in Ruwais. This would help strengthen the company’s existing relation supporting future collaboration in petrochemicals. ADNOC will supply ethylene to the potential joint venture and provide access to world-class infrastructure at Ruwais. While RIL will deliver operational expertise and entry to the enormous and growing Indian vinyls market.
EDC is a basic building block for the manufacture of PVC, a polymer product in increasingly higher demand globally. PVC plays a critical role in the housing and agriculture sectors, and demand for PVC, particularly in the Indian vinyls market, is expected to grow considerably.
Mr Nikhil Meswani said: “This is a significant step towards Reliance’s commitment to pursue backward integration and will pave the route for enhancing PVC capacity in India to cater to the fast-growing domestic market. This co-operation ideally combines advantaged feedstock and energy from the UAE with Reliance’s execution capabilities and the growing Indian market.”
Mr Abdulaziz Alhajri said: “The agreement with Reliance Industries Limited is a product of our strong relationship, spanning over two decades, and a testament to ADNOC’s continued ability to cultivate smart and mutually beneficial international partnerships. We look forward to working closely with RIL to identify opportunities to capitalize on the strengths of the Ruwais ecosystem while delivering a compelling new commercial platform for satisfying the large Indian PVC market, as well as demand for other fast-growing segments in the region.”
-By Industrial India Content Team