Borealis to receive ethane from Statoil Karstø gas plant in Norway

Austrian polyethylene and polypropylene producer Borealis has signed a new long-term agreement to source ethane from Statoil’s gas plant at Kårstø in Norway.

The companies have renewed the contract for the supply of ethane from Statoil’s plant, which, for the coming years, will secure a significant volume of ethane to Borealis’ flexible steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden.

The new seven-year contract will commence in October 2015. Considering the global change in the ethane market due to the availability of US shale gas, both parties believe that the ethane supply has been agreed at a competitive price.

Borealis chief executive Mark Garrett said: "This new contract will secure that our Stenungsund petrochemical complex will stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive environment for the European industry," Garrett added.

The most feedstock-flexible crackers in Europe, Borealis’ Stenungsund petrochemical complex can also crack naphtha, propane and butane.

Statoil crude liquids and products business unit senior vice president Tor Martin Anfinnsen said that the company’s long-term ethane agreement with Borealis extends a productive relationship.

"This agreement favourably positions Norwegian ethane and the Kårstø location competitively in a future marketplace where ethane feedstock import from the US has become available to European-based petrochemical plants," Anfinnsen added.

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Image: From left to right: Borealis CEO Mark Garrett, Statoil executive vice president Eldar Sætre; Borealis base chemicals executive vice president Markku Korvenranta. Photo: courtesy of Borealis.