GCC petchem capacity set to grow to 170mn tonnes in five years: GPCA

 Dignitaries at the 2nd Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association’s (GPCA) Sustainability Conference in Dubai.

Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) board member Dr Abdulrahman al-Jawahery has hailed the growth of the petrochemical industry in the GCC region and said the sector has grown into a 100mn tonne business in 30 years with capacity expected to grow to 170mn tonnes in the next five years.

“This is a lot of products,” al-Jawahery said 2nd Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association’s (GPCA) Sustainability Conference in Dubai.

“However, there are shortcomings,” al-Jawahery said.

“Our educational institutions have not kept up with industry growth. Also, aside from Sabic who have 13 research and development centres, we are frankly not investing enough in research and development either,” he said.

The Middle East holds an estimated 45% of the world’s oil and gas reserves, but only 10% of the global petrochemical capacity, al-Jawahery pointed out.

“Growth is a process. We will need to learn from companies through collaboration with international partners like BASF, Dow Chemical, Shell and ExxonMobil. We need to do more.”

Al-Jawahery said, “BASF is a leader in sustainability because they have been around for 150 years. The GCC [petrochemical companies] don’t need a 150 years. Petrochemical producers here have taken extremely important steps to contribute to the global sustainability agenda.”

According to the GPCA’s inaugural Sustainability Report, petrochemical producers in the Gulf region have made great strides in improving their sustainability performance. For example, GCC chemical producers have reduced energy consumption per tonne by 8% of the last two years, through technical renovations.

With growing population demanding more resources than the earth can generate, contributing to the global sustainability agenda will be crucial for survival.

“The United Nations expects worldwide population to reach 9.6bn by 2050,” said Margaret Suckale, member, BASF Executive Board in her keynote speech.

“To put this into perspective, if the world were a village of 100 people, population would grow to 136 inhabitants in the next 40 years, with a majority of growth coming from Africa and the Far East.”

Suckale explained that people are demanding resources at a faster rate than the earth can regenerate reserves, making sustainability an absolute necessity for human survival.

“BASF is involved by translating global megatrends into products that contribute to sustainability needs.”

GPCA secretary-general Dr Abdulwahab al- Sadoun said, “The conclusion from discussions at this conference and our research is clear-in the GCC, sustainability has evolved from a concept to a business imperative.

“However, sustainability will require a buy-in not only from the company’s leadership but also from company stakeholders, governing bodies, employees and the general, making it challenging to ‘sell’ this concept both within and outside the production facilities. This is a long journey and there is good news — we are already well on our way to achieving respectable results.”

Now in its second edition, the GPCA Sustainability Conference hosted more than 200 delegates from some 17 countries over two days.

The programme also featured presentations from industry experts at Sabic, Borouge and AT Kearney, focused on opportunities for petrochemicals companies to develop in way that is responsible to the environment, economy and society.