ABU DHABI - Equity In Borealis.

Under a series of deals signed on Sept. 15, 1997, OeMV sold its 100-owned PCD Polymere to Borealis of Copenhagen, a 50-50 venture between Statoil of Norway and Neste Oy of Finland created in 1994. This made Borealis the largest producer of polyolefins in Europe and put it on a level with Dow Chemical and Montell in the industry's global rankings, with Exxon still in the lead. In return for PCD, OeMV got 25% in Borealis and IPIC obtained the other 25% of Neste's equity for cash. The new Borealis ownership structure was completed on May 4, 1998.

PCD's plants in Austria and southern Germany raised Borealis' polyolefins capacity by more than 900,000 tons to well over 3m t/y. Borealis has large plants in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Portugal and smaller plants in Germany and France. Borealis also has 40% equity in Abu Dhabi Polymers, with ADNOC holding 60%, which is having a complex built at Ruwais to produce 600,000 t/y of ethylene and 450,000 t/y of HDPE and LLDPE as from the fourth quarter of this year (see DT No. 2).

Investments In France: ADNOC has a special relationship with Total (now TotalFinaElf) reflecting close ties between Abu Dhabi and France. ADIA has major investments in France, including stocks in many companies and real estate. France is Abu Dhabi's main arms supplier. In early 1987 ADIA bought shares in Total and built up the stake to reach 9.3% in 1988.

TotalFinaElf is ADNOC's partner in several upstream and downstream ventures. Total's holdings include the following: 9.5% in Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO), 13.3% in Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. (ADMA-OPCO), 5% in Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Co. (ADGAS), 15% in Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Co. (GASCO), 33.33% in Fertiliser Industries (Fertil), and 33.3% in Bunduq Oil Co. (offshore field shared by Qatar and Abu Dhabi). It also holds 75% in Total Abu Bukhoosh Oil Co., with Inpex of Japan having 25%, which has an important oilfield and a huge Khuff reservoir of non-associated gas. Total is a contracted operator of ZADCO's Upper Zakum field (see Gas Market Trends No. 2).