VENEZUELA - The Jose Complex.

ENI's Ecofuel and its partners are revamping the technology at the Jose complex. In a project started in early 2005, they will change the plant's process to produce iso-octane, a fuel additive considered an alternative to MTBE, by early 2007. Currently, the plant produces 600,000 t/y of MTBE.

Pequiven executives in 2003 said extension of the methanol chain in Venezuela will involve construction of a 500,000 t/y acetic acid unit, a 250,000 t/y vinyl acetate plant and other facilities by 2006. There have been plans for aromatics include a 500,000 t/y styrene facility to be on stream in 2005 or 2006 and to use one of the existing refineries' production streams.

A major port and industrial zone 250 km east of Caracas, the Jose complex is the site of other important petrochemical plants, with MTBE and methanol being the main products. Pequiven executives have said in recent years a total capacity of almost 2.5m t/y would more than double by 2008.

Jose is to be the site for a $3 bn Pequiven-ExxonMobil olefins JV which was approved by the government in mid-2002 (see above). The plant will a cracker and units to convert ethylene into 760,000 t/y of polyethylenes (LLDPE & LDPE), and 430,000 t/y of ethylene glycol. Associated gas feedstock for this JV is to be supplied by PDVSA Gas from the San Joaquin field in eastern Venezuela.

Expansions at Jose have included a new marine dock for liquids, solids and containers, as well as new power and industrial water supply facilities. The latter projects, worth $200m, have been carried out by a joint venture of Earth Tech and Pequiven.

The Other Petrochemical Complexes - El Tablazo: Located on the north-east coast of Lake Maracaibo in Zulia state of western Venezuela, El Tablazo complex produces mainly olefins, plastics, fertilisers and industrial chemicals. Its total production capacity is over 3.6m t/y.

Among projects completed at El Tablazo in 1998 was a 120,000 t/y PVC plant called PVC II. PVC I in 1998 was expanded from 45,000 to 65,000 t/y. In 1996, a soda-scales unit and an ethane plant were completed at the complex. With a capacity of 270,000 t/y, the ethane plant guaranteed the supply of feedstock for the olefins plants and made it possible for considerable volumes of propane to be exported, generating additional income estimated at $50m/year. The complex also provides feedstock for a 115,000 t/y increase in ethylene production.

Pequiven in 1999 completed an operational consolidation programme for its Olefins facilities at El Tablazo to make them more efficient. El Tablazo's olefins plants now have an overall capacity of 600,000 t/y of ethylene and 400,000 t/y of propylene - the latter having been the result of a merger in 1998 of three JVs at El Tablazo: Plastilago, Polilago, and Resilin.

Due to strong domestic demand for fertilisers, Pequiven is expanding its ammonia and urea output capacity at its three sites. One of two ammonia/urea units at El Tablazo, with a capacity of 150,000 t/y, was re-activated earlier this year in a $50m project. This unit was idle for four years due to a shortage of natural gas feedstocks.

Private firms operating at El Tablazo include: Estizulia, producing polystyrenes; Dow Chemicals, producing latex; and Liquid Carbonic, producing carbon dioxide. PDVSA has a gas processing plant at the complex, which has a large terminal on Lake Maracaibo to handle solids, liquids and the unloading of heavy machinery.