10-02-2014

Borealis and Statoil renew their long term ethane sourcing contract

Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers, announces a new long term agreement to source ethane from Norwegian Statoil for its flexible steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden. This contract will continue to provide Borealis with an attractive source of feedstock for its petrochemical complex in Stenungsund.

Borealis and Statoil have renewed the contract for the supply of ethane from Statoil’s gas plant at Kårstø, Norway, which will secure a significant volume of ethane to Borealis’ cracker in Stenungsund for the coming years. The ethane supply has been agreed at competitive terms for both parties, taking into account the global change of the ethane market due to the availability of US shale gas. The new contract will start in October 2015 and last for a period of 7 years.

The renewal of the ethane supply contract with Statoil shows the value of our long term partnership,” explains Mark Garrett, Borealis Chief Executive. “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.”

Borealis’ cracker in Stenungsund is one of the most feedstock flexible crackers in Europe. Apart from ethane it can also crack naphtha, propane and butane. Stenungsund has significant liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage capacity, allowing the company to source LPG from various sources with vessel sizes up to very large gas carriers.

“The new ethane deal will secure the continuous supply of competitively priced ethane to the Stenungsund cracker,” says Markku Korvenranta, Borealis Executive Vice President Base Chemicals. “The short sailing time between Statoil’s Kårstø gas extraction plant and Stenungsund has enabled us to operate the supply chain without major issues for the last 14 years to the benefit of both parties.”

“Statoil is pleased to enter into a long-term ethane agreement with Borealis. This extends a productive relationship that has existed from the 90’s when Statoil had an ownership stake in Borealis and with the start of ethane deliveries from Kårstø in 2000,” comments Tor Martin Anfinnsen, Statoil’s Senior Vice President for the Crude Liquids and Products Business Unit. “This agreement favourably positions Norwegian ethane and the Kårstø location competitively in a future market place where ethane feedstock import from the US has become available to European based petrochemical plants.”