The Gulf Region will become the world's largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals and plastics by 2005, said Group Chief Executive, ENOC, Hussain Sultan, speaking at the opening of MariChem 2003 at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dubai.
The three day conference is being attended by 192 delegates from 26 countries, representing the major international petrochemical logistics companies of the world. “The Gulf Region currently exports over 30 million tons per annum to 70 countries,” he added.
“This will increase to over 40 million tons by the end of 2005. In fact, we can confidently forecast that the production of basic petrochemicals and plastics in the Gulf region will continue to expand faster than any other region in the world.”
He added that the value of the petrochemical logistics industry in the Gulf could be estimated at more than $1.5 billion, and that the figure would increase as further growth is achieved. “The Middle East is a major growth area. More new ships, more new terminals, more new warehousing and additional port services are required here than anywhere else in the world. The increased size of this conference reflects the significant increase in interest in Middle East petrochemicals logistics over the past few years.”
The conference has been organized by a planning board comprised of senior executives from the leading petrochemical and plastics companies in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, and includes figures from ENOC, Dubai; EQUATE, Kuwait; the GCC Secretariat; SABIC, Saudi Arabia; and ADNOC, Abu Dhabi. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
