Petrochemical industry still faces serious challenges globally Equate speaks at Petchem Arabia

Delivering the keynote address at Petchem Arabia in Bahrain, Equate President and CEO Mohammad Husain said, "The challenges are mainly relevant to the impact of gas development on the petrochemical industry, energy needs affecting the industry, qualified workforce and maintaining sustainable growth with high standards."

Husain noted, "In light of growing demand and consumption of electrical power, there must be sufficient collaboration to ensure that such increasing energy needs do not hinder the petrochemical industry."

Husain added, "Having a third ethane cracker in Kuwait will have several added-value returns including hiring around 160 employees; over 20% increase in procurement worth $185m of which a good percentage can be done through local companies; not to mention increase the annual production polyethylene and ethylene glycol by over 400,000 metric tons and 700,000 respectively. These added-values can be created if we dedicate more ethane to the petrochemical industry."

In addition, Husain discussed a recent case study regarding the positive impact on the US economy if 25% of ethane was added to the system from newly discovered gas resources.

Husain explained, "All development plans, regardless of their size, greatly depend on suitable infrastructure, feedstock availability, overall synergy between relevant sectors, and most important the qualified human resources."


Established in 1995, Equate is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC).

Commencing production in 1997, Equate is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.