UAE is set to decrease its reliance on key petroleum chemical

A $70 million chlorine-alkali plant in Abu Dhabi will cater to the oil and gas sector in the Gulf.

The UAE is set to decrease its reliance on imports of sodium hydroxide (or caustic soda), a key chemical used in the production of petroleum and natural gas.

Fata, a division of Italian firm Finmeccanica,and Union Chlorine, a UAE-Omani joint venture, yesterday signed a US$70 million contract to set up a sodium hydroxide factory in Abu Dhabi.

It was overseen by the emirate’s department for economic development.

The UAE currently has no domestic facility that produces the chemical, and it relies on imports from China and the Middle East.

The new plant, to be located in the Mussaffah district, is scheduled for completion in August 2015. Production is expected to begin in October that year.

Chlor-alkali is a process that produces chlorine and sodium hydroxide via the electrolysis of salt water.

Upon its completion, the facility will have a daily output capacity of 70 tonnes.

Walid Al Azhari, the chairman of Union Chlorine, said the project would provide high-quality products for the country’s oil and gas market, as well as other sectors and manufacturing industry.

The firm is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s Horizon Energy, Oman Chlorine, and two other investors in the UAE and Oman.

Mr Al Azhari said the plant would be designed in accordance with the best modern techniques in terms of operations, air emission control and waste treatment.

Besides caustic soda, the plant will produce other chemicals including hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochloride for firms in the oil and gas sector.

Nine months earlier, Abu Dhabi’s Al Ghaith Group signed an agreement with Nuberg Engineering of India for the construction of a 100-tonne caustic soda plant.

A Nuberg spokesman said work on the facility was due to begin this month following the granting of governmental approvals.