Reliance Industries, TA’ZIZ sign pact for $2-billion project

Reliance Industries (RIL) and Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company RSC (TA’ZIZ) have entered into a formal shareholders’ agreement for the development of an ethylene dichloride (EDC) & polyvinyl chloride (PVC) project in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. State-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and investment firm ADQ hold stakes in TA’ZIZ. The joint venture will construct and operate a chlor-alkali, ethylene dichloride and polyvinyl chloride production facility, with a total investment of over $2 billion.

RIL signed a strategic partnership agreement with ADNOC last year in June to set up a joint venture for the development of a chemicals project at the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais.

Chlor-alkali is used to produce caustic soda, crucial for refining alumina, while EDC is used to produce PVC, used to make consumer products.

This includes pipes, windows fittings, cables, films and flooring.

“Chlor-Alkali, EDC, and PVC will create opportunities for export to target markets in Southeast Asia and Africa, as well as provide local industry with a source of critical raw materials manufactured in the UAE for the first time, strengthening In-Country Value,” RIL said in a statement.

The final investment decision for the chemical project is expected later this year and is subject to relevant regulatory approvals, it said.

The chemicals project is expected to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s domestic supply chain and support UAE’s national strategy to empower the industrial sector and become robust domestic economy over the next 50 years, RIL said in a statement.

It is expected that the TA’ZIZ complex will benefit from the free trade agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates, which was signed in February of this year. Bilaterial trade between both nations will be boosted as new trade and development opportunities, such as TA’ZIZ, are further unlocked, the statement added.

“The project is making solid progress towards the detailed design phase in advance of the final investment decision (FID) which is expected to be taken later this year,” the company said.

The companies are also looking at opportunities in the exploration, development and production of conventional and unconventional resources in Abu Dhabi as well as in decarbonization of operations, including in carbon dioxide sequestration.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL and Sultan Al Jaber, minister of industry and advanced technology and ADNOC managing director and group CEO, in their meeting at ADNOC headquarters discussed opportunities for partnership and growth in upstream, new energies and decarbonisation across the hydrocarbon value chain. Ambani also met with Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, to explore potential opportunities for collaboration in renewable energy and green hydrogen. The UAE has ambitious plans to grow its renewable energy portfolio and strengthen its clean hydrogen production capabilities.

As per the ‘”Hydrogen Leadership Roadmap’ announced in December 2021, the UAE will create a global clean energy powerhouse, under the Masdar brand, consolidating the efforts of ADNOC, TAQA and Mubadala in renewable energy and green hydrogen to create a new world-class entity, it said.