BP (BP)

Ethylene (and Related Co-products)

        We produce and market the basic petrochemical building blocks, known as olefins, that are used primarily as raw material for other chemical products. These olefins are derived from the steam cracking of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

        Olefins — ethylene, propylene and butadiene — are produced by crackers at Grangemouth, UK; Lavéra, France (Naphtachimie — BP 50%); Köln, Germany and Chocolate Bayou, Texas in the USA. Olefins are also manufactured by Ethylene Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (BP 15%) at Kertih, Malaysia and by BPRP at Gelsenkirchen and Munchmunster in Germany. Crackers produce the raw materials for the production of derivative products including polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile, styrene, ethanol and ethylene oxide, which are also produced at various BP plants.

Major Activities

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The construction and commissioning of the 900-ktepa ethylene cracker complex in Shanghai by SECCO (BP 50%) has progressed smoothly. By end 2004, construction was declared mechanically complete and completion of start-up occured during the second quarter of 2005.

59

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In the USA, construction on the project to increase ethylene capacity at Chocolate Bayou, Texas by 295 ktepa was completed in the second quarter of 2005.

Ethylene (and Related Co-products)

        We produce and market the basic petrochemical building blocks, known as olefins, that are used primarily as raw material for other chemical products. These olefins are derived from the steam cracking of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

        Olefins — ethylene, propylene and butadiene — are produced by crackers at Grangemouth, UK; Lavéra, France (Naphtachimie — BP 50%); Köln, Germany and Chocolate Bayou, Texas in the USA. Olefins are also manufactured by Ethylene Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (BP 15%) at Kertih, Malaysia and by BPRP at Gelsenkirchen and Munchmunster in Germany. Crackers produce the raw materials for the production of derivative products including polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile, styrene, ethanol and ethylene oxide, which are also produced at various BP plants.

Major Activities

—

The construction and commissioning of the 900-ktepa ethylene cracker complex in Shanghai by SECCO (BP 50%) has progressed smoothly. By end 2004, construction was declared mechanically complete and completion of start-up occured during the second quarter of 2005.

56

—

In the USA, construction on the project to increase ethylene capacity at Chocolate Bayou, Texas by 295 ktepa was completed in the second quarter of 2005.