Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) has achieved its projected production and export targets for the first half of the year, a top official has said.

A statement quoted GPIC president Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery as saying that the company produced 189,000 tonnes of ammonia, 177,000 tonnes of methanol and 302,000 tonnes of urea in the first six months of the year, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Total exports of ammonia, urea and methanol during the period were 465,000 tonnes, he said.

GPIC, an equal stakes joint venture of Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Holding Company, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and the Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait, uses natural gas, available locally, to produce ammonia, urea and methanol.

Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery said the company’s biggest-ever turnaround earlier this year led to the plants working at ‘high efficiency and full production capacity.’

He said the company exported to many countries with the US getting the lion’s share, at 41 per cent, followed by Brazil (18 per cent). Turkey was also a significant export market for the company, accounting for 45,000 tonnes.

GPIC was able to export all its products and achieve attractive returns, thanks to marketing by its partners Sabic and PIC, he said.

The company has also achieved 16 million hours totalling 4,814 days without a lost time accident.

“These achievements are all the more creditable since they came in the face of challenges and intense competition,” Dr Jawahery said.

GPIC is now working on the development and review of administrative regulations to stay at par with developments in the industrial sector, particularly those specific to oil and gas, he added. - TradeArabia News Service