Oil

Proficiency across the chain and the capabilities needed to design the processes of the future

Plastics are essential in a number of fields. They lighten vehicles and airplanes, insulate buildings efficiently, extend the life of water and gas pipes, protect and conserve food, store data and more. Yet only a tiny percentage, about 4%, of world oil production goes into making polymers.

However, naphtha, a byproduct of crude oil distillation during refining, remains the bedrock of most commodity chemical processes. The most common method for obtaining olefins - ethylene, propylene, butadiene, etc. - is cracking the molecules in a steam cracker. Aromatic compounds such as benzene and styrene are produced by catalytic reforming or similar processes.

Active across the production chain, Total Petrochemicals is also developing petrochemical production based on ethane from natural gas and exploring other avenues that will enable it to use more renewable and biodegradable feedstock in the future.

Capitalizing on synergies with our refining operations

A key feature of Total's petrochemical operations is the way they complement refining, often with plants located near each other. Half of the feedstock for our steam crackers comes from our refineries. Conversely, Total Petrochemicals supplies the refineries with a number of resources, in particular hydrogen, essential to certain conversion and desulfurization processes, as well as distillates and bases used to make gasoline and fuel oil.

Strengthening refining and petrochemical integration and synergies is therefore a strategic priority for us. A project to build one of the world's biggest aromatics (paraxylene) units in Saudi Arabia reflects that priority, since it will be integrated with the planned Jubail refinery , a joint venture between Total and Saudi Aramco.

Strengthening the competitiveness of facilities in mature markets and building on world-class hubs

In Europe and the United States, we are continuing to adapt our petrochemical operations to changes in the market. We aim to improve business performance by lowering the break-even point for plants and, as we do everywhere in the world, constantly strive to make industrial facilities safer, more reliable and more energy efficient.

With that in mind, programs are being deployed to update and reconfigure operations at the Carling and Gonfreville plants in France.

Debottlenecking - or capacity increases - at some units at the Feluy, Belgium, La Porte, France and Port Arthur, United States refineries in 2008 also made them more competitive.

Diversifying feedstock sourcing and planning ahead for growth in new markets

The petrochemical industry's center of gravity is shifting. Demographics, economic development and changing lifestyles in Asia are making that region a hub of growth for polymer demand.

As a partner of Samsung in the integrated Daesan, South Korea, complex, just 400 kilometers from China, we already have a strongly presence in the heart of this regional market, which is poised to grow sharply. And we are strengthening our positions there. The completion in 2008 of a massive project to expand the steam cracker and styrene unit, build a new unit to make propylene from ethylene and butene, also known as butylene, and add a new polypropylene line boosted the plant's capacity by one third.

In Saudi Arabia, the paraxylene unit that will be integrated into the Jubail refinery will primarily export its output to the Asian market.

The Middle East is the scene of another major change. The region is on the verge of becoming a major hub for polymer production and exports, thanks to the easy availability of its oil and gas resources and massive capital spending on developing and expanding petrochemical production.

Total is moving with this trend, drawing on our extensive knowledge of the region's countries and natural synergies with our Exploration & Production operations. This positions us to source other feedstock, such as ethane, which is derived from natural gas, under favorable terms.

The Qatofin project best illustrates this. Active in Qatar since 1974 through our interest in Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco), we teamed up on the project to build the world's biggest ever ethane cracker, with an annual ethylene production capacity of 1.3 million metric tons. Located in Ras Laffan in the north, it will be supplied with gas produced by Total as part of the Dolphin project. The ethylene will then be piped to a world-class, low-density polyethylene plant with an annual capacity of 450,000 metric tons. Both facilities are scheduled to be commissioned early in the second half of 2009.

We are also working, in partnership with state-owned Sonatrach of Algeria, on a project to build an ethane-based petrochemical complex in Arzew, ideally situated to serve Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

Managing end-of-life plastics more effectively to unlock their energy

Plastics are found in every aspect of daily life. They make cars lighter, by an average of 200 kilograms, boosting fuel efficiency. They help make housing insulation more efficient. They also lighten food packaging while keeping food fresh longer. Plastics facilitate the sanitary collection of waste and its subsequent treatment. From drinking water distribution infrastructure to medical instruments, toys and electronic devices, DVDs and physical media, plastics have made themselves indispensible. Practical, strong and versatile, they are one of the most sophisticated ways to use scarce oil and gas resources. The incineration of a plastic bag generates enough electricity to power a 60-watt bulb for ten minutes. The energy recovered from the household waste of a city of five million can heat nearly 200,000 apartments. Because plastics contain twice as much energy as coal, for example, and the same amount as fuel oil, there are far better solutions than dumping them in landfills or, worse, littering the outdoors with them. Switzerland, Austria and Germany are showing the way, by recovering or recycling more than 70% of their plastic waste.

That is why Total Petrochemicals, along with the rest of the industry, is firmly committed to promoting this type of smart solution, to better manage end-of-life plastics by giving them a second - and even third - lease on life.

Innovating and developing the processes and plastics of the future

Our R&D teams are also looking for ways to make monomers and polymers using new resources.

Two major programs under way illustrate their approach. The first aims to produce compostable or depolymerizable plant-based bioplastics by converting the lactic acid contained in some plants, such as sugar beets, corn, wheat and sugar cane. In 2007, Total Petrochemicals launched an R&D program exploring a technology to produce second-generation polylactic acid-based (PLA) polymers, in partnership with biotechnology firm Galactic, the world's second-larger producer of lactic acid. PLA is a biodegradable bioplastic made from sugar or starch. The pilot unit for the ambitious project, dubbed Futerro, will begin operating in April 2010. Eventually the technologies will be adapted to process non-food plant resources, such as forestry waste and molasses.

The second innovation project aims to produce olefins and polyolefins from gas, coal or biomass-derived methanol. Also located in Belgium, at the Total Petrochemicals production site in Feluy, the pre-commercial pilot unit pairs UOP/Hydro's Methanol to Olefins (MTO) process and UOP/Total Petrochemicals' Olefins Cracking Process (OCP) process. It was inaugurated in fall 2008.