Abstract

Petrochemicals include a broad range of chemical building blocks that are produced from naturally occuring hydrocarbons. The products used in the manufacture of consumer goods include a variety of plastics, films, resins, foams, elastomers and miscellaneous chemicals. One measure of a nation's development is its per capita consumption of petrochemicals.

Having a suitable feedstock or a large indigenous market for consumer goods provides a strong base for the development of petrochemical industries. Indonesia, with its large population and abundant hydrocarbon resources meets these prerequisites for an emerging petrochemical industry.

With the current worldwide surplus of petrochemicals, there is a continual pressure exerted by the marketplace to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of production. As the inefficient plants are rationalized, there is likely to be a shortfall in the supply of petrochemicals starting in the late 1980's. The existing LNG plants can be exploited as a source of inexpensive petrochemical feedstocks and can provide a competitive edge to Indonesia.

In this paper, the world production of primary olefins is reviewed. The major petrochemical building blocks that could be obtained from the LNG plants are identified and the techniques for their extraction are described.