Eni, Sabic to jointly develop natural gas technology
An Industrial Demonstration Plant will be built and operated inside the Eni premises as part of the agreement
Italian multinational company, Eni and Saudi Arabia’s Sabic have recently signed a Joint Development Agreement to further develop an innovative technology for natural gas to be converted into synthesis gas that can be further transformed into high value fuels and chemicals, such as methanol.
The agreement is expected to involve the construction of an Industrial Demonstration Plant which will be built and operated inside an Eni industrial premises. The development project looks to advance the technology, which is based on the Short Contact Time Catalytic Partial Oxidation (SCT-CPO) of natural gas, to further sustain the Eni and Sabic business by using in a more efficient way the cleanest and lower GHG emission fossil fuel, according to reports from Eni.
Eni developed the technology after an intensive R&D period and was coupled with Sabic’s short contact time reactor R&D and the company’s extensive knowledge of the integration of synthesis gas generation into processes. This then produced derived chemicals. Eni stated that with this agreement, both the companies will be able to leverage world class R&D and operational experience to enable the success of the project.
The agreement was signed by Fahad Al-Sherehy, acting executive vice president for Technology and Innovation at Sabic, Giuseppe Tannoia, executive vice president for Research & Development at Eni, and Giacomo Rispoli, executive vice president for Licensing & Supply at Eni.
Eni said: “The joint technology will be a truly innovative way of making synthesis gas and integration into high value applications to achieve lower CAPEX and OPEX, higher energy efficiency, lower CO2 footprint and wide feedstock flexibility.”
