Austria’s Borealis is to buy the 50% stake of Canada’s Nova Chemicals in their Novealis joint venture. This holds 50% of the Baystar joint venture led by France’s Total (50%) that is developing the Baystar ethane cracker based project at Port Arthur, Texas. Both Borealis and Nova are subsidiaries of Abu Dhabi investment house Mubadala, which holds 64% and 100% stakes, respectively. They expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2020.
Mubadala Petroleum & Petrochemicals CEO Musabbeh al-Kaabi told MEES recently that Baystar is “an exciting development for our assets Borealis and Nova” (MEES, 8 November 2019). However with Mubadala reportedly seeking a buyer for Nova (MEES, 27 September 2019), the move may be aimed at keeping the project in Mubadala’s portfolio. (CONTINUED - 169 WORDS)