INEOS Nitriles announced today that it has served notice of termination of its operating agreement effective December 31, 2007 with PCS Nitrogen Ohio, LP (“PCS Nitrogen”). As of January 1, 2008, PCS Nitrogen will assume operating responsibility for its nitrogen facility at Lima, OH.
The facility is currently operated by INEOS under an operating agreement with PCS Nitrogen. INEOS inherited the operating agreement when it purchased the chemical division of BP in 2005 and has operated the PCS Nitrogen facility since December 16, 2005. The decision to terminate this agreement was made by INEOS Nitriles to focus on the growth and optimization of its core operations at the Lima site.
PCS Nitrogen’s parent, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the world’s fourth-largest nitrogen producer, owning and operating nitrogen facilities in Trinidad and the U.S. The Lima facility has the capacity to produce 1.37 million tons of ammonia, urea, nitrogen solutions and nitric acid annually and produced a total of 765,000 tons last year. PCS Nitrogen intends to continue operating this facility as market conditions dictate and is committed to effecting this change in operating responsibilities with no disruption in production or service to its customers.
INEOS and PCS Nitrogen continue to each own approximately half of the Lima Chemicals complex, with each company taking responsibility for its own operations. Over the next nine months, INEOS will continue to have operational responsibility for the facility in accordance with the operating agreement. Both companies are committed to working closely to ensure a smooth transition.
Jean Phaneuf, Site Director for the INEOS facility at Lima, said “The change to the operating arrangement is an important step in INEOS Nitrile’s long-term business strategy. This change allows us to optimize and grow our business at Lima by focusing attention on our core operations.”
“We welcome the opportunity to assume operating responsibility at our Lima facility and are anticipating a smooth transition,” said Tom Regan, President of PCS Nitrogen Operations, Inc., general partner of PCS Nitrogen. “We look forward to serving our customer and continuing to have a positive impact within the local community.”
For further information contact:
Jean Phaneuf, Site Director, INEOS, Lima. Tel: (419) 226-1201
Don Johnson, General Manager, PCS Nitrogen Ohio, LP. Tel: (419) 226-1395
Note to editors:
INEOS Nitriles, a key strategic business for the INEOS Group, was acquired in December 2005. The Business is the leading producer and marketer of acrylonitrile worldwide with plants in Lima, OH, Green Lake, TX and Cologne, Germany.
INEOS is the world’s third largest chemicals company and a leading manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. The company is comprised of 18 businesses with 68 manufacturing facilities spanning 17 countries. With 15,600 employees, INEOS annually produces more than 30 million tonnes of petrochemicals and 20 million tons of crude oil refined products (fuels) with sales of around $33bn.
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. is the world’s largest fertilizer enterprise producing the three primary plant nutrients and a leading supplier to three distinct market categories: agriculture, with the largest capacity in the world in potash, third largest in phosphate and fourth largest in nitrogen; animal nutrition, with the world’s largest capacity in phosphate feed ingredients; and industrial chemicals, as the largest global producer of industrial nitrogen products and one of only three North American suppliers of industrial phosphates.