Olefins
Our Olefins Team sells products - ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and crude benzene - which are the basic building blocks for a vast family of petrochemicals that are produced by our chemical manufacturing customers. Olefins are used in the manufacture of a variety of everyday products including packaging, automobile parts, carpet backing, synthetic rubber and nylon fibers.
Ethylene
Ethylene is produced by steam cracking feedstocks such as natural gas liquids and refining streams, including propane and light naptha. Ethylene (C2) is a colorless gas with a slightly sweet smell. It transforms from liquid into a gas at very low temperatures and is normally transported as a gas through pipelines. Ethylene is used to make polyethylene, ethylbenzene and linear alpha olefins. These chemicals are then used to manufacture a wide variety of products from plastic wrap to cosmetics. Ethylene is of fundamental importance to the plastics industry and is a basic building block of organic chemistry.
Propylene
Propylene (C3) is a colorless gas. It is highly flammable and can be used as a substitute for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). It is easier to transport propylene than ethylene as it can be liquefied at much lower pressures and conveyed in its liquid form. Propylene is used as a chemical feedstock to make products such as polypropylene and acrylonitrile, which are used in fabrics, cars, appliances and toys.
Butadiene
Butadiene is a colorless gas at room temperature and is liquid at a few degrees below freezing. INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA sells most of the butadiene it produces, which is used mainly to make synthetic rubber for cars and trucks.
Benzene
Benzene is produced through the processing of petroleum liquids and occurs naturally in petroleum crude oil. Benzene is important to the production of other industrial chemicals, such as styrene, as well as in the manufacture of products such as rubber, gasoline and plastics.