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(ICIS) -- Access
to technology will be the main issue for Middle East petrochemical producers as
they shift strategy to push downstream into value-added chemicals, Paul Harnick,
chief operating officer of KPMG’s chemicals and performance technologies
practice, said on Tuesday.
The Arabian Gulf region "can sort out most
things", he said, "such as infrastructure, logistics and raw materials, but it
needs to acquire the technology".
KPMG, a global management consultancy, is launching a special report at
this year’s Annual GPCA Forum, entitled "The GCC in 2020: Downstream expansion
of the Middle East chemical industry". The report, which forms the latest issue
of KPMG’s Reaction chemical magazine, has been developed with the Gulf
Petrochemicals & Chemical Association (GPCA) and is co-branded as a
KPMG/GPCA publication.
Said Harnick: "The report is very timely as the
move downstream is getting much more important for Gulf producers. This is being
driven by two things: regional demographics that are seeing growing populations
and an increasing need to create jobs, and the desire to add yet more value to
the region’s oil and gas production."
Looking at the four main
petrochemical producing regions, Harnick said that the Middle East continues to
have an advantage with feedstock provision, while Asia has rapidly growing
markets, and Europe and North America have an advantage in technology. This
presents a ‘win-win’ situation for Western technology holders willing and able
to create joint ventures with Middle East partners.
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