Italian engineering group Maire Tecnimont has entered into a joint collaboration agreement with US-based Siluria Technologies. The partnership will see the two firms combine their respective technologies and expertise to develop a unique process to convert natural gas directly into petrochemicals and derivatives.

Erik Scher, Siluria’s interim CEO and president, said the partnership with Maire Tecnimont would enable a completely new pathway to produce additional petrochemical derivatives from natural gas and provided a worldwide platform for commercialization.

“This new product offering will expand Siluria’s portfolio beyond our current solutions focused on gasoline and ethylene, to address an even larger share of the global petrochemical and energy market,” he stated.

As part of the collaboration, Maire Tecnimont has invested $10 million in Siluria which has raised more than $40 million in equity since last November through a Series E funding. Strategic investors include, among others, Saudi Aramco and the National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NATPET).

In April 2015, Siluria launched a 350 t/y methane-to-ethylene demonstration unit at Braskem’s olefins plant in LaPort, Texas, US. The company said that with consistent operating results after a year, it was now looking to build a commercial-scale plant based on its oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) technology. OCM technology is said by Siluria to be the first commercial process to directly convert natural gas into ethylene.

The company plans to make a final investment decision on the plant by the end of this year, or early 2017. The US Gulf coast in Texas or Louisiana are said to be the most likely locations.