French engineering group Technip and UK energy company BP have extended their alliance on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to include acetic acid. Under the deal, Technip will be the exclusive provider of front-end loading (FEL) services for fully owned and joint-venture projects developed by BP worldwide. The acetic acid alliance will be managed out of Technip’s center in Rome, Italy, and will exploit existing synergies with the PTA relationship.

BP’s acetic acid technology portfolio comprises its Cativa XL process based on methanol carbonylation and the SaaBre process based on syngas. Charles Damianides, technology vice president at BP Petrochemicals, said it looks forward to replicating the success of its long-term PTA alliance with Technip in the acetic acid business.

Technip and BP extended their PTA alliance in December 2013 after the UK energy group decided to make its technology available for licensing to external third-parties. As a result, Technip became the exclusive provider of front-end engineering and design (FEED) for inside battery limits to BP for licensing. The original alliance was formed in 2000 with Technip providing FEED services for BP’s PTA projects.

Through its relationship with BP, the Paris-headquartered contractor has engineered approximately 8m t/y of PTA capacity spread over 20 projects.