| FINNS AND CANADIANS TO STUDY MTBE PRODUCTION PLANT | |
| Finland's national oil company Neste Oy | |
| <NEOY.HE> said in a statement it had agreed with Canadian firms | |
| to study the feasibility of building a plant in Edmonton, | |
| Canada, to produce a replacement for lead in petrol. | |
| The prospective plant would cost an estimated 270 mln | |
| Canadian dlrs and would produce methyl tertiary butyl ether | |
| (MTBE) from raw materials available locally, it said. | |
| The partners in the study are Neste Oy, Celanese Canada | |
| Inc, Hoechst Celanese Corporation and Trade Mountain Pipe Line | |
| Company Ltd, of Vancouver, B.C. | |
| The Edmonton site was suitable because of the raw materials | |
| availability, the proximity to pipeline transportation and the | |
| important capital and operating advantages gained by locating | |
| on an existing Celanese Canada site, the statement said. | |
| The partners would look into the feasibility of a plant | |
| producing 500,000 tonnes per annum of MTBE, an octane enhancer | |
| that can replace tetra ethyl lead. | |
| Most of the MTBE would be targeted for the United States | |
| where lead levels in gasoline are being lowered because of | |
| health concerns, the statement added. | |
| Canadian lead limits are currently 11 times as high as the | |
| U.S. Limit but lead is scheduled for virtual elimination in | |
| Canada by 1993, which should create a Canadian demand for MTBE, | |
| it said. | |
| Finland's Neste Oy, whose turnover last year was over five | |
| billion dlrs, has extensive experience with MTBE. It has a | |
| major investment in an MTBE plant in Saudi Arabia. | |
| The Edmonton, Alberta plant would be scheduled to go on | |
| stream in late 1989, the statement said. | |