Project ONE starts to take shape as collosal furnaces survive 12,500 nautical mile journey from Thailand

3
min 2025

For the crew of the Zhi Yuan Kou, it had been a long, overseas journey, rerouted around the southern tip of Africa to avoid possible Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. 12,500 nautical miles. 55 days. John McNally, CEO Project ONE, saw the ship arrive, but it would take another day or two before it could be safely docked at the quaywall due to the mist. He described it as one of the largest and most spectacular industrial ship transports ever in the Port of Antwerp.

The 200ft furnaces – the same height as Antwerp’s Museum aan de Stroom and forming part of a larger module weighing around 6,000 tonnes – had been reinforced with steel and welded to the ship to prevent them from toppling into the sea during the journey from Thailand to Belgium.

“The overseas transit of the furnaces was actually considered to be one of the most critical moments during the lifetime of the furnaces,” said John.

After docking, the ship spent a further nine days in the port to allow Flemish contractor Sarens to off-load the €150 million module with furnaces and pipe racks. From there, they were transported via self-propelled vehicles to the construction site at Lillo where they were slotted together like pieces of Lego.

“That was a huge endeavour due to the enormous dimensions of the plant units,” he said.

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of AntwerpBruges, described INEOS’ multi-billion investment as ‘pioneering’ and said it would strengthen Antwerp’s role as a strategic, international hub.

“The arrival of the furnaces is an important step towards building a forward-thinking, sustainable industry,” he said.

The furnaces for INEOS’ €4 billion cracker were manufactured by engineering contractor Technip Energies in Thailand.

“There were only a limited number of construction yards around the world that were adequately equipped and accessible to ocean-going vessels for this purpose,” said John.

There was also not enough space at the construction site in Belgium to store the materials and build the colossal modules while the site was being prepared.

Up to 2,500 people are expected to be working on the site this year to ensure the cracker becomes operational in early 2027.The furnaces are equipped with burners and combustion air preheaters to reduce emissions of nitrogen dioxide and improve energy efficiency.

They have also been designed so they can be fully fuelled with low-carbon hydrogen instead of natural gas as soon as it becomes available.

Once operational, 450 permanent staff will be needed to run the cracker, which will have the lowest carbon footprint of all European crackers.

200FT - THE LARGEST FURNACE IS 200FT HIGH
6,000 Tonnes - THE ENTIRE MODULE HAD A COMBINED WEIGHT OF 6,000 TONNES
Antwerp Port - IT TOOK NINE DAYS TO OFF-LOAD THE FURNACE BEFORE BEING TRANSPORTED TO THE LILLO SITE
Welded - THE FURNACES WERE WELDED TO THE SHIP TO STOP THEM TOPPLING INTO THE SEA

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Project ONE starts to take shape as collosal furnaces survive 12,500 nautical mile journey from Thailand

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Sweden looks to Denmark

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2 min read

£1m gift to help Ineos Oxford Institute develop new antibiotic

SCIENTISTS at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research have been given £1 million to help speed up the development of a new class of antibiotics. Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy made the donation after the scientists discovered a new small class of inhibitors which could treat many drug-resistant superbugs. Professor Chris Schofield, Director of Chemistry, said the institute’s fantastic team of biochemists, microbiologists and chemists were ‘massively excited’ to be working with the PACE team. PACE was founded in 2023 to help the world’s best innovators speed up their research into the growing resistance to antibiotics. The IOI’s project is among the first to receive funding. “We look forward to supporting them to move their project closer to the clinic, which would have a huge impact on patients’ lives,” said Dr Beverley Isherwood, PACE Programme Director. In addition to the funding, the institute will be offered R&D advice from a global network of experts, access to a microbiology platform and medicinal chemistry expertise. Antibiotic resistance is seen as a silent killer that threatens the foundation of modern medicine. Scientists have been warning for years that medicine will be taken back to the dark ages if new drugs are not found to replace existing antibiotics that have lost their efficacy. They fear common infections, which have been successfully treated with antibiotics for decades, could become killers once again Illnesses, which have evolved to become difficult or impossible to treat with antibiotics, already kill about 1.5 million people a year. But more than 10 million could die every year by 2050. Ever since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, β-lactam antibiotics have been a mainstay of treatment for bacterial infections. These antibiotics have a β-lactam ring that stops bacteria from growing and developing. But bacteria have evolved by producing β-lactamase, an enzyme capable of disabling β-lactam antibiotics, rendering them useless against such common illnesses as urinary tract infections. “Hospital stays for patients with antibioticresistant infections average around 13 days, causing an additional 8 million hospital days annually,” said Professor Schofield. Scientists at the IOI, though, have developed small molecule transpeptidase inhibitors that do not contain a β-lactam unit and are not affected by many β-lactamases produced by bacteria. These inhibitors also perform well against a broad spectrum of bacteria that causes such infections as pneumonia, gastroenteritis and meningitis.  FLIES Flies in Nigerian hospitals carry bacteria resistant to clinically important antibiotics, including last-resort antibiotics. MICROPLASTICS The presence of microplastics in the environment increased the spread of antibiotic resistance by up to 200 times. LIVESTOCK 97% of human campylobacter infections, which causes diarrhoea, in the US between 2009 and 2019 came from livestock reservoirs on contaminated meat. WILD BIRDS Wild birds, such as ducks and crows that live in cities, are likely to carry bacteria with anti-microbial resistance. DISINFECTANT Prolonged exposure to antibacterial disinfectant can increase antibiotic resistance. COLISTIN The use of colistin in animal feed – to prevent infections and promote growth – is increasing anti-microbial resistance among humans. 

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Oxford University honours Sir Jim

OXFORD University’s highest honour for philanthropy has been awarded to INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe in recognition of the company’s £100 million gift to research the growing resistance to antibiotics. INEOS’ funding led to the creation of the Ineos Oxford Institute, which is now a world-leading centre of research, training and education aimed at combating antimicrobial resistance. “It is a privilege to partner with such a worldclass university, whose history is entwined with that of antibiotics, to tackle such a key global challenge,” he said. “And I am encouraged to see Oxford’s remarkable ethos and academic rigour already making promising progress in the field.” Antimicrobial resistance is one of the hidden dangers facing humanity. It has been caused by overuse and misuse of antibiotics, which now threatens to claim more than 10 million lives every year by 2050 unless new drugs can be found to replace existing antibiotics that have lost their efficacy. Sir Jim was presented with the Sheldon Medal by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Professor Irene Tracey, at the Sheldonian Theatre. “Thanks to INEOS’ transformational gift, we can work collaboratively towards global solutions and, together, reduce this significant threat to humanity,” she said. The university’s Vice-Chancellor said she had no doubt that the institute would devise a way to protect the future of modern medicine in the ‘not-too-distant future’. The presentation, which also recognised INEOS co-owners John Reece and Andy Currie, was followed by dinner in the Divinity School. Earlier, former Tory Party leader William Hague, now Lord Hague of Richmond and Chancellor-elect of the University of Oxford, thanked Sir Jim for his ‘remarkable generosity’ and unwavering belief in what Oxford could achieve. “I am looking forward to seeing what the Ineos Oxford Institute achieves in the coming years and to getting to know Sir Jim as I take up my role,” he said. The medal is named after Gilbert Sheldon, one of Oxford’s early benefactors, who graduated in 1620. As Archbishop of Canterbury he funded the entire cost of Christopher Wren’s ambitious masterpiece at the Sheldonian Theatre. The medal, which is reserved for an individual benefactor who has made a strategic difference to the life of the university, was first awarded in 2002. Previous recipients have included the late Dr James Martin, whose book The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow contained remarkably accurate descriptions of how computerisation, telecommunications and the rise of the internet would change the world. His donation founded the Oxford Martin School in 2005. Sir Leonard Blavatnik won the award in 2012 after he donated £75 million to the University of Oxford to establish the Blavatnik School of Government, whose vision is of a world better led, better served and better governed.  THE SHELDON MEDAL The medal awarded to Sir Jim was designed and executed by renowned sculptor Emma Lavender, who worked over many months to create the finished piece. A portrait of Sir Jim sits on the obverse of the medal and a representation of the Sheldonian Theatre adorns the reverse. Only two of each design are ever produced: a silver presentation piece given to the recipient and a bronze copy deposited within the Heberden Coin Room of the Ashmolean Museum.

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The finest football stadium in the world

100,000A 100,000-capacity football ground that will stand among the largest in the world and set new global standards 126,000 sqmSize of the stadium’s vast canopy, designed to shelter fans, harvest energy and rainwater, and crown the new public plaza £7.3bnProjected annual contribution to the UK economy from the stadium and wider Old Trafford regeneration project AcousticsEngineered to amplify crowd noise, bringing fans closer to the pitch and creating one of the loudest atmospheres in world football MANCHESTER United – the most well-known football club in the world – has unveiled plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium. The £2 billion stadium would replace Old Trafford, the club’s historic home for the past 115 years. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, said the club, which is followed by one billion people, deserved the finest football stadium in the world. “Our current stadium has served us brilliantly, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport,” he said. The planned new stadium will be at the heart of a regenerated Old Trafford, designed to bring huge social and economic benefits, including the possible creation of 92,000 jobs and more than 17,000 new homes. Previous governments have sponsored a number of large regeneration projects in and around London, including the Olympic Village, The O2 and Wembley. In January, the government announced it supported the latest project. “In the North, this will be the first of this scale,” said Sir Jim. “If the government really gets behind this scheme, we will build an extraordinary stadium.” United hopes its new stadium will rival the very best in Europe, including Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou and Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The news has been welcomed by Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager who spent 26 glorious years at Manchester United. “Old Trafford holds so many special memories for me personally, but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made,” he said. The new stadium has been designed by Foster + Partners who were challenged by Sir Jim to build the finest football stadium in the world. “It is a huge privilege and honour for us,” said architect Patrick Campbell. Lord Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners, described it as one of the most exciting projects in the world today, with incredible regional and national significance. “It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar,” he said. The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square. Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, believes it will be the biggest and most anticipated urban regeneration project in the UK since the 2012 London Olympics.

3 min read

Sustainable carbon fibre for Formula 1 and beyond

2025 marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. Later this year, innovative, advanced and sustainable carbon fibre composites will be used in race cars during the 2025 Formula 1 season, without sacrificing performance. “When you combine performance and innovation, like we have, you create progress,” said Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. Mercedes’ decision to use Invireo – a more sustainable alternative to traditional acrylonitrile – in its W16 race car will be the result of a close partnership between the team, INEOS Nitriles, and Toray. And they hope other industries, such as aviation and aerospace, can benefit from the technology. Rigorous tests will be carried out to ensure the sustainable carbon fibre composites can cope with the rigorous demands of Formula 1 racing. Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability at the Mercedes team, said they were just getting started. “We are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead,” she said. 75%Carbon fibre composites form approximately 75% of race car materials, helping to achieve the highest levels of performance and safety INEOS NitrilesPioneering sustainable materials projects in Formula 1 will provide a significant opportunity to scale this innovation beyond motorsport, to industries such as aviation and aerospace

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INEOS finalises deal with CNOOC for US Gulf business

INEOS Energy has completed the acquisition of CNOOC’s business in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal – the third major investment by INEOS Energy in the USA over the past three years – takes INEOS Energy’s global production to over 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. “It is a major step for us into the deepwater US Gulf and builds on our growing energy business,” said INEOS Energy chairman Brian Gilvary. Capital spend on energy assets in the USA now exceeds $3billion. In 2022 INEOS Energy signed a deal with Sempra for the supply of 1.4 million tonnes of LNG every year and last year it bought Chesapeake Energy’s oil and gas wells in South Texas. “The USA is a very attractive place for INEOS Energy to invest and these dealsprovide a strong platform for future growth,” said CEO David Bucknall. INEOS believes oil and gas will play a huge role for years as society transitions to new reliable and sustainable forms of energy. But to mitigate the effects of oil and gas exploration, INEOS Energy is investing in LNG, carbon capture and storage projects, and actively producing and trading oil, gas, power and carbon credits. $3billionCapital spend on energy assets in the USA now exceeds $3billion US InvestmentThe USA is a very attractive place for INEOS Energy to invest

1 min read

KPS buys INEOS’ composites business

INEOS Enterprises has completed the sale of its composites business for about €1.7 billion. KPS Capital Partners now owns the former INEOS business, which employs about 900 employees across 17 sites and three technology centres in Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East. “We are confident that under KPS’s ownership, the business will continue to grow and succeed in the years ahead,” said Ashley Reed, Chairman of INEOS Enterprises. The composites business is a global leader in producing resins and gelcoats that are used to make strong, lightweight composite plastics found in everything from cars and boats to buildings and electronics. Its resins and coatings help improve important product features such as fire and water resistance, protection from sunlight, insulation, and durability.

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INEOS lays foundations for better future

A CHARITABLE foundation, set up by INEOS, has been changing lives in the US since 2015. Over the past 10 years, young children have become physically and mentally healthier, they are learning in novel ways, high school students have been given the chance to fulfil their dreams, and teachers’ morale has been boosted. And it’s all thanks to the community activity and fund-raising efforts of the INEOS ICAN Foundation. “Our mission at the start and our mission now is to help young people and teachers in the US, to move towards a brighter future,” said Foundation Director Kathryn Shuler. The funding to support ICAN is chiefly raised through events held each year in Houston, Texas – a golf tournament and a sporting clays tournament, and through generous donations from employees. Forty-two teams took part in the first golf tournament in 2016. It raised $95,000. This year’s event hosted 68 teams and raised $187,000. “Our golf tournament drew so much interest that we moved from a 27-hole course to a 36-hole course to accommodate all our players,” said Kathryn. The sporting clays tournament has also been a huge success. In 2017 – when the first event was held – it made $5,100 profit. Last year it amassed a record $69,000 profit. Funds raised through these events have enabled teachers to implement innovative projects that allow students to see, touch and experience the curriculum in novel ways. For example, funding for an after-school club helped a student from a deprived home who had little exposure to technology. “Initially she wasn’t doing so well in school, but programming robots showed her that she was smart,” said teacher Nicole Marek. “Her confidence improved, she started doing better in her classes, and now she wants to become an engineer.” Donations from the foundation have also been used to buy specialised equipment to help older students receive professional certifications, setting them up for successful futures in the industry. The INEOS ICAN Foundation also delivered INEOS’s GO Run For Fun events in Texas, Illinois, and Ohio, introducing 81,000 children to the benefits of exercise. Today it supports The Daily Mile, which allows children and teachers to take a 15-minute break from the classroom to run or walk together. Teachers often use that valuable time to get to know their students better. “This gives the children another trusted adult in their life, which helps with both mental health and learning,” said Kathryn. More than 1.9 million US children in all 50 states are now signed up to the programme. At St Michael Special School in New Orleans, The Daily Mile went further by helping an unhealthy, overweight student, who was fearful of physical exercise, to devise a plan. Initially, he could walk only the length of the school hallway. After changes to his diet – replacing his beloved sodas with healthier drinks – and encouraging him to take part in The Daily Mile, his life started to improve. He began to lose weight and now regularly completes The Daily Mile with his classmates. Making a difference like this is what drives all those involved with the INEOS ICAN Foundation. “10 years on, none of us have lost our appetite, or belief that what we are doing matters,” said Kathryn. 

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