Sponsor: BP and CAPCO

BP and CAPCO:
Cutting-edge Partners in Taiwan

"Cutting edge" is a term generally associated with high-tech industries pushing technologies to new frontiers. Although it may not be frequently used to describe oil, gas, and petrochemical companies, we'd like to show you why it applies to BP and CAPCO.

BP is among the world's top ten largest companies, and following its merger with Amoco at the end of 1998 and its acquisitions in 2000 of Arco and Burmah Castrol, it created a new company which today employs 110,000 people in more than 100 countries and is owned by over a million shareholders. The company's main activities are the exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil; refining, marketing, supply and transportation, and the manufacturing and marketing of petrochemicals for plastics, fibers, and fabrics.

BP's cutting-edge performance is measured not only in terms of production and financial success, but in the leadership position the company achieved in its environmental performance through introducing clean fuels, reducing emissions, and investing in renewable sources of energy, such as solar power. These achievements have been made possible largely through the creation and use of cutting-edge technologies in exploration and manufacturing processes. These in turn enable BP to provide people with the freedom to move, to heat, and to see while living up to its aspiration of "No harm to people, no accidents, and no damage to the environment."

BP has brought many of these developments to Taiwan through its 59% ownership in CAPCO, a joint-venture company that was formed in 1976 with local Chinese partners to produce Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA). PTA is a petrochemical raw material used to produce polyester resin, which is used extensively in textiles, clothing, films, and PET bottles. CAPCO has six production units with a total annual capacity of 2.1 million metric tons, which accounts for 7% of the world's production.

CAPCO and BP have worked together to install cutting-edge technology in all of their PTA plants. This includes the use of USAB anaerobic waste treatment facilities to significantly reduce biological waste and the elimination of all VOC compounds by the use of CATOX technology. This technology also removes all of the Methyl Bromide compounds that are a by-product of the PTA process. CAPCO is the only PTA producer in Taiwan that removes this proven ozone depleting compound. These technologies and other advances in energy and water reductions have been incorporated in the recently dedicated 700,000mt/yr PTA plant located at the Taichung Harbor Authority.

Two years ago BP adopted the distinctive Green and Yellow Helios which now serves as a symbol for a company which, through its Brand Values of "Progressive, Performance, Innovative and Green," continues to seek future energy solutions and a better quality of life for all the world's people. In Taiwan, BP and CAPCO are living up to these values and going beyond conventional ways of thinking and working to deliver a performance standard that challenges the world's best companies.

So when you think of cutting-edge companies, please add BP and CAPCO to the illustrious list.