Nova Chemicals

NOVA Chemicals Corporation

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Chemicals
Founded	1954
Headquarters	Calgary, Alberta, Canada Moon Township, Pennsylvania, USA New Brunswick
Key people	Randy Woelfel CEO (November 2009)
Products	Ethylene, Polyethylene, Chemical and Energy Co-Products, Expandable Polystyrene and Styrenic Performance Products
Revenue	US$6.732 billion (2007)
Employees	3,300 (2008)[1]
Parent	International Petroleum Investment Company
Website	www.novachemicals.com

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, with Executive Offices in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania and Lambton County, Ontario. It was founded in 1954 as Alberta Gas Trunk Lines and was later renamed to NOVA Corporation.^[2] In 1998 it merged with TransCanada Pipelines Limited.^[3] On July 6, 2009, IPIC, which is wholly owned by the government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, completed the 100% purchase of Nova Chemicals, and moved its incorporation to New Brunswick.^[4]

NOVA Chemicals' products are used in a wide variety of applications, including food and electronics packaging, industrial materials, appliances and a variety of consumer goods. The Company operates two business units and holds a 50% interest in a major joint venture with INEOS Group Limited (INEOS), called INEOS NOVA. NOVA Chemicals' business units are:

The Olefins/Polyolefins

The Olefins/Polyolefins business unit produces and sells ethylene, PE resins and co-products from its two manufacturing centers located in Alberta and Ontario, Canada. The business is built on its feedstock cost advantage in Alberta, world-scale and energy-efficient manufacturing facilities and proprietary Advanced SCLAIRTECH and gas-phase polyethylene technology.

The Olefins/Polyolefins business unit contains three reporting segments:

• Joffre Olefins, which produces and sells ethylene and co-products and includes the Joffre, Alberta, site’s three ethylene crackers.
• Corunna Olefins, which produces and sells ethylene and co-products and includes the Corunna, Ontario, ethylene flexi-cracker.
• Polyethylene, which produces and sells PE and includes both the Alberta and Ontario based PE assets. In addition, the Polyethylene segment licenses its proprietary process technology and catalysts.

Performance Styrenics

Performance Styrenics manufactures and sells expandable polystyrene (EPS) in North America and specialty Polymers. This business unit also has interests in EPS-based downstream ventures and businesses for end-use consumer and industrial applications.

INEOS NOVA

INEOS NOVA is a 50:50 joint venture between NOVA Chemicals and INEOS that manufactures and sells styrene, solid polystyrene (SPS) and EPS.

Until September 30, 2007, NOVA Chemicals operated a commodity styrenics business unit known as STYRENIX, which manufactured and sold styrene and SPS in North America. It also manufactured and sold SPS and EPS in Europe through NOVA Innovene, its 50:50 joint venture with INEOS.

On October 1, 2007, NOVA Chemicals and INEOS expanded their European joint venture to include the North American styrene and SPS businesses of both companies. NOVA Chemicals no longer reports the results of its STYRENIX business unit but rather its interest in INEOS NOVA.

NOVA was long headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, until then-CEO Jeffrey Lipton moved the executive offices to Pittsburgh, PA, in the late 1990s. While this was order to be closer to US customers, the benefits of the move never materialized, and it was seen as a snub to province of Alberta, as Premier Ed Stelmach refused to grant NOVA a bailout in 2009. Due to the financial meltdown and recession in 2007-09, as well as NOVA's heavy debtload, which was not paid off during strong economic times, the company lapsed close to bankruptcy until it was sold to International Petroleum Investment Company.

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