An insurance policy held by Phillips covers the cost of replacing the Pasadena, Tex., polyethylene plant and the loss of income after a $70 million deductible, Mr. Silas said.

The Quantum Chemical Corporation's polyethylene plant here is protected by an 18-foot levee built after Hurricane Carla struck the upper Texas coast in 1961.

In Oman, the company is working with the Oman government to build a new world-scale polyethylene plant.

A vapor cloud formed and traveled rapidly through the polyethylene plant.

In addition, the company's polyethylene plant in Kerteh began operations.

Dow Chemical's Louisiana division is changing a production process at a polyethylene plant to decrease waste by more than a million pounds a year.

It is part of a larger petrochemical complex also consisting of an ethylene plant, a polyethylene plant, plant utilities, and Ra's Lanuf Harbor.

Titan Chemicals Corp engages in the ownership and operation of polypropylene plants, polyethylene plants, ethylene crackers, and aromatic plants.

A few years ago the average age of the company's polyethylene plants was 13 to 14 years; today it is 7 to 8 years.

John Brown, based in London, has entered into a $200 million joint venture with Soviet chemical and construction authorities to modernize and expand two polyethylene plants.