PARIS - French industrial and medical gases maker Air Liquide announced on Monday that it has signed a new long-term contract with Yan'an Energy and Chemical Co, a subsidiary of Yanchang Petroleum Group, one of the largest Chinese companies for petroleum and natural gas exploration & production, and oil refining.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Air Liquide will invest around 80 million euros in two state-of-the-art ASUs (Air Separation Units), with a total capacity of 2,800 tons of oxygen per day. The two ASUs would be located in Fuxian county of Yan'an city in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2018, the new ASUs will supply air gases including oxygen and nitrogen for the customer's chemicals production complex which will produce 600,000 tons per year of olefins, a chemical intermediate used in the production of plastics.

As one of the largest enterprises in gases, technologies and services for industry and health in the world, Air Liquide operates more than 85 plants and employs about 4,300 employees in China today.