Williams Partners LP unit Williams Olefins LLC plans to restart its Geismar Olefins facility in Louisiana, and bring online a facility expansion in early April, the company said. The plant has been offline for investigatory work, damage assessment and repairs following an explosion and fire in June (see Daily GPI, June 25). The expansion would increase the partnership’s share of the plant’s ethylene production capacity by about 50%. Williams Olefins has been able to resume expansion activities across most of the plant outside of the incident area, which is limited to the vicinity of the propylene fractionator. Williams Partners said it is cooperating with investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board into the cause of the explosion.

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