(Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series providing expert forecasts for the global natural gas and oil markets in 2022. Look for NGI’s extensive coverage of what happened in 2021 and what can be expected in 2022 and beyond in terms of prices, the LNG export markets, ESG, Mexico’s production and project prospects, North American midstream infrastructure plans and exploration and production strategies.)

Shell PA cracker

A long awaited petrochemical project is set to begin operations in the Appalachian Basin in 2022, and a second major investment in the region could get the green light this year.

“A positive development before us in 2022 will be the anticipated start-up of Shell’s cracker facility in Beaver County,” President Daniel J. Weaver of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and...