Cracker

Plans for a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker in West Virginia are once again uncertain, as Braskem SA confirmed late Wednesday that it has hired a financial adviser to evaluate strategic alternatives for a nearly 400 acre site it owns in the state.

ExxonMobil Corp. and its Saudi Arabian partner on Thursday pulled the trigger to sanction the world’s largest steam cracker, a 1.8 million metric ton/year project on the South Texas coast that would create thousands of jobs and billions in economic output.

PTT Global Chemical pcl (PTTGC) and Daelim Industrial Co. continue to work toward sanctioning the multi-billion dollar ethane cracker proposed for southeast Ohio, a project spokesman said this week.

What would be the Appalachian Basin’s second multi-billion dollar ethane cracker has finally secured all the major regulatory approvals needed to move forward after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) completed its environmental review and issued the project’s final permits as 2018 came to an end.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued key construction permits for Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC’s Falcon Ethane Pipeline system, which would feed the multi-billion dollar ethylene cracker under construction.

Seven organizations have filed a joint protest with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) strongly urging the agency to deny air permit exemptions that Shell Pipeline Co. LP has requested for its Falcon Ethane Pipeline System, which is being developed to feed the multi-billion dollar cracker under construction in the state.

Global petrochemical giant Ineos said Tuesday it plans to invest more than $3 billion to build a world scale ethane cracker and propane dehydrogenation unit in northwest Europe to take better advantage of U.S. natural gas supplies.

A Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) campus has been selected by the state’s top economic development organization to be a lead partner in developing the business and market opportunities created by the Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC ethane cracker under construction in Beaver County.

U.S. natural gas liquids (NGL) production is expected to grow by around 15% year/year — to average just under 4.3 million b/d — in 2018 and shows no signs of slowing as the market seeks to rebalance itself and refill inventories following “impressive declines” in recent months, Raymond James & Associates Inc. analysts said.