Ethylene

The U.S. shale gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) revolution has launched 136 domestic chemical industry projects worth a combined $91.2 billion, with 54% of that investment coming from foreign entities, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) late December tally. The unprecedented growth is far from over, industry experts say.

Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem) and Mexichem S.A.B. de C.V. (Mexichem) have formed joint venture (JV) Ingleside Ethylene LLC to build a 1.2 billion-pound-per-year capacity ethylene cracker at the OxyChem plant in Ingleside, TX, along with pipelines and storage at Markham, TX, the partners said Thursday.

LyondellBasell Industries, a worldwide chemical company based in the Netherlands, expects to complete a cracker expansion at the Channelview, TX, facility near Houston by the end of the year, with production ramping up in early 2014.

North America’s copious natural gas resources have led to a “competitive resurgence” driving low-cost ethylene production, but the growth has created challenges in the Middle East, where operators are facing the “opposite and unfamiliar challenge of ethane supply limitations,” according to IHS Chemical.

Royal Dutch Shell said it expects to decide by the end of the year where it will build a “world-scale” ethylene cracker in the Marcellus Shale region, and it said the three states where it is considering construction of the facility are Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

A “world-class” ethane cracker and ethylene derivatives facility, fed by shale gas reserves, is being evaluated by Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP for siting in the Gulf Coast region.