Petrochemicals

Technip Energies has been contracted to supply ethane cracker furnaces for the 2 million metric ton/year (mmty) Golden Triangle Polymers project planned southeast of Houston. The $8.5 billion joint venture between Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) and QatarEnergy was sanctioned in November.  In addition to the cracker, the facility in Orange would include two 1…

ExxonMobil has ramped up more polypropylene production at its petrochemicals complex in Baton Rouge, LA, increasing capacity to 450,000 metric tons/year. The integrated Louisiana complex produces transportation fuels and various products including polypropylene.  “With the startup of this new production unit, we are well positioned to responsibly meet the growing global demand for these high-performance…

Two major petrochemical projects planned for Louisiana’s St. James Parish are facing permitting obstacles following recent decisions that may affect them moving forward. A court ruling has stalled FG LA LLC’s plan to build a massive $9.4 billion plastics facility. The affiliate of global conglomerate Formosa Group has had the Sunshine Project on the drawing…

TotalEnergies SE and Borealis AG reported last week they have begun commercial operations at their nearly $2 billion ethane cracker in Port Arthur, TX. The companies built the ethane cracker, with an ethylene production capacity of 1 Mt/y,  at TotalEnergies’ refinery in Port Arthur via their Bayport Polymers LLC 50/50 joint venture (JV).  “This investment…

Barring an increase in domestic natural gas production, the United States should stay the course with regard to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export volumes, the top executive at global chemical manufacturer Huntsman Corp. told NGI. “I don’t think we should be exporting any more LNG than we are today if we’re not going to, conversely,…

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has ramped up development at the natural gas-rich Jafurah field in the Eastern Province, considered the largest unconventional field of its kind in the Kingdom. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., aka Aramco, secured regulatory approval in early 2020 to develop the mega field, which holds an estimated 200…

“The electricity bill, the purchase of the Deer Park refinery in Houston and the granting of Zama to Pemex hint that President López Obrador is more than determined to ramp up his energy nationalism stance during the next three years,” Adrián Duhalt, postdoctoral fellow in energy studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute and seasoned expert…

Mexico’s antitrust watchdog Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (Cofece) has sent a letter to Mexico’s Congress decrying proposed changes to the nation’s Ley de Hidrocarburos, or Hydrocarbons Law. “We recommend the reform to the Hydrocarbons Law isn’t approved,” President Jana Palacios said on Twitter. She suggested the proposed changes would be damaging to competition in…

The Alberta government on Monday awarded a C$408 million ($326 million) grant to Inter Pipeline Ltd. for new industrial projects that use natural gas and its liquid byproducts as raw materials. Inter Pipeline is receiving the grant through the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) in three annual installments after the scheduled completion of its C$3.9…