Polyethylene

France’s Total is planning a joint venture with Borealis and Nova Chemicals to construct a $1.7 billion ethane steam cracker and a new polyethylene unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

A production unit is being added to ExxonMobil’s Beaumont polyethylene plant east of Houston fueled by unconventional natural gas to boost capacity by 65%, or 650,000 metric tons/year, as growth for high performance plastics accelerates, the supermajor said.

The plastics company that became the first to announce a significant investment in Western Pennsylvania shortly after Royal Dutch Shell plc said it would construct a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker there is soon expected to begin production.

After more than three years, Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC has completed its purchase of land in western Pennsylvania where it tentatively plans to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker.

After more than three years, Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC has completed its purchase of land in western Pennsylvania where it tentatively plans to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker.

ExxonMobil Chemical Co. has begun construction of an ethane cracker at its Baytown, TX, complex as well as associated product facilities at Mont Belvieu, TX.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP (CPChem) has received the go-ahead from its board of directors to proceed with its US Gulf Coast (USGC) Petrochemicals Project, which was announced in 2011.

Gastar Exploration Ltd. has signed a lease with Bayer AG to drill Marcellus Shale gas wells on 1,400 gross acres in New Martinsville, a site that is being touted as a possible location for an ethane cracker in West Virginia.