MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., a joint venture of Chevron and refiner Phillips 66, is considering a second "megaproject" in the US that would take advantage of low natural gas prices for making plastics and other materials, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.
"We are certainly looking seriously about the possibility of another project in the US," CEO Peter Cella said this week. "This is the right time to get serious about the next project."
The company is on schedule to begin producing ethylene in mid-2017 at its USD6 billion project outside Houston, Cella said in an interview at the American Chemistry Council annual meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He’s looking globally for where to build the next ethylene and derivatives plants, given the multiyear timeline to complete major projects.
The Houston-based company has led a wave of new US facilities that make ethylene, used in plastics to polyester. Plants that use low cost gas from shale formations will help US production of basic chemicals increase for the next four years, starting with a 3.1% rise this year and peaking at 6% in 2018, according to the council.
A rapidly growing middle class in developing regions will boost long-term demand for plastics used in packaging, autos and other applications, Cella said.
About 65% of new capacity in the US will be exported, Kevin Swift, chief economist for the industry group, told reporters at the conference. Swift said the US will increase its global share of chemical production, grabbing sales from Europe and Japan, where oil is often used instead of gas.
As MRC wrote before, last year, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) received approval from its board of directors and obtained an environmental permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to expand normal alpha olefins (NAO) production capacity at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. This investment will provide an additional 100,000 tpy of capacity. Construction completion is anticipated in July, 2015. Houston-based S&B Engineers and Constructors will execute the engineering, procurement and construction, and expects to support up to 600 jobs during the construction phase.
Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
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