ExxonMobil, SABIC Complete Texas Ethylene Plant, but What Else Is on the Books?

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After about two and half years of construction, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) have completed their world-scale petrochemical project in San Patricio County, Texas, near Corpus Christi. The facility will produce nearly 4 billion pounds per year of ethylene, which also will be used as a feedstock for derivatives, including polyethylene and monoethylene glycol. But the question remains, with this $9 billion-plus project wrapped up, what other large Chemical Processing projects are out there?

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Database can click here for the reports on the ExxonMobil/SABIC project.

"We witnessed a continued slowdown in grassroot spending for the past two years as a result of economic worries and pandemic constraints," said Trey Hamblet, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Chemical Processing Industry. "Long-term demand for chemicals is certain to rise as population growth and industrial consumption increases. What the U.S. has going for it is an abundance of relatively inexpensive natural gas, which lowers the costs of ethylene production when compared with the naphtha feedstock used in other parts of the world. Shell is approaching completion of its grassroot ethylene plant in the Marcellus Shale region, and Chevron Phillips (CPChem) is expected to formalize the approval for its planned ethylene plant in Texas this year."

Shell plc's (NYSE:RDS.A) (London, England) facility in Pennsylvania consists of a 3 billion-pound-per-year ethylene plant and derivatives units. Construction of the complex was delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic but is expected to be completed in the coming months. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (The Woodlands, Texas), a joint venture of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) (Houston, Texas), and investment partner Qatar Petroleum (Doha, Qatar) are still determining a site for a world-scale ethylene complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast. While the project is still in the early planning stages, the new facility could duplicate CPChem's plant in Cedar Bayou, Texas, reaching ethylene production of about 4.4 billion pounds per year. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.

CPChem and Qatar Petroleum also plan to construct a 4 billion-pound-per-year ethylene complex in Ras Laffan, Qatar, which also will benefit from ethane feedstock. Construction is expected to kick off next year. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

"The potential for large chemical investments in Canada are looking up in the coming years, led by Dow's 'Net Zero' plant addition in Western Canada," Hamblet said. "An abundance of natural gas in the region will help promote confidence in future spending."

Alberta's Petrochemicals Incentive Program provides grants of up to 12% of the capital cost of a project after the plant has been operating for one to three years, depending on the capital outlay. And the program may be paying off. Late last year, Dow Incorporated (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) announced plans for the world's first net-zero carbon emissions ethylene and derivatives plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. While the project remains in the very early planning stages, Dow has announced plans to begin production from the plant in 2027. Subscribers can click here for the unconfirmed announcement.

"It's fairly simple to determine where new world-scale olefin plants will be built in the U.S.--just follow the gas," Hamblet said. "Texas, Louisiana, and the Utica and Marcellus shale regions are where the highest planned spending is occurring."

U.S. ethane production may lead to project activity not only in North America, but in other parts of the world. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. ethane demand is expected to grow from 1.5 million barrels per day (BBL/d) in the first quarter of 2021 to 2.1 million BBL/d by the end of this year. The agency expects U.S. ethane exports to grow more than 50% during this time, rising from 300,000 BBL/d at the start of 2021 to 460,000 BBL/d by fourth-quarter 2022, paving the way for other parts of the world to use U.S.-derived feedstock for petrochemical production.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.