Chevron Phillips' Ethane Cracker Project Reaches Mechanical Completion

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Mechanical completion of Chevron Philips Chemical Company LP's (The Woodlands, Texas) Cedar Bayou ethane cracker in Baytown, Texas, puts the company closer to finishing its $6 billion U.S. Gulf Coast project buildout.

Chevron Phillips said Wednesday that the 1.5 million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene unit was undergoing a series of commissioning activities, systems checks and final certifications ahead of its commercial start-up, which is planned for early next year. Construction of the cracker began in 2014. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Chevron Phillips is a joint venture of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) (Houston, Texas).

"With the mechanical completion of Cedar Bayou's ethane cracker, we are now on the cusp of completing the most transformative project in our company's history...," Chevron Phillips Chief Executive Officer Mark Lashier said in a press statement. Construction was delayed due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Texas Gulf Coast in late August.

The ethylene unit will provide feedstock for the company's ethylene derivatives business. Two new polyethylene (PE) units, which started up in September in Old Ocean, Texas, are also part of the company's Gulf Coast project initiative. The units can each produce 1.1 billion pounds per year, with resins ranging from metallocene linear low density polyethylene to bi-modal film and pipe products, the company said. For related information, see September 20, 2017, article - Chevron Phillips Commissions Polyethylene Units, More on the Way in Texas, Louisiana.

Chevron Phillips said it has purchased nearly 3,000 new rail cars and constructed a storage-in-transition facility at its Sweeny/Old Ocean site to ship PE to domestic customers and to ports for export.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $70 billion in active ethylene-related projects in various stages of development across the United States, including a potential new ethane cracker and derivative unit complex by Chevron Phillips in Pasadena, Texas. The project is now in the market analysis phase. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Construction on other projects, such as Sasol Limited's (NYSE:SSL) (Johannesburg, South Africa) $11 billion Lake Charles Chemical Project in Louisiana and Shell Chemical Company's (Houston, Texas) grassroot ethylene plant in Monaca, Pennsylvania, is well underway.

For related information, see November 28, 2017, article - Sasol Drops Westlake GTL Project, Exits Canadian Shale Plays as it Shifts Focus and March 20, 2017, article - Industrial Market Outlook: Ethylene Plant Dominates U.S. Northeast Chemical Projects Planned for 2017.

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